Network Vista and Windows 2000 systems

cintoman · 4th January 2009

Hi everyone,

Hope everyone is having a great new year so far. I want to first thank all of you who read this and offer to help me out. Your help is always appreciated.

I just recently purchased a new PC to eventually replace my 9 year old machine. I've been trying to network both machines but haven't had any success. My networking skills are a bit limited, but I have tried several different approaches, checked out some Microsoft sites and other help
sites/tutorials, with no luck. So here's hoping you guys and gals might be able to point me in some positive direction.

Here are my details:

Old PC:
Pentium III 550 Mhz with 384 Mb RAM, 2 Hard drives (both Fat32), running Windows 2000 Professional SP4.

New PC:
HP a6614f AMD Phenom 9500 quad-core 2.2Ghz, 640 Gb hard drive with 6 Gb RAM, running Windows Vista Professional SP1 64-Bit OS.

Router:
Network Everywhere (made by Linksys) NR041 4-port router.

Internet:
Cable-Modem (Cox ISP).

To say my new system is an "upgrade" from my old system is a major understatement. However, I'd still like to use my old system for different tasks it could handle, rather than port these programs over to my new system.

Currently, both systems are connected to my router. Both are able to connect to the Internet with no issues. My new system has IP XXX.XXX.X.103 and my old system is the same with .100 at the end. My Xbox360 is also connected to my router, having IP .101. That too has no issues connecting to the Internet. I also set up Windows Media Center, and the Xbox can access my new system's files with no issues. When turned on, the Xbox360 does show up on my Network as a Windows Media and Windows Media Extender.

The only issue is neither computer can see each other.

Here's what I've done:

On the old system, in Windows Explorer, I try going into TOOLS --> Map Network Drive. Under "drive", there's a bunch of drives, starting with a "B" drive, then "J" thru "Z". I pick say, "O". Then, there's nothing under the "Folder" box, so I click on the "Browse..." button to look for my network. It brings up "My Network Places", and under that, "Entire Network", a "members.cox.net" folder, and then a "computers near me" icon. I expand the "Entire Network" which opens "Microsoft Windows Network" and under that, a "Paul" network. I double-click on the "Paul" and nothing happens. If I open up my system properties and go to the "Network Identification" tab, my old system's full computer name is: CX2130586-B, my Workgroup is: PAUL. I tried using the Network Identification WIzard here to join a network with no luck.

Now, on my new PC, if I go into Control Panel ---> System, my full computer name is: Main-PC and the workgroup is: PAUL. If I open up Windows Explorer. Under "Computer" there's my new system's C: drive, named "HP (C: )". But if I expand "Network" in Windows Explorer, there's: Main-PC. Expanding this, there's the following underneath: C_New_Drive (which is exactly the C: drive on the new computer), Public, and Printers.

Still on my new computer: Under Control Panel ---> Network and Sharing Center, network discovery is ON, File Sharing is ON, Public Folder Sharing is ON, Printer Sharing is ON, Password Protected Sharing is OFF, and Media Sharing is ON. So that all looks good.

Back on the old system, when I tried mapping a network drive, I selected a drive (say M: ), then under "Folder" I tried typing: \\Main-PC\C_New_Drive, it attempts to connect, but then comes back with the following error: The network path \\Main-PC\C_New_Drive could not be found.

From my old computer, opening up a cmd window, I can ping my router's IP with 0% packet loss. If I try to ping my new computer's IP address (.103), the request times out. Same error if I'm on the new computer trying to ping the old computer's IP.

Here are some things worth noting: My old computer's file system is FAT32. Not sure if it needs to be NTFS or not. Also, I currently have a Belkin Flip between the two systems. This Flip device allows 1 monitor, 1 keyboard, and 1 mouse to control both computers. So this way, I don't need 2 monitors, 2 mice, and 2 keyboards. I dont' think this would matter much, as each computer has it's own Cat-5 going to my router. Finally, my HP2110 printer is connected to my new PC, and prints fine. Of course, if I try to print from my old system, it won't.

It seems that both computers are on the same workgroup (PAUL). But I have no idea what to do next? I know this is probably a big undertaking, and there's so many more underlying settings I probably haven't begun to check. But does anyone have any suggestions where to go with this?

Thank you again for any assistance, and I really appreciate you taking the time to read all this.

Respectfully,
Paul
(Cintoman)

**mattman** · 5th January 2009

You don't mention the Subnet Mask. I suggest you check they are all on the same Subnet Mask.