Vista laptop cant access networked computers

Hi there guys, ive been having trouble accessing other computers on my home network through my laptop.

A little background, my laptop and the other computers im trying to connect to are all vista.

The laptop is connected wireless (using DHCP) to the network and also uses the internet through the network. The laptop can display all the computers on the network map, however the laptop cant connect to the other computers, but the network pcs can connect to the laptop.

Now i freshly installed vista on both my pc and laptop consecutively, using the same settings for both, but i keep getting permission errors when trying to access another computer.

\\[PC NAME] is not accessible. You might not have permissions to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions.

The network is not present or not started."

The laptop is says it is connected to "workgroup" but i wanted to try changing that, then changing it back to see if it fixed the problem

When i installed vista on the pc, it asked me if i wanted to connect to the home network and workgroup in which i did. This option did not come up for the laptop, i assume this is due to it not being connected physically to the network during the install. If i try to change the work group by right clicking computer, then properties, then change settings where "Network ID" is located, the option is greyed for me even thoughI am logged in as administrator.

I was going to try plugging the network cable in to the laptop, to see if that changes anything, but i dont think it will, other than that i will probably have to try reinstalling vista with the cable connected to see if it will let me join the home network during installation.

If anyone could help that would be much appreciated.

Cheers, Gaz

cliffs
-vista laptop can join the network and use the net
-vista laptop cant access other computers on the network
-tried changing workgroup, but network ID is greyed out
-going to try using a network cable, instead of wireless

 

have that same problem trying to figure out what to do ..looking for solutions here...my situation is that im tryin to print from my laptop to the printer installed on my XP SP3 desktop. on my laptop i can see all pc's on the network and can access all of them same for the desktop and i can print from my laptop..but my sister's laptop i cannot do that. network discovery in on on her pc but yet she cannot see the other pcs on the network except hers so i was wondering what can i do to fix that. both laptops are vista HP SP1 and the desktop where the HP Printer is installed in XP SP3,, help anyone.

 

To the OP: Don't reinstall Vista. That's not the problem, and a reinstall won't really fix anything. Make sure both computers belong to the same workgroup, and both computers are on the same subnet (aka: 192.168.0.xxx). Make sure both computers are on a "private" network. In the Network and Sharing Center, under the map, you'll see the name of the network and in parentheses it will say public or private. If it says public, click customize and change it to private.

If that doesn't help, post again and we'll try something else.

To BlackLight - you don't have the same situation. There are known issues with XP and Vista, and there are also plenty of posts on this forum about how to configure XP and Vista machines so they will network properly.

 

Yo OP, just need to turn on filesharing.

Also set the quotas for the HD's in use, like that no one will use it all up.

Also make sure the computers are shared on network.
PM for help if needed i can send you a tut.

 

The computers are on the same workgroup, but i cant change the workgroup to see if thats the problem as its greyed out. also but subnet i assume you mean the 255.... address, not the ip, and yes they are the same, and they can ping each other fine. they are all on private network, so thats why im confused :s

filesharing is on, and the HD quotas are not the problem.


Thanks for the suggestions so far guys though, ill keep on looking around trying to find a fix, but if i cant find anything, ill just format it and see what happens, i dont have anything one the laptop atm anyway, so it wont matter much.

 

If you right click on the Computer icon on the desktop, scroll down to the "Computer name, domain..." section, click Change settings (then give the UAC the OK to continue), click the Change... button, you are unable to change the workgroup or computer name?

Another thing - have you disabled the software firewall to see if that's causing the problem?

 

Ok....just some ideas.

1. What version of .Vista are the computers using? If any is .Vista Home "Basic" or "Premium" <--(not sure about Premium) That will explain why the changing of the "Network ID" name change is being greyed out. Those versions don't support joining domain networks. That shouldn't prevent you from changing workgroups though...I don't use .Vista so this is just a hunch.

2. The fact that you can "see" the computer(s) means alot. Even though you cannot access them. Now when you try to connect to a computer are you even being presented with a prompt to enter "log-in" credentials to connect to the said computer? *Note: Even if a computer is not on the same workgroup/domain you can still connect to it by entering \\ipaddress in Start-->Run or in an Explorer windows' address bar.

3. You should be presented w/ a prompt as I mentioned above...at least for the first time. Nevertheless, I personally believe the culprit to be a Firewall program blocking the connection attempts. Try uninstalling any and every firewall program you r using on the computer that you're trying to connect to....

 

i can change the computer name, but not either domain or workgroup.

all firewalls are already disabled on all computers

1. Most of the vista versions installed are ultimate, with exception of my mothers computer which is home.

2.There is no prompt for login, just straight up permission error. And i have also already tried using the IPs and computer names in the address line.

3.The only firewalls on the computer are windows firewall, which i disable as soon as i install windows. The firewalls were disabled in windows firewall options and in services.msc.

it does sound like some kind of firewall problem, but it cant be as they have been disabled. i guess its almost format time haha.


thanks for the suggestions so far guys!!

 

Have you disabled any services? Do you have client for Microsoft networks installed (look under wireless/wired network connection properties)? It sounds like you either disabled or didn't install a critical component for networking.

 

bah genius haha, i found the problem in services. i disabled workstation after reading through one of the stickies, turns out i shouldn't on a network.

 

Major headaches here. I just purchased a new HP Pavillion laptop with Vista Home Premium. I have set up my network, named it Workgroup and it is unique, I can see peripherals (all periphals are "Unspecified", my laptop is the only one in "Workgroup". I cannot see the network printer either. The two other computers in the "unspecified group" show "Windows Meda device", which they are not...any suggestions?

Thanks