Setting Up A WorkGroup for file and Share Printing

  • Thread starter Thread starter clb
  • Start date Start date
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clb

PLEASE REPLY TO: (e-mail address removed)
AS WELL AS THIS FORUM.

Unable to get both desktop pc's to recognize
the workgroup setup, called family,
even though both pc drives are set to share mode.
 
clb said:
PLEASE REPLY TO: (e-mail address removed)
AS WELL AS THIS FORUM.

Unable to get both desktop pc's to recognize
the workgroup setup, called family,
even though both pc drives are set to share mode.
Click to expand...

Sorry, no free tech support by email. Asked here, answered here.

Here are general network troubleshooting steps. Not everything may be
applicable to your situation, so just take the bits that are. It may
look daunting, but if you follow the steps at the links and suggestions
below systematically and calmly, you will have no difficulty in setting
up your sharing.

For XP, start by running the Network Setup Wizard on all machines (see
caveat in Item A below).

Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally
caused by 1) a misconfigured firewall; or 2) inadvertently running two
firewalls such as the built-in Windows Firewall and a third-party
firewall; and/or 3) not having identical user accounts and passwords on
all Workgroup machines; 4) trying to create shares where the operating
system does not permit it.

For XP and Windows 2003 Server, MVP Hans-Georg Michna has an excellent
small network troubleshooter. It may also be useful with Vista.

http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm

Here are some general networking tips for home/small networks:

A. Configure firewalls on all machines to allow the Local Area Network
(LAN) traffic as trusted. With Windows Firewall, this means allowing
File/Printer Sharing on the Exceptions tab. Normally running the Network
Setup Wizard on XP will take care of this for those machines.The only
"gotcha" is that this will turn on the XPSP2 Windows Firewall. If you
aren't running a third-party firewall or have an antivirus with
"Internet Worm Protection" (like Norton 2006/07) which acts as a
firewall, then you're fine. With third-party firewalls, I usually
configure the LAN allowance with an IP range. Ex. would be
192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you would substitute your correct
subnet. Do not run more than one firewall.

B. For ease or organization, put all computers in the same Workgroup.
This is done from the System applet in Control Panel, Computer Name tab.

C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. You do
not need to be logged into the same account on all machines and the
passwords assigned to each user account can be different; the
accounts/passwords just need to exist and match on all machines. If you
wish a machine to boot directly to the Desktop (into one particular
user's account) for convenience, you can do this. The instructions at
this link work for both XP and Vista:

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

D. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center:

1. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab) and create identical user
accounts/passwords on all computers.

2. If you don't care about using Pro's advanced features, leave the
Simple File Sharing enabled. Simple File Sharing means that Guest
(network) is enabled. This means that anyone without a user account on
the target system can use its resources. This is a security hole but
only you can decide if it matters in your situation.

E. Create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users'
home directories (My Documents) or Program Files, but you can share
folders inside those directories. A better choice is to simply use the
Shared Documents folder.

F. After you have file sharing working (and have tested this by
exchanging a file between all machines), if you want to share a printer
connected locally to one of your computers, share it out from that
machine. Then go to the printer mftr.'s website and download the latest
drivers for the correct operating system(s). Install them on the target
machine(s). The printer should be seen during the installation routine.
If it is not, install the drivers and then use the Add Printer Wizard.


Malke
 
Tried that amd could access only one of the two drives, the D drive, however
unable to access the C drive, kept getting following message:
"Not enough server storage is available to process this command."

And Yes, I Turned off NIS 2008 firewall
And Yes, I made sure the Registry setting "IRPStackSize" on both machines
were set to decimal 15 or higher.

Still got same message on the C drive, even though I could access the D drive.
 
--
clb.


Malke said:
Sorry, no free tech support by email. Asked here, answered here.

Here are general network troubleshooting steps. Not everything may be
applicable to your situation, so just take the bits that are. It may
look daunting, but if you follow the steps at the links and suggestions
below systematically and calmly, you will have no difficulty in setting
up your sharing.

For XP, start by running the Network Setup Wizard on all machines (see
caveat in Item A below).

Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally
caused by 1) a misconfigured firewall; or 2) inadvertently running two
firewalls such as the built-in Windows Firewall and a third-party
firewall; and/or 3) not having identical user accounts and passwords on
all Workgroup machines; 4) trying to create shares where the operating
system does not permit it.

For XP and Windows 2003 Server, MVP Hans-Georg Michna has an excellent
small network troubleshooter. It may also be useful with Vista.

http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm

Here are some general networking tips for home/small networks:

A. Configure firewalls on all machines to allow the Local Area Network
(LAN) traffic as trusted. With Windows Firewall, this means allowing
File/Printer Sharing on the Exceptions tab. Normally running the Network
Setup Wizard on XP will take care of this for those machines.The only
"gotcha" is that this will turn on the XPSP2 Windows Firewall. If you
aren't running a third-party firewall or have an antivirus with
"Internet Worm Protection" (like Norton 2006/07) which acts as a
firewall, then you're fine. With third-party firewalls, I usually
configure the LAN allowance with an IP range. Ex. would be
192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you would substitute your correct
subnet. Do not run more than one firewall.

B. For ease or organization, put all computers in the same Workgroup.
This is done from the System applet in Control Panel, Computer Name tab.

C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. You do
not need to be logged into the same account on all machines and the
passwords assigned to each user account can be different; the
accounts/passwords just need to exist and match on all machines. If you
wish a machine to boot directly to the Desktop (into one particular
user's account) for convenience, you can do this. The instructions at
this link work for both XP and Vista:

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

D. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center:

1. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab) and create identical user
accounts/passwords on all computers.

2. If you don't care about using Pro's advanced features, leave the
Simple File Sharing enabled. Simple File Sharing means that Guest
(network) is enabled. This means that anyone without a user account on
the target system can use its resources. This is a security hole but
only you can decide if it matters in your situation.

E. Create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users'
home directories (My Documents) or Program Files, but you can share
folders inside those directories. A better choice is to simply use the
Shared Documents folder.

F. After you have file sharing working (and have tested this by
exchanging a file between all machines), if you want to share a printer
connected locally to one of your computers, share it out from that
machine. Then go to the printer mftr.'s website and download the latest
drivers for the correct operating system(s). Install them on the target
machine(s). The printer should be seen during the installation routine.
If it is not, install the drivers and then use the Add Printer Wizard.


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
Click to expand...
 
clb said:
Tried that amd could access only one of the two drives, the D drive, however
unable to access the C drive, kept getting following message:
"Not enough server storage is available to process this command."

And Yes, I Turned off NIS 2008 firewall
And Yes, I made sure the Registry setting "IRPStackSize" on both machines
were set to decimal 15 or higher.

Still got same message on the C drive, even though I could access the D drive.
Click to expand...

Uninstall NIS and try again. If you're smart, you won't reinstall it.
Recommended antivirus programs are NOD32, Kaspersky, and Avast (free).
The Windows Firewall is adequate for most people.


Malke
 
Tried that amd could access only one of the two drives, the D drive, however
unable to access the C drive, kept getting following message:
"Not enough server storage is available to process this command."

And Yes, I Turned off NIS 2008 firewall
And Yes, I made sure the Registry setting "IRPStackSize" on both machines
were set to decimal 15 or higher.

Still got same message on the C drive, even though I could access the D drive.
Click to expand...

How high did you go, on the server? The maximum value, acknowledged by
Microsoft, is 50. And, double check the correct key.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/server-functionality-affected-by.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/server-functionality-affected-by.html

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP 2005-2007 [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.
 
Chuck:

I finally got it to work. Basically, I created same account
name/pwd on second machine to match exactly the account name/pwd on first
machine that I wanted to access.
Still did not work.
Then I logged into the new account on remote machine and logged
out.
Then I powered down second (remote) machine.
Then I pwered back up the second machine.
Logged into the account I use for all of this work and both
drives (c,d) were accessible from the remote machne. However, I had to do a
lot of re-booting, working with Regedit, as there is not much to setting a
home Workgroup.

One final Note: I did a lot of re-booting, regediting the IRPStackSize Key,
trying a lot of other stuff. As a result, I can not state the exact sequence
of events that could unquivocably be used as a way of solving this issue.
Somehow I lucked into a solution that seems to work for now.








--
clb.


Chuck said:
Tried that amd could access only one of the two drives, the D drive, however
unable to access the C drive, kept getting following message:
"Not enough server storage is available to process this command."

And Yes, I Turned off NIS 2008 firewall
And Yes, I made sure the Registry setting "IRPStackSize" on both machines
were set to decimal 15 or higher.

Still got same message on the C drive, even though I could access the D drive.
Click to expand...

How high did you go, on the server? The maximum value, acknowledged by
Microsoft, is 50. And, double check the correct key.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/server-functionality-affected-by.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/server-functionality-affected-by.html

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP 2005-2007 [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.
Click to expand...
 
Basically I got it to work by creating same username/pwd on remote machine.
Modifying Registry key IRPStackSize
Doing a log of re-booting on both machines.

However, since I did quite a bit of non-sequential changes on both machines
and kept either re-starting or powering up both machines I would not be able
to tell you exactly solved the issue.
--
clb.


Chuck said:
Tried that amd could access only one of the two drives, the D drive, however
unable to access the C drive, kept getting following message:
"Not enough server storage is available to process this command."

And Yes, I Turned off NIS 2008 firewall
And Yes, I made sure the Registry setting "IRPStackSize" on both machines
were set to decimal 15 or higher.

Still got same message on the C drive, even though I could access the D drive.
Click to expand...

How high did you go, on the server? The maximum value, acknowledged by
Microsoft, is 50. And, double check the correct key.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/server-functionality-affected-by.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/server-functionality-affected-by.html

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP 2005-2007 [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.
Click to expand...
 
I believe it may have to do with making sure the ms firewall is turned on and
the NiS 2008 Firewall be turned off.
--
clb.


Chuck said:
Tried that amd could access only one of the two drives, the D drive, however
unable to access the C drive, kept getting following message:
"Not enough server storage is available to process this command."

And Yes, I Turned off NIS 2008 firewall
And Yes, I made sure the Registry setting "IRPStackSize" on both machines
were set to decimal 15 or higher.

Still got same message on the C drive, even though I could access the D drive.
Click to expand...

How high did you go, on the server? The maximum value, acknowledged by
Microsoft, is 50. And, double check the correct key.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/server-functionality-affected-by.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/server-functionality-affected-by.html

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP 2005-2007 [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.
Click to expand...
 
I believe it may have to do with making sure the ms firewall is turned on and
the NiS 2008 Firewall be turned off.
Click to expand...

Well, thanks for letting us know that you got a solution.

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP 2005-2007 [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.
 
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