XP Home/Professional problems

[northward]

I've (almost) successfully networked two computers using a Netgear wireless router. Sharing the Internet cable connection works just fine. I shared the hard drive(s) on each machine.

The laptop, which is running XP Home, can see the drives on the desktop without any problems whatsoever. The desktop, which is running XP Professional, can see the laptop in the list of network places, but anytime I try to access the laptop from the desktop I get an error message indicating that I don't have permission to access that resource.

Toshiba, the laptop manufacturer, is telling me that I have to upgrade the laptop to XP Professional, but I'm having a hard time swallowing that, given that XP Home has networking and file sharing capabilities built in. Is Toshiba correct, or am I missing something really stupid?

Thanks so much in advance, as I'm pulling my hair out and don't have much hair left to pull! ;)

[glen4cindy]

First, make sure that the Guest account is turned on for both PC's.

Make sure you are logged into each PC.

Make sure you do not have the XP firewall turned on on either machine.

This should make it possible to share files between PC's.

You should, however, only share files using NetBEUI as there has been recent activity of hacking on PC's running XP and Win2k using TCP/IP for file and printer sharing.

Go here:

http://www.scotsnewsletter.com/38.htm#tipadaweek

for more info on setting this up.

Good Luck.

[northward]

OK, I'll show my ignorance here ... what do you mean by guest account? I presume that there's some setting within XP to turn this on?

Thanks in advance.

[northward]

Nevermind ... I'm an idiot. I just found it, and yep, it's turned on. Now that I've ruled that out, I had followed all of your suggestions before posting my original message.

[Greenstead]

Some clarifications :

- You don't need XP Pro to share resources, XP Home is fine.

- To avoid confusion - You don't need to (and should not) enable the user guest account. It has nothing to do with file sharing. Turn it off, it is a security risk. It is the Net guest account that must be enabled - it is by default.

- If both PCs are behind a NAT router (like you have) then TCP/IP is ok to use for sharing. Netbeui is safer and is no harm to use, but unecessary for you.

- You should not really share the full hard drive of each PC. It has no benefit and is a security risk. It is better you make a network share folder on each PC.

To try and get sharing working you could go thro my checklist in my sig below.

[northward]

I ran through Greenstead's checklist and report that everything has been complied with, actually prior to my original posting, with the following potential exceptions:

1. "- MS Client and file & printer sharing are checked on each NIC" -- it may be, but I'm not quite sure where this is

2. "- All NICs have their node type = anything except peer-peer. Check with Ipconfig /all (XP) or winipcfg (W9X)." -- I ran Ipconfig, but there's no reference to a node type that I see.

Thanks for everyone's continued input.

[Greenstead]

MS File & Printer Sharing::
START->Connect to->Show all connections->(Opens Network Connection)->highlight 'local area connection' and right click and select properties->

On the General Tab you should see four items:
- Client for Microsoft Networks
- File and Printer Sharing
- QoS
- Internet protocol (TCP/IP)
All boxes should show a tick.



node type:
START->Programs->Accessories->command prompt
Enter Ipconfig /all

example output:
Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : CPQ22181263872

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown <---- Node type

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes

[northward]

Thanks, Greenstead. You wrote:

----------
MS File & Printer Sharing::
START->Connect to->Show all connections->(Opens Network Connection)->highlight 'local area connection' and right click and select properties->

On the General Tab you should see four items:
- Client for Microsoft Networks
- File and Printer Sharing
- QoS
- Internet protocol (TCP/IP)
All boxes should show a tick.
-----------

Check. All is well. You also wrote:


-----------
node type:
START->Programs->Accessories->command prompt
Enter Ipconfig /all

example output:
Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : CPQ22181263872

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown <---- Node type

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
--------------


I've got "Node Type: Unknown", BUT I'm showing "No" for both "IP Routing Enabled" and "WINS Proxy Enabled". I presume that this could be the issue. May I ask you for instructions on how to correct, assuming that this is the problem? You've been most helpful, and I appreciate the time that you've spent with me on this.

[justinh]

node type:
START->Programs->Accessories->command prompt
Enter Ipconfig /all

example output:
Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : CPQ22181263872

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown <---- Node type

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
--------------------------------------------------------------------

hi.... I'm think I'm also facing a similiar problem as u... My ipconfig shows this but my brothers whois the client has

Node Type.......................:Mixed
Ip Routing Enabled..........: No
Wins Proxy Enabled.........: No

Could this be the problem he can't surf webpages? i've tried pinging other websites but don't seem to get a reply. only certain sites such as google.com and angelfire.com would get a reply

Thanks in advance

Justin

[justinh]

oh btw.... I'm using an 8 port Netgear Ethernet Hub.... so does this make a difference? Pardon me for my ignorance :)

[Greenstead]

northward

I've got "Node Type: Unknown", BUT I'm showing "No" for both "IP Routing Enabled" and "WINS Proxy Enabled

This is OK. It will not prevent resource sharing.

I think you should go back to my checklist and go thro all the checks.

Especially check you have a NETWORK share on the laptop and no firewalls.


justinh - if your problem still exists you should start your own thread.