Peer-to-Peer W2k and XP Home can't see each other

I have a small office peer-to-peer (no server) network with 3 Windows 2000 Pro stations and one KP Home station (and a second XP Home laptop that is usually on the LAN).

We use this sytem to connect to our Internet broadband (cable) and share files / printers.

The two XP Home machines came with XP Home and while we own Windows 2000 Pro, the cost of XP Pro has kept me from buying two upgrades.

The problem is that while I have all the shares, etc set up on the Windows 2000 Pro machines so that they all 'see'each other in the workgroup, the XP Home desktop sees the workgroup, but says I don't have the authority to access it (I have set up the users on all the systems - all machines are on the same workgroup - run the network wizard on the XP machine -etc.).

I know I am close, but I just am not getting over the final hump.

 

Did you set the permissions to allow the other users access to what you want to share?

 

Good question. I'll check tomorrow.

I know its set on the Windows 2000 Pro machines and the XP user is also on those machines, so shouldn't the XP machine 'see' the Win 2K machines in that case? Assuming I forgot to set permissions on the XP Home machine?

 

Yes. I checked and the permissions are set.

This is very frustrating.

 

One item not mentioned is the logons must be with a username AND password or XP won't want to play. And those same username/password items must be in the local users for each workstation. 2K wasn't as insistant on the accounts logging on with a password.

If you are set up that way already, try this as a diagnostic effort. The results will help pin down the problem.

Assuming you have PC-A, a 2K PC and it has shareA properly shared. Also assume you logon to PC-A with username PC-A-user and a password of password. (you'll need to substitute your real info). And your workgroup is Workgroup.

From PC-B, a XP-home PC, open explorer then tools~map network drive.

Use whatever drive letter pops up. Use \\PC-A\shareA and then click to logon as a different user.

When the next screen pops up, your logon will be PC-A-user and password

See if you can make a connection that way and if not, do the same thing except change the username line to Workgroup\PC-A-user.

If none of the three attempts works, post the exact, entire error messages you get.

 

Just a quickie. Are you running static IP addresses. Because if all PC's are windows asigned IP's, XP has got a habit of using a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0 and win2000 uses 255.255.255.0.
Use the IPCONFIG command in a command prompt window(start-run-cmd)
Might help

 

Things got stranger.

1. I tried Newt's test and the XP machine just told me "WORKGROUP unavailable. You don't have authority to access. Talk to your administrator... ".

The XP machine 'sees' the workgroup (OFFICE) when I browse for a connection, but again, same message.

2. Re: KDC's suggestion about the subnet mask. They are all 255.255.255.0. I tried releasing and renewing IP addresses.

THEN we got in another HP from my boss's office in NH. Again, its a Windows XP Home machine he bought for a training session (he's a Luddite and has no patience for anything that doesn't work the minute its fired up or needs tweaking). I set it up, hooked it to our network and fired it up.

After I set up the users and set passswords and ran the network wizard (and ran an update, etc., etc., etc.,) I tried to access the network. Bam! There was the workgroup. This machine sees the three Windows 2000 Pro machines - and I can access the shared folders, drives, and printers.

But, the "new Windows XP machine" does not see the "first Windows XP machine ". Curious and curiouser.

Monday I will futz around with my deputy director's laptop (also XP Home) and see if I can make it 'see' the network.

 

"except change the username line to Workgroup\PC-A-user "

If your workgroup is Office, the line should read .. "Office\PC-A-user ".

And the Exact, Entire error message will still maybe help.

I don't really trust the network wizards. They been known to do some strange things. Make sure the XP PC's networking has Clients For .... and File & Printer Sharing ... loaded and checked. If so and if your logon/password is done properly, then a little more infor for further diagnosis.

Do the following from a 2K-pro system that is working properly and from an XP system that isn't. Post the results here.

- start~run~cmd
- ipconfig /all > c:\2k.txt
- same from the xp system but use a different name for it's text file

You can just open the text files and copy/paste the contents.

 

Newt

I did use the 'actual workgroup name' when I tried your diagnostic.

I tried "Office\Mike" and Office\Administrator' (both my accounts)
and entered my password for both when I tried to map a drive from the '1st (non-network-accessing) XP Home machine using the 'log on as a different user' tip you gave. Used the actual share names when I tried it the other way.

I'll do the ipconfig text file thing tomorrow if I go into the office. When I checked today the default gateway on the two XP Home machines (both the 1st one that doesn't see the network and the 2nd one we got today that does see the network) was the same (notes are at work, will post); both had a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0.

 

The gateway address just tells the PC how to get out to another part of the world. No effect on local network comms. It's normally the IP of a router or a system running something like ICS where the host machine does software routing.

Hopefully the full IPconfig info will help. If not, it's on to plan C (or will this be plan D?).

These things always have a cause and just a matter identifying it/

 

Newt

From a 'working' Win 2K system:

Windows 2000 IP Configuration



Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mike
Primary DNS Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : nc.rr.com

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:



Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : nc.rr.com
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8139(A)-based PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-E0-18-A2-54-64

DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.3

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, May 19, 2003 9:12:20 AM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, January 18, 2038 7:14:07 PM

From the 'nonworking' XP system



Windows IP Configuration



Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Sam

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No



Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:



Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : nc.rr.com

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-40-2B-2F-64-D9

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.8

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, May 19, 2003 12:23:20 PM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, January 18, 2038 11:14:07 PM

Looks okay. What am I missing?

 

And it gets stranger.

One of the 3 Win 2k Pro machines can 'see' but not access the 'non-networking' XP Home machine.

The 'non-networking' XP Home machine ( "Sam ") shows up in Win 2K machine "Dave "'s "Network Neighborhood ", complete with the comment 'e-Machine at Sam's Desk', but I can't map a network drive, explore it, etc. I get a "can not be accessed" error message.

And even stranger....

I just added the XP Home laptop ( "John ") to the network. I set up all the users on it, set the shares for the shared folders, ran the networking wizard, de-activated the XP firewall, etc. It "sees" all the computers in the workgroup ( "OFFICE ") - except, of course, the 'non-networking' XP home desktop that started all this ( "SAM ") - However! it will only map a network drive or see the shares under the 'other' XP Home machine I added yesterday ( "Brenda "). No mater what I try it tells me the other shares aren't accessible. The actual error mesage is:

IPCONFIG shows that default gateway, mask, etc. are like the others.

So, to recap. I have a peer-to-peer network. The workgroup is OFFICE. There are six computers, a cable modem, a Netgear cable router, and a Netgear hub.

The subnet mask is: 255.255.255.0
The IP address is 192.168.0.1

Three machines are running Win 2K Pro (Mike, Margaret, Dave)
Three machines are running XP Home (Sam and Brenda - desktops, and John, a laptop).

The 3 Win 2k machines all see each other and can share files, printers, etc. They all see one of the XP Home machines (BRENDA) and can share files, etc.

One of the Win 2K machines 'sees' the elusive non-networking XP Home machine SAM, but can access it (same error message as above).

BRENDA can see the three Win 2K machines and share files, printers, etc.

The XP Home Laptop (JOHN) can 'see' all the others (except the problem machine SAM), but can only access BRENDA to map a network drive, etc (error message as above).

The three Win 2K machines can't see the XP Home laptop (JOHN)

And the final XP Home machine (SAM) might as well be in China.

 

edit note from Newt I just happen to think we never discussed the XP firewall thingy. Make sure it is off on each of the XP boxes

Well darn. Was hoping something nice and obvious and easy to fix would show up but you are right. Ipconfig looks fine.

At this point it really smells like a DNS issue of some sort. Easiest way to test for that is to reconfigure the network to avoid DNS. Should continue to work at least as well as now and hopefully better.

You never did say specifically but for any of this to work properly, you absolutely must have each PC logging on with a username/password and each machine needs a local copy of every username/password. Passwords are case sensitive so gotta be exact. And each user should be in the appropriate local group for rights. Users at least. Disable the Guest account on the XP home systems while you are at it. It should already be disabled on the 2K machines.

Assuming that is already the case, do the following - and some of the below is a good idea even on a LAN that's working OK.

- Get DNS out of the picture. Could be bad DNS records or several other things but on a small network, you won't suffer if it isn't there. Take a look Here and follow the instructions for setting negative cache time to zero and cache time to 1 second. Read but ignore the warning about increased network traffic since it won't have any significant impact on a network the size of yours.

- Get DHCP out of the picture. Turn it off at the router and set each PC with a static IP/netmask. Use any IP addresses from 192.168.0.2 - 192.168.0.254 as long as each is different. Subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 on each PC. Default Gateway of 192.168.0.1 on each PC.

- Make a hosts file and put a copy on each PC in %windir%\system32\drivers\etc. In case you aren't familiar with them, simple text file named hosts (no extension) and the only required contents is IP address followed by at least one space followed by the PC name. You can put in comments as long as there is a # symbol in front of the comment. Example:

127.0.0.1 localhost Localhost LOCALHOST #not absolutely necessary but a good idea
192.168.0.2 sam Sam SAM #all spelling variations included so it will find it however you type it
192.168.0.3 brenda Brenda BRENDA
192.168.0.3 john John JOHN #etc until you have them all

 

Newt

I did turn the XP Home firewall off on all of them.

And each user is logging on with a password and the usernames/passwords are on all the machines.

I'll follow the rest of your guidance tomorrow.

Here's a thought... why doesn't this stuff work the way its advertised to.... ?

Thanks.

 

Wow! That didn't work! Router needs to use dynamic IP addresses!

 

Okay, undid everything, reset the router, shut down everything and resarted... and SHAZAM!, its all there.

All six boxes (the 3 Win 2K desktops, the two XP Home desktops, and the XP Home laptop) see each other; can map network drives, file share and printer share.

Seems anti-climatic after all the angst I went through.

 

Glad it's working for you. Wonder what shook the cobwebs loose? Ah well, probably never will know but if it works, why worry.

You said "Router needs to use dynamic IP addresses ". I've never run into that. Most, if not all, of the SOHO router/switch things can do DHCP for you but it can also be turned off and static settings used. What device are you using? (and if it's in here some where, I missed it).

 

Newt

It is a Netgear router (RP614 I think).

It might have been something as simple as resetting the router to default.

Hey! It could have been SCSI termination conflict with a Gen 1 'tweaked' TransWarp GS card in an Apple ][gs... 3 MhZ and smokin!