File and printer sharing on a home network

hi all

I been trying to figure out what the problem on my network as I can't sharing file nor printer with my new PC i got..

ok, here the story, I have two Windows XP PC with both are working fine, sharing etc...
Now my new PC has Windows XP Pro on it, and I configure the firewall on all three to the trust zone computers, (configure on Norton Personal Firewall-which is on all three PCs)
So my new PC won't share anything, there nothing more I can do,

• Work group name on all PC is the same
• File and Printer sharing for Microsoft Networks is ticked on all PC's
• All connected to a hub.

Is the anything that I might have miss out?

 

One other thing to try: In Windows Explorer (not IE), open Folder Options from the tools menu. Select the View tab and scroll to the bottom of the list of advanced settings. Select "Use simple file sharing ". If it is already selected, try deselecting it and see if that helps.

Also with XP Pro you often have to actively specify a folder as shared before it will appear as available to other systems. You do that via the sharing tab in the folder properties.

 

thanks ReggieB for the advice. but it still didn't work,

BUT guess what I did some more research in all three computers, being going up and down checking what was different, but I found one that made it work, which I add a service on the local connections, but there was only one option left, which i can't hardly remember, sorry about that, i'm being memorizing those other words when i was checking the three pc up and down
So when i add that service
It adds:

• Qos Packet Sheduler, and
• NW Link IPx/SPX Net Compatible transport protocol

and then I restarted the PC and it worked

it's because I saw these on the other two PC's

So everything seems to work now but those service I add it seems have got nothing to do with file sharing? or it has??

will reply in the next 24 hours to see if everything working fine.

 

IPX/SPX is an alternative network protocol suite to TCP/IP. If this has fixed your problem, it means that the problem was with your TCP/IP configure. My guess is that NetBIOS (a set of protocols often used by file and print, and which run over TCP/IP) was playing up.

So the question is, do you go back and fix TCP/IP or carry on using IPX/SPX to overcome the problem. The choice is up to you. I have to admit to being a believer in "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" so would be very tempted to leave it alone.

You need to keep using TCP/IP for your internet connection. Running two protocol suites at the same time will add more traffic to your network but I'd be very surprised if you'd notice the difference on a small network.

Therefore, I'd suggest you leave things as they are, but keep in mind that your TCP/IP set up has room for improvement and you may have to go back and sort it out if another problem arises.

 

thanks for the info.

Everything seems to be working fine now, all three computer communicates to each other.

I'll bear that in mind if problems arise. Thanks again ReggieB

 

Hi,
I just had to join so that I could post a reply to this thread.

3 days ago I had to buy a new router as I switched to cable broadband from a BT line. My happy setup of 3 pc's all file and printer sharing on a wireless network was thrown into "chaos" when the pc connected to the printer couldn't be seen by the other two yet they could see each other and share files.

I've read various comments on numerous forums in the hope of finding the answer, did all the usual "same workgroup, file and printing sharing advice" etc. but your posts had just what I was missing which was to add NW Link IPx/SPX Net Compatible transport protocol. I am a beginner to all this but I wasn't going to let it beat me as I knew it worked before with the previous router so had to be possible!

You have no idea how pleased I am to have it all working again and not to have two frustrated teenagers moaning that they can't print their homework!

Thanks again

 

Please take note of this comment. Using IPX/SPX is a fix, but it does still mean that something isn't right with your TCP/IP set up.

Another thing I would suggest is that you remove the "QoS packet scheduler" from you network connection (accessed via the network connection properties). I've seen this causing a lot of problems on peer to peer networks recently.