XP to XP network

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bill Stanton
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Bill Stanton

I have two computers in my home named:
OFFICE and KITCHEN, both running
Windows XP Home Edition

OFFICE is the ICS host and ICS is working
perfectly. (XP Network Setup Wizard run on
both machines.)

On each machine, full privilege sharing is
enabled for OfficeHD and KitchenHD, their
respective hard-drives. Also, the HP 722C
printer on the "OFFICE" machine is shared
with a share-name of "OfficePrinter".

Neither machine can see or use the hard-drive
on the other. And, the "KITCHEN" machine
cannot either see or use the shared printer.

Each machine was made a member of workgroup
"Wishram" at the time the wizard was run.

When, at "My Network Places", "View workgroup
computers" is selected, the following diagnostic
is issued:

"Wishram is not accessible. You might not have
permission to use this network resource. Contact
the administrator of this server to find out if you have
access permissions. The list of servers for this
workgroup is not currently available."

Nothing in the "network setup wizard" talks about
being an administrator or permissions or anything
related to that. I can't find any discussions in Windows
HELP that is specifically directed towards granting
permissions to network machines, either by computer
name or workgroup. Nor, can I find anything about
who's an administrator that isn't circular in discussing
the subject.

Each machine has a single user who simply turns on
their computer and proceeds without any sort
of logon process. So, no passwords are given nor
distinctions regarding administrator status or anything
else related to such a notion. "Computer Management"
in the Control Panel didn't reveal anything suggesting
user permission grants... nothing about users either.

What do I need to do next at each machine to get
past the permission issue? Obviously, I play the
role of the administrator, but where do I go to
grant permission to network resources?

Obviously new to the nuances of XP and
Windows network elements,

Bill
 
I haven't done this for a while but here's a couple of things to try.

1)if you are using a straight peer to peer setup, where the connection
is from the NIC on one computer to the NIC on the other, you need a
special cable called a crossover cable. If you use a router, the
problem is solved for you, but on a straight peer to peer connection a
straight through cable connects the transmit to the transmit on the
other computer. The crossover cable reverses the transmit and receive
conductors so that transmit goes to receive on the other system.

I've actually made one of these crossover cables by hand. There are
instructions on the net for doing it. If you try it yourself, by
cutting a straight through cable in two, make sure to maintain the
twists in the cable pairs when you reconnect them.

When you plug the cables in to the NIC cards, you should get lights
from the small LED's on the NIC cards. I don't know if all NIC cards
use these light, but my NIC has two lights. If they're not on, you're
connection is no good and I'd definitely check the cable.

2)Are you using TCP/IP for the connection? If so, you need to assign
IP addresses to each NIC card. Once that's done, you should be able to
ping one computer from the other . Get a command prompt and type:

ping xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx, where the x's represent the ip address you're
trying to ping. If one computer is seeing the other, the ping message
will indicate that.

3)go to My Netwrok Connections and double click the icon. Double click
'Entire Network'. You should see the other computer listed.

4)if your ping is successful, and you can see the other computer in My
Network Places/Entire network, you need to activate file sharing
individualy for each drive. Right click each drive in Explorer and
click 'Sharing and Security'. Follow the instructions in there. When
sharing is enabled, the drive icon changes to one with a hand under
it. You have to do this on each computer.

Over all it's a tricky business and far more complicated than it needs
to be. Microsoft screwed up with this by trying to automate the
process for the average user. I hate the Wizards, calling them
Dummies. But Microsoft has made it virtually impossible now for the
average person to bypass the Dummies.
 
ICS is working properly via a Ethernet cross-over
cable. It's only the printer and disk sharing that I
can't get to work.
 
Installed IPX/SPX/NETBIOS Compatible
Protocol on both the host and client
machines... BINGO!

Then, all I had to do to get the printer
to work from the client was to let the
wizard "browse the network" as I
"added a printer" to the client...
BINGO again!

A rhetorical question: Why in God's name
didn't Windows XP install the needed
protocols when I specified that the
hard-drives and printer were to be
shared? Or at least tell me that the
NetBIOS protocol is needed if they are
are to be shared... SIGH!

Bill
 
Good for you. It's nice when it finally works. I was doing it with XP
on a P4 networking to Win98SE on a PII. I'm still having trouble
with a DSL connection. Once it's up, it works great, but I can't get
it to come up for 10 to 15 minutes when I first boot.
 
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