is there a common reason network sharing fails between windows machines?

[bitt3n]

I can exchange files via FTP between my vista machine and my mac, but I cannot share files between my vista and XP boxes no matter what I try. I've turned off the firewall on the XP box but I cannot see it through FTP or networked computers.

I've turned on network sharing on both machines. Both machines are on the same workgroup. I assume I'm doing something stupid, but I'm not sure what. Any suggestions appreciated.

UPDATE: hm, I opened port 21 on my router, and now I can share files using windows but not FTP between vista/XP boxes. I could always FTP files from my mac to vista without opening the port. I have no idea what's going on.

 

[VinDSL]

Hrm...

Well, it could be any number of things - authentication problem, misconfiguration, trojans/pups, whatever.

When you say FTP... are you running a FTP server?

I run a lot of different OSs (it's my hobby, I guess) and I get sooo tired of playing this file transfer game - trying to make this OS work with that OS.

I simply install FTP servers on all my machines, and crank them up when I need them... end of problem!

For Windows, my current favorite is Cerberus FTP:

http://www.cerberusftp.com/ (Cerberus FTP Web Site)

Been using it for a few years - haven't found anything better...

It's free for personal use (and not-for-profit charitable organizations) so you might want to give it a try - if FTP is the route you want to go.

Otherwise, I'm afraid you're going to have to supply a lot more details to aid ppl in pinpointing the problem(s)...

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: bitt3n
I can exchange files via FTP between my vista machine and my mac, but I cannot share files between my vista and XP boxes no matter what I try. I've turned off the firewall on the XP box but I cannot see it through FTP or networked computers.

I've turned on network sharing on both machines. Both machines are on the same workgroup. I assume I'm doing something stupid, but I'm not sure what. Any suggestions appreciated.

UPDATE: hm, I opened port 21 on my router, and now I can share files using windows but not FTP between vista/XP boxes. I could always FTP files from my mac to vista without opening the port. I have no idea what's going on.

If you open a commandline on one of the MS machines like so:

net use * \\ip.address.of.othermachine\your_sharename

Ex: net use * \\192.168.0.10\sharedC
(assuming you shared out C: drive as "SharedC" share.)

then what happens?

 

[bitt3n]

Originally posted by: VinDSL
Hrm...

Well, it could be any number of things - authentication problem, misconfiguration, trojans/pups, whatever.

When you say FTP... are you running a FTP server?

I run a lot of different OSs (it's my hobby, I guess) and I get sooo tired of playing this file transfer game - trying to make this OS work with that OS.

I simply install FTP servers on all my machines, and crank them up when I need them... end of problem!

For Windows, my current favorite is Cerberus FTP:

http://www.cerberusftp.com/ (Cerberus FTP Web Site)

Been using it for a few years - haven't found anything better...

It's free for personal use (and not-for-profit charitable organizations) so you might want to give it a try - if FTP is the route you want to go.

Otherwise, I'm afraid you're going to have to supply a lot more details to aid ppl in pinpointing the problem(s)...

well I opened port 21 and now I can see the XP box using windows networking. does it make sense that this would have solved the problem? thanks for the cerberus link

If you open a commandline on one of the MS machines like so:

net use * \\ip.address.of.othermachine\your_sharename

Ex: net use * \\192.168.0.10\sharedC
(assuming you shared out C: drive as "SharedC" share.)

then what happens?

it says the command completed successfully.

 

[dclive]

So you then have a mapped drive. .... so what, exactly, doesn't work? Sounds like it's working perfectly here...

 

[bitt3n]

yes, since my original post, I opened up port 21 on my router, which appears to have solved the problem. I wasn't aware this was necessary because I was able to get files off my mac using FTP fine without opening the port. I'm curious why it's necessary for networking between the two windows machines and not between the mac and windows.

 

[dclive]

I'm assuming both machines are on the same (internal network) side of your router, so what you do on your router won't impact anything on your local network at all.

What else has changed? Passwords? Usernames? Logged-in-as user?

 

[bitt3n]

well, another thing I did was I created a password for the (sole, formerly passwordless) account on my XP box, then restarted the machine and logged in using that password. But it doesn't make sense to me why that would make any difference. I was logged in as that user before. As far as I know it'll stop working again tomorrow and I'll have no idea why.

 

[dclive]

Likely that's why. Remove your password and see if you can "redo" it not working.

 

[MadRat]

Make sure your XP has port 20 open, too. .

 

[MadRat]

Try this link and see if it makes any sense regarding your problem:

slasksite.com/other/ftp.html

The article is entitled "Active FTP vs. Passive FTP, a Definitive Explanation"