-So 2 XP laptops and a W2kPro Desktop walk into a network, and the IP admistrator says...

I've read the "Networking" sticky, and it's very well written. I'll need to read that two more times or so, but I have a situation that doesn't appear to be covered by it, -I'm not sure.

I have my wife's desktop, running W2kPro, online via a Netgear wifi router.
I also have my I9200 notebook online via that same router.
I could open her desktop from my notebook, and access everything, as well as make changes to it through the network.
She could see what I had "allowed" to share on my notebook through the network.

I recently built a 9200 just like mine for my wife, and now we wish to use the desktop as file storage. I set her notebook to share files, and set her workgroup the same.
Now none of the computers can see each other on the network.

Each computer has it's own name.
Each computer belongs to the network.
Passwords are disabled on the notebooks, but not on the desktop for booting. (I had to type in a PW to gain access before.)
Automatic logon is enabled for my laptop.
All three are accessing the router via wifi. The router software shows that it sees each of them as belonging to the same network.
The wifi is unprotected. (I'm out in cowsville farm country rural NY.)

Maybe there's something obvious I've overlooked?

Thanks for your time.

 

Did you properly set up any firewall to allow for shared drives?
Did you set who was allowed to access the shared files/folders? I think you can specify users...

 

on XP prof and 2k yeah but not XP home, cant specify users there if i remember

something like a firewall, part of a security program or something is blocking access.

maybe try and kill the group and make a new one

reset IP addresses, are they static or dynamic? if one, try the other. they all have the same gateway (being the router)?

try using a physical network visa RJ45 cables. i myself have had issues with wireless network sharing, sometimes it works then it doesn't. no reasons, just doesn't.

uh btw your title implied this was going to be a joke, I am SOOO cheated by this obvious deception!

 

Hey- sometimes ya gotta be catchy to get attention, ya know?

 

Recreated the network using the XP Network Wizard on both XP Home laptops. Disabled firewalls on both, and they still can't see each other. They are both set to share their files with everyone on the network. Niether require a user password now.
Still nothing.
My wife's has no extra security installed yet, and I have Zone Alarm's firewall and AVG Free virus control.

Perhaps there's a Service that needs to be set to automatic on my laptop. (?)

 

"What can I get you folks?"
The old desktop say, "I'll have a Dynamic IP on the rocks, and where can I get a good blowjob?- I'm all dusty inside?"
The IP Administrator says, "Coming right up, and the babe at the other end of the cable's got a can of compressed air with yer name on it.", and gives a wink.
The first XP notebook says, I'll take an Asian proxyed IP with a twist, and I'd like to share a work group with some cuties I can show my big 17 inch screen to."
The Administrator hands it over and points to a table full of hot babes and winks.
The second notebook says, "I'd like a router firmware update, and a new MAC address, please."
The Administrator replies, "Hey! This aint that kinda network, son. You won't find any Macs in here. -There's a Starbucks across the street."





Ohhh C'mon! Even if it's bad, ya gotta give me credit for trying!
I need help... -I'm dyin' here!

 

Man, this is a rough crowd!

Ok, simply, this is what I need to accomplish:

I have an open network that my desktop ( running W2kPro), two XP notebooks, and Vista computer out in the garage office can all access via my Netgear wireless router.

I want the desktop and two XP notebooks to all be on the same work group.
Maybe I am confusing "work group" with "network"?

 

Can all pc access the www?

if so make sure all computer are in the same work group.

Turn on file and printer sharing on all computers if you want to go all directions. Reboot the computers, then go to my network places and see if they show up. Note if your ID and PW is the same on all pc it makes life a little easier, but not required.

 

Use IP instead of the DNS names. Eg one of my pc at home is called "pentium4" because the connection is set to peer-peer in the registry I'm unable to ping the machine dns name. The name doesn't resolve. So I proceed to use ip eg \\192.168.0.1\c$ and it works fine. With \\pentium4\c$ it doesn't work. I can set the network type to hybrid mode and it will work perfectly fine with the dns name "pentium4". But every now and again stupid windows will change it to a peer-peer network and I'm unable to map to my network shares again. So the best way is to use IP! always works for me.

 

Ok here goes my 2 cents.

On the PC with Zone Alarm try and go to; Firewall tab>zones tab and make shure that the "Zone" are in trusted mode.

On the PC's without Zone Alarm but has Windows firewall (I guess) go to; control panel>windows firewall>exceptions tab>and select "Remote desktop"

Hope this helps.