wireless networking and file sharing

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Charlie3110

I know that you must have answered this question a thousand times and i
apologise for that but as we two silver surfers are floundering around in a
plethora of answers and methods I am hoping that you can point me to a link
that will talk at me in basic terms. My friend and I want to share files
between his laptop and my desktop. He already uses my internet connection
wirelessly and without problem. what we need now is a basic instruction as to
how to set up a network connection to share files. We have read all about
mapping and have tried various wizards but every time we look into My Network
Places we don't have any network places! I am sure that it is easy when you
know how and we are probably getting nearly there but we don't know when it
goes wrong. We both can complete the Set Up a Home or Small Office Wizard and
we get to the bit where it says Finished and we think we have finished
but.......... it is just teasing us.
Please SOS save our sanity.
Thanks
Charlie
 
Charlie3110 said:
I know that you must have answered this question a thousand times and i
apologise for that but as we two silver surfers are floundering around in
a plethora of answers and methods I am hoping that you can point me to a
link that will talk at me in basic terms. My friend and I want to share
files between his laptop and my desktop. He already uses my internet
connection wirelessly and without problem. what we need now is a basic
instruction as to how to set up a network connection to share files. We
have read all about mapping and have tried various wizards but every time
we look into My Network Places we don't have any network places! I am sure
that it is easy when you know how and we are probably getting nearly there
but we don't know when it goes wrong. We both can complete the Set Up a
Home or Small Office Wizard and we get to the bit where it says Finished
and we think we have finished but.......... it is just teasing us.
Click to expand...

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 of 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.

Malke
 
Thanks for that Malke. I will read this 20 times and then when my friend next
staggers over we can try again. Hopefully what little hair we have left will
not be pulled out like the last efforts.
Charlie
 
Malke I have read this again slowly and I think it is going to hlep me. We
once got this running wirelessly but we don't remember how but my friend has
been away over wintering in Sapin and now has returned with a new laptop and
try as we may to configure his new machine it fails us. He has XP home as I
do. We would like to do this wirelessly as before he could reside with his
wife in his motorhome in my garden but could download any folders I made
sharing and he could send things to my printer and come in and switch it on.
Can you refresh our memory on how to get to the wizard to set up a wireless
network? I think we have a Firewall problem as I have Norton internet
security 2008 and he is using windows. We will get there eventually with your
help.
Thanks again Charlie
 
Charlie3110 said:
Malke I have read this again slowly and I think it is going to hlep me. We
once got this running wirelessly but we don't remember how but my friend
has been away over wintering in Sapin and now has returned with a new
laptop and try as we may to configure his new machine it fails us. He has
XP home as I do. We would like to do this wirelessly as before he could
reside with his wife in his motorhome in my garden but could download any
folders I made sharing and he could send things to my printer and come in
and switch it on. Can you refresh our memory on how to get to the wizard
to set up a wireless network? I think we have a Firewall problem as I have
Norton internet security 2008 and he is using windows. We will get there
eventually with your help.
Click to expand...

I think you are confusing two things here - wireless network access and
network sharing. It doesn't matter whether your friend connects to the
Local Area Network (LAN) wired or wirelessly - he is connected to the same
LAN.

The first step is to be sure your friend can connect to the Internet via
your wireless router. Can he? If yes, then run the Network Setup Wizard and
allow File/Printer Sharing. If not, then post back for instructions on
setting up a wireless router.

You will need to configure Norton to allow the LAN as trusted. Refer to
Norton's Help or uninstall that piece of garbage and replace with something
good like NOD32 or even Avast (free). The built-in Windows Firewall is
adequate for most people.

As for your friend, you didn't say what antivirus/firewall he is using. He
also needs to configure his security properly.

Since you both have XP Home, once you have allowed File/Printer Sharing,
configured your firewall, and created a share (use the Shared Folders), you
should be able to see each other's computers.

If you are still having difficulties, take the time to go through Mr.
Michna's troubleshooter. Here is the link again for your convenience:

http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm

Malke
 
Hi Malke
Whilst my friend is on his travels again i thought I would try to set up the
network between my own laptop and desktop. I have run the wizards to a
conclusion and I have told Norton to trust the computer physical address of
the other member of the network. However when I go into My network Places
when we had sharing before it all went wrong, all of the shared folders on
the other computer became visible. Now I have an icon on the laptop with the
laptop name (charlie) but nothing on the desktop (brian) if I then click on
View Workgroup Computers I get the error message MShome is not accessible.
You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the
administrator or this server to find out if you have access permissions. The
list of servers for this workgroup is not available. I am the administrator
aren't I? I have no passwords or shared use of this PC or my Laptop. I can
use my laptop wirelessly to the internet through the wireless router that is
connected to the Desktop with an Ethernet cable.
Any ideas what to do nnow?
Thanks
Charlie (not the laptop)
 
Charlie3110 said:
Hi Malke
Whilst my friend is on his travels again i thought I would try to set up
the network between my own laptop and desktop. I have run the wizards to a
conclusion and I have told Norton to trust the computer physical address
of the other member of the network. However when I go into My network
Places when we had sharing before it all went wrong, all of the shared
folders on the other computer became visible. Now I have an icon on the
laptop with the laptop name (charlie) but nothing on the desktop (brian)
if I then click on View Workgroup Computers I get the error message MShome
is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network
resource. Contact the administrator or this server to find out if you have
access permissions. The list of servers for this workgroup is not
available. I am the administrator aren't I? I have no passwords or shared
use of this PC or my Laptop. I can use my laptop wirelessly to the
internet through the wireless router that is connected to the Desktop with
an Ethernet cable. Any ideas what to do nnow?
Click to expand...

1. 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

2. Check the firewall again on the machine giving the access denied error.

Malke
 
Well thanks to you Malke I have got it working from Latop to my desk top PC.
It can't see it the other way round but I am not too bothered as the desktop
is the main source of material to be shared to my friend's laptop and my own.
I got the printer working as well after changing the default to the desktop
(I used to swap the cable over before but can now do it wirelessly. The main
problem as you so rightly hit on straight away was the Firewall. Once I had
sorted out the names of the PCs and the groups etc. it all fell into place. I
knew I was in the right direction with that when I switched off the firewalls
on both machines and it worked; then it was only, I say only but for me it
was a struggle, had to make the partners trusting.
Thanks again
Charlie
 
Charlie3110 said:
Well thanks to you Malke I have got it working from Latop to my desk top
PC. It can't see it the other way round but I am not too bothered as the
desktop is the main source of material to be shared to my friend's laptop
and my own. I got the printer working as well after changing the default
to the desktop (I used to swap the cable over before but can now do it
wirelessly. The main problem as you so rightly hit on straight away was
the Firewall. Once I had sorted out the names of the PCs and the groups
etc. it all fell into place. I knew I was in the right direction with that
when I switched off the firewalls on both machines and it worked; then it
was only, I say only but for me it was a struggle, had to make the
partners trusting. Thanks again
Click to expand...

I'm glad you got it working, even if it is still not two-way. I've told you
everything I can to make the sharing two-way, so you may wish to read
through it again if you decide to revisit the issue.

Thanks for taking the time to post back.

Malke
 
Hi Malke
Back again. I though that I could manage without the both way working but
couldn't so I have re read your advice and have set up user accounts on all
of the laptops and main PC and called them all the same "Guest" I haven't
given them a password as it didn't ask for one but unless you tell me that
this is essential I at least have an open user account of the same name on
all of the PCs. However when I try to access the networking from some of the
laptops and from my Desk top to certain laptops I get the message "\\charlie
(laptop name)\is not accesssible. You might not have permission to use this
network resourse. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you
have access permissions." What does this mean please Malke and what do I do
now? Thanks
Charlie
 
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