XP on Peer-to-Peer

Hey all,
Got an XP-home addition computer that I want to put on my peer-to-peer(windows) network. I set the IP address to the same schema as the network....subnet and Default gateway, which is a router. I cannot see anyone out there, when I go into "view workgroup computers." I can ping computers out there, but cannot connect to them......\\file server\my_folder\
I am a newbie to XP, so any suggestions would be helpful.

RPC

 

Did you turn OFF the MS FireWall that is on by default?

Is there any third part Firewalss running?

Have turned on any file or printer sharing?

What error message are you getting?

 

Where is MS Firewall? I would like to try turning it off. The message I am getting is: "Workgroup is not available. You may not have permissions to use this resourse. Access to the servers on this network are not currently available. "
I have the default gateway as our router, and am able to get on to the internet
RPC

 

In Like Flint !!

I found MS Firewall, disabled it, and I'm in!! Another "Joe" on the network!!
It did give some harsh warnings though about security. Our network consists of a Peer-to-Peer setup (TCP/IP) and a Router to get to the internet. How possible is it for someone to hack into our setup? The router is an internal IP....192.168.1.1.
I understand that nothing is bullet proof, but how can I tighten things up a little?

RPC

 

If your router is using NAT (which is highly probable) you are safe unless you intentionally open ports (holes) to let certain traffic thru. Even then, probably OK.