No network recognition/internet access

[Sunny129]

I am currently building some CAD stations and reception computers for a custom cabinetry company. The company is on its own network. Some computers are already up and running, but three of them have no internet access and they do not recognize the fileserver or any other computers on the network. All systems are using winXP Pro. The device manager on each machine shows that the network adapters are enabled and working properly. The wall outlets, DSL outlet, and the cat5 cable I am using are all good, as I have turned on other computers from this very spot and gotten online without a problem. I feel like I may be overlooking something simple or stupid, but I can't for the life of me figure out what the problem is. Someone suggested to me that the port may have been damaged. I'm not sure what that means. Does anyone else have any suggestions?

TIA
Sunny

 

[HKSturboKID]

I know how frustrating this is as it happen to me before. Make sure there is no typo in the workgroup name and IP is all in the same subnet/range. Check all the network settingsconfigurations. and make sure they are the same as the one that is working. On my case, it was unfortunate that my boss's boss happens to work in as I was pulling my hair out and look at the problem and realize that there was an extra period in the workgroup name. Thank god he is a kewl dude.

 

[ToeJam13]

There are a lot of reasons why your three computers aren't seeing other computers or file servers on the network

Here is a list of things to look for:
[*] Link/Connectivity - Make sure that you have a link light and that the network cable is plugged in properly
[*] IP Address (Dynamic) - If your network uses a device or server that hands out IP addresses (DHCP), make sure that your computer is receiving an address. Go into a DOS shell and type ipconfig. You should see an address, network mask, and gateway address. If it says "169.x.x.x" or "0.0.0.0" for an address, then your workstation can't talk to the DHCP server and can't talk to the rest of your network.
[*] IP Address (Static) - If your network uses static addressing, then you need to go into your network properties and manually add it. By default, Windows looks for a dynamic address server (DHCP). Don't forget, not only do you need to add a unique address, but also a matching network mask and gateway, along with your DNS server or DNS proxy.

If you follow these steps, you should be able to ping other boxes on the network. If not, then you may have a bad cable or cable jack/port, incorrect setting, or you're plugged into an isolated port on a switch.

File sharing is a whole other beast. It involves making sure that you have the same workgroup name on all of your machines, that you have file & print sharing activated (with a shared directory or printer, mind you), and that the network connection firewall is disabled (or properly set to allow the right exceptions) on the server.

 

[Sunny129]

thanks for the suggestions. the problem turned out to be a cheap router the company bought years ago and hasn't replaced yet. i ended up having to manually assign addresses to 168.x.x.x. and thanks for the "ipconfig" command. it used to be "winipcfg" in windows 98, and you used to be able to do it from the run command in the start menu. ever since i upgraded to XP pro, i could never figure out how to access that network info.