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Steve

Greetings:

My main computer is running XP pro and connects to the internet thru a
linksys router (not wireless).
I recently bought an Inspiron 710M laptop for travel. It links to the
internet thru the same linksys router. I want to share files and printers
between the two computers, so I reckoned that running the network wizard was
all I had to do. I did this, and the main computer shows up on the laptop in
the workgroup computers area, but I can't access it. When I double click the
icon it tells me I don't have permission to access it.

I wonder if I'm missing something here? Is there more to linking the two
computers than just running the wizard? Anyone have any suggestions?

-Steve
 
Greetings:

My main computer is running XP pro and connects to the internet thru a
linksys router (not wireless).
I recently bought an Inspiron 710M laptop for travel. It links to the
internet thru the same linksys router. I want to share files and printers
between the two computers, so I reckoned that running the network wizard was
all I had to do. I did this, and the main computer shows up on the laptop in
the workgroup computers area, but I can't access it. When I double click the
icon it tells me I don't have permission to access it.

I wonder if I'm missing something here? Is there more to linking the two
computers than just running the wizard? Anyone have any suggestions?

Make sure that you're using the same USER/PASSWORD when accessing the
two computer - in otherwords, make sure that you have duplicated the
user names between the two computers.

You may also need to set read/write permissions on the network share you
are accessing.
 
Hi,

Have you expicitly shared folders on the computer?
Is SP2 installed?
Do both computers belong to the same workgroup?

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
Make sure that you're using the same USER/PASSWORD when accessing the
two computer - in otherwords, make sure that you have duplicated the
user names between the two computers.

That is not necessary and doing such would have no impact on this problem.
You may also need to set read/write permissions on the network share you
are accessing.

Indeed, that may be part of the problem. Read permissions for "everyone" at
a minimum, and the folder needs to have the share enabled.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
That is not necessary and doing such would have no impact on this problem.


Indeed, that may be part of the problem. Read permissions for "everyone" at
a minimum, and the folder needs to have the share enabled.

The OP said it says he doesn't have permission - the Everyone group
would already be part of the share by default. If the password is not
the same (and user) then the share will not permit access.
 
Hi,

No, that is incorrect. WinXP, unlike earlier versions of WinNT, has remote
users authenticate as a guest. Logon/password privileges do not have to have
matching accounts on the networked machines. If that were so, my daughters
would not have access to the music and image files shared on the house file
server, as their username/password will only allow them to logon to their
machine.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
Hi,

No, that is incorrect. WinXP, unlike earlier versions of WinNT, has remote
users authenticate as a guest. Logon/password privileges do not have to have
matching accounts on the networked machines. If that were so, my daughters
would not have access to the music and image files shared on the house file
server, as their username/password will only allow them to logon to their
machine.

WinXP does not have the GUEST account enabled by default, at least not
on any XP machine I've setup in the last year. I don't do anything with
XP Home, but on the ones that I've seen, Guest is not enabled by
default, which means you are not using GUEST unless YOU enabled it.
 
Rick "Nutcase" Rogers said:
Hi,

No, that is incorrect. WinXP, unlike earlier versions of WinNT, has remote
users authenticate as a guest. Logon/password privileges do not have to
have matching accounts on the networked machines. If that were so, my
daughters would not have access to the music and image files shared on the
house file server, as their username/password will only allow them to
logon to their machine.

Rick, I experienced the same problem as the OP. Since each of the four
systems in the house are used by only one person each, I had no
username/password logon setup. I had nothing but problems trying to share
files. When I changed each system to having a username/password in order to
logon, file sharing worked without a hitch. Each system has its' own unique
username/password. Does file sharing not work correectly or inconsistently
when no usernames/passwords are used on a network?
 
Peter said:
Rick, I experienced the same problem as the OP. Since each of the
four systems in the house are used by only one person each, I had no
username/password logon setup. I had nothing but problems trying to
share
files. When I changed each system to having a username/password in
order to
logon, file sharing worked without a hitch. Each system has its' own
unique
username/password. Does file sharing not work correectly or
inconsistently when no usernames/passwords are used on a network?

I'm not Rick, but you are correct. You see, even though you don't
*think* you've got a user account and password if your XP box goes
directly to the Desktop, you do. You've got whatever the box was
originally set up as ("Owner", "User", etc.) and a null (blank)
password. Even the blank password is really a password. So it isn't
that XP's networking is broken; it is that the the box isn't set up
correctly for networking. This is one of the problems caused by
Microsoft's balancing act of wanting to make the operating system easy
for a home user and yet meeting the demands of real-world computing
(networking, for example). Bottom line, if you want a nicely
functioning network create user accounts and passwords. If there is
just one user per computer, you can always set it to log on
automatically.

How to automatically log on to a user account in Windows XP -
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;282866&sd=tech

Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm

Malke
 
Malke said:
I'm not Rick, but you are correct. You see, even though you don't
*think* you've got a user account and password if your XP box goes
directly to the Desktop, you do. You've got whatever the box was
originally set up as ("Owner", "User", etc.) and a null (blank)
password. Even the blank password is really a password. So it isn't
that XP's networking is broken; it is that the the box isn't set up
correctly for networking. This is one of the problems caused by
Microsoft's balancing act of wanting to make the operating system easy
for a home user and yet meeting the demands of real-world computing
(networking, for example). Bottom line, if you want a nicely
functioning network create user accounts and passwords. If there is
just one user per computer, you can always set it to log on
automatically.

How to automatically log on to a user account in Windows XP -
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;282866&sd=tech

Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm

Malke

Thanks Malke, you've succinctly answered the question.
 
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