You didn't put much information in about what troubleshooting you've done so
far, or anything beyond your basic configuration (do you have a router or
firewall in place for internet connectivity - when you went through the
wizards, what options did you select) - so I can't be too specific about
where exactly the problem might lie. There are few other ways to test
windows network connectivity that might help narrow the problem down,
however.
Start with the basic TCP/IP connectivity:
Verify that both computers have valid, unique IP addresses on the same
subnet - and that the computers can ping each other, etc. If not - where do
your computers get their ip addresses? DHCP Server? Static?
Move to Windows connectivity:
Once you are assured that the computers can see each other tcp/ip-wise, go
to Start - Run - \\nameofothecomputer - press enter. This will show any
available shared file/folders on the other machine. Do this on both machines
against each other. If you don't get an error, and a window appears with a
resource list (file and folders), you're in luck (you might come across a
logon request). Often times, Network Neighborhood isn't populated, but the
machines can still communicate with each other. If this is the case - try
starting the Computer Browser service on your XP machine. The content of
Network Neighborhood is accounted for by this service, and machines on the
network will look to the Browser service when it needs a list of resources
on the network.
If using the UNC path (\\nameofothercomputer) doesn't produce results:
If enabled (and if you can for safety reasons), disable the Internet
Connection Firewall on the XP machine.
Make sure both computers have the same Workgroup name.
Make sure NetBios is enabled and configured correctly on both machines.
Hope this helps narrow the problem down for you. Post back if you have more
questions or still can't get your setup to work.
Patrick Pitre
