xphome & xppro can't file share

I'm new to this board and thankful you guys are here. Trying to network my Dell 8250 desktop running xphome with an IBM Thinkpad R-40 running xppro. Router is Netgear M-814 (cable modem\ethernet\wireless connections). The internet connection has been fine on both computers but I cannot access the other computers' files. The laptop/wireless has been set as the host by the router software (I originally had the desktop as the host).

After reading various ways to try to fix this problem, I'm still stuck. The last thing I did was put passwords on each computer, the computers still could not see each other and now the desktop cannot access the internet. I took out the passwords, restarted but still the desktop won't connect to the internet. The laptop is connected. Things are getting worse and worse as I keep trying to get this network to operate correctly. Your help is needed and very much appreciated. Thanks.

 

Please do the following and post the results in a reply here. Make sure we can identify which PC produced each result.

start~run~cmd and then
ipconfig /all > c:\ipconfig.txt then open the text file in notepad or some other text editor and copy the contents to post here.

This should give a hint at least about your internet connection problems and very possibly the file sharing issue.

When you post the results, please don't mask any of the data (as in, don't post xxx.xxx.1.29 as an IP address or similar modifications). Just post what is in the text files.

 

Hi Newt, I appreciate your interest. I ran the command you suggested, lots of info but I don't remember how to turn that info into a file. Please refresh my memory. Thanks

Phyllis (JerseyWintek)

 

Sorry about the previous message. I figured it out. Here is the IP info on the IBM Thinkpad (wireless)

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : TRMATTUSB
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connecti
on
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-06-1B-D0-23-CD

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : jdover01.nj.comcast.net
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless LAN 2100 3B Mi
ni PCI Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-04-23-52-C8-A7
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.39.224.6
68.39.224.5
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, July 17, 2003 11:57:51 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, January 18, 2038 8:14:07 PM


This is IP info for DELL desktop:

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : WINTEK1
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : jdover01.nj.comcast.net
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/100 M Network Connectio
n
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-07-E9-EE-D6-2D
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 . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.39.224.6
68.39.224.5
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, July 17, 2003 4:36:03 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, January 18, 2038 11:14:07 PM

Hope this is what you requested. Thanks so much. I'll stay by to hear from you.

Phyllis (JerseyWintek)

 

Update: The Dell desktop is now able to get onto the internet. Same ip info. However, this may be related: while I was trying to copy a file from the Dell onto a cd, I received a message saying file copying could not be completed - maybe a network or hardware problem. I tried again with a different file, same thing.

Thanks.

 

Hi, my network problem still exists even though the one computer did get connected again.


The problem is the computers do not "see" each other on the network. Here is more specific info. The Wireless notebook is running xppro and the Dell desktop is running xphome.

On the IBM notepad (wireless) when I go into Network Places I do not see the Dell and when I click on other computers in my workgroup I get the message: the "workgroup is not accessible - no permission - List of servers for this workgroup not currently available." Also, this notebook currently has a password, however, it was the same situation even without a password.

As to the Dell desktop I can see the wireless notebook in My Network Places along with the Dell desktop but when I double click the notebook, I get the message" Workgroup not accessible, may not have permission, contact administrator. Network path not found. "

In the router software which I access online, both the computers are listed in connected devices. The Notebook as No.l 1 and the Dell as No. 2. although when I first set up the router, I used the Dell desktop as host.

Hope this info can explain my problem more clearly and someone can help me connect the network where I can access each computer from the other. A previous post lists all IP info on both computers. Thanks so much to anyone who can help me.

 

The ipconfig info did help. Eliminates a main source of the problem since it all looks fine.

In your original post you put a phrase I failed to notice on first reading. But it has me curious. "The laptop/wireless has been set as the host by the router software (I originally had the desktop as the host) ".

A PC should only need to be set as the host if you were using ICS or some other software solution to connect the PCs to a network and the internet. But your router is doing that job and is effectively the "host" with your setup. So wondering what you mean by one being set as the host.

As to the networking piece - more questions for you.

- are both PCs part of the same workgroup? And what is the workgroup name?

- do you have folders shared on both PCs? If not you won't see them in network neighborhood.

- if you create a share on TRMATTUSB (named share-it for this example) and from WINTEK1 do start~run~\\trmattusb\share-it, what happens? It should open the share in windows explorer if things were working right.

- same as the above but with your logging onto both PCs using the exact same username/password (non-blank password is needed), what happens?

 

Hi again Newt, I appreciate your time. Ok here goes: It was my mistake to say "host" what I meant was the Dell was put in as the no. 1 computer and now somehow it is the no. 2 computer. Don't know how that happened or if it makes a difference.

Next, the workgroup is Tomsriver and they are exactly the same on both machines. There are two folders shared on each of the computers and they come up in their own My Network Places. When I ran \\Trmattusb\MyMusic the message was "Network path not found." Same thing when I ran the command on the Dell desktop.

I was reading some additional help files in Windows Help and ran a command called "net view" on the notebook and the error message indicates that Printer and File sharing is not enabled.
I double checked that as instructed and the checkbox for printer and file sharing is checked under the wireless adapter. Ran the same command on the Dell desktop and it said 'Network path not found. "

I really am stumped. Do you think I should 1) reset the router and /or 2) make a new network using the Network Wizard?

Thanks for any ideas.

 

Newt,

Thought I'd get right back to you with this:

I just ran the "ping" command from each machine with these results: From the Dell desktop pinging the notebook all the packets went through.

From the notebook the ping command "request timed out ".

I think this may be a clue. This is the first time I'm networking and am very disappointed to see how difficult it seems.

Thanks for your expertise. Hope to hear from you soon.

 

SUCCESS!! I can now file and printer share!!!!

I did two things. went to Administrative Tools and enabled Routing and Remote Access on each of the computers (changed from Manual to Automatic). Don't know if that was the answer. But I do think that turning off Zone Alarm on the Dell helped quite a bit. I forgot it was installed. I will now uninstall.

Thanks so much for your interest and time. Have a great weekend.

 

It was Zone Alarm. Forgot to ask if you were running a firewall.

You really would do well to have one on each PC though. ZA has the ability to open itself up for a specific PC so you could be protected from bad stuff and still share your files.

RRAS (Routing and Remote Access) is only needed if you are connecting to your network from outside somewhere - usually by dial in. You can stop and disable it again.

As to the #1 PC piece - the router will normally take the IP address ending in 1 (192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 or whatever) and assign numbers to the others. No difference at all what address they get as long as it is within the same network. In your case, any addresses from 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.254 will work fine.

 

Hi Newt, I configured Zone Alarm on both PC's. Thanks for that suggestion. The remote access is back to manual.

Thanks again for all your help. This is a terrific board.

 

Glad to help and glad it's working.