PC Cannot See Itself in Workgroup

Forgive me if I missed an answer somewhere. I spent quite a bit of time in search.

I have a 4 computer wireless network in my home, plus a wireless printer. Three of the computers use Windows XP home, one Windows XP Pro. The workgroup has been in place for maybe two years. All of a sudden, none of my computers can see my Dell Inspiron laptop (XP Home) in the Workgroup. That includes the Dell itself. For example, if I boot up only the Dell and select "View Workgroup Computers ", the Dell does not even list itself.

The Dell can see and access the other 3 computers, print to the wireless printer, and access the Internet. All 4 computers can ping each other. But none can see or access the Dell via the Workgroup.

I have tried deleting the Workgroup on the Dell and re-installing. I have tried renaming the workgoup on all computers. Neither worked.

I am at the limit of my tech knowledge, so any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

 

On the Dell laptop, have you tried removing the network connection and setting it up again?

 

Thanks for the idea - worth a try. But, unfortunately, that was not the fix. Thanks again.

 

I had previously disabled everything with no success. Following your suggestion, I disabled everything from starting in msconfig. Even though I am the Administrator, my virus checker would not let me disable it - so I uninstalled it. Tried the workgroup - the Dell still did not show up.

With everything disabled, I set up a whole new wireless network and workgroup on all computers. Rebooted every computer like 4 times each (I kept getting misc networking error messages). Let all the computers sit for maybe 30 minutes. The new Workgoup worked - with the Dell showing and accessible from all other computers.

I re-installed the virus checker, and enabled the firewall, spam checker, etc. The Workgoup still works - with the Dell showing and accessible.

I have no clue what step made the change - just glad to have everything back.

Thanks for your help.