Networking Two Computers through Linksys Router

I think we can help you Jay,
But first I have some questions.

1. do you share a internet connection with these computers now?
2. does it work?
3. is this a wireless network or are you using cables?

With others helping you before, you may have done some of these steps before... bear with us until we get caught up with you.

1st, let's check your tcp/ip settings on both computers to ensure they are compatable. Do this on both computers and post here the info you get.

     click start
        click run
            type CMD
                type IPCONFIG /ALL

Ok so there are a few rules to follow... They go like this
1. Right click my computer and select properties look at the computer names (they have to be different.
2. Next look at workgroup these have to be the same. For example you have a workgroup named BOB  on each computer it needs to be BOB
3. Look at the IP addresses on each PC... go to a command prompt (GO Start -> Run ->and type CMD to bring up the command prompt. Type IPCONFIG /ALL on each PC.
Compare them you should have different IP addresses on each (important) and the same subnet mask and default gateway.  if this all matches we move on
4. From a command prompt type ping ???.???.???.???  (where ??? is the IP address of the other computer)  YOu should get 4 healthy responses
5. Next Ping by computer name  again you should get 4 healthy responses
6. Once you can ping successfully between computers you need to develop shares.
7. Open up windows explorer.  Right click the drives you wish to share and select sharing alternatively you can choose properties and then sharing.
8. Share the drives out. you likely will want to give everyone full control.
9. Click Start->Run->GPEDIT.msc to bring up the group policy editor.
Select Computer Configuration ->Windows Settings -> Security Settings ->Local Policies ->Security Options->
 You need to look for an entry that says  "Network Access:Sharing and Security  right click this select properties and set to Classic.  Save your settings and close out of here.
10. You need to map to the drive from the other computer.  Right click My computer and MAP Network Drive  type in the other computers name and share name as follows

\\computer name\share name and select a drive letter.

It will likely pop up asking you for a user name and password

Type in a user name and password from an account that resides on the opposite computer.

You will need to configure both PC's in the same manner to make the network work. Also make sure there are passwords set on accounts to enable them for sharing.


Hopefully this helps.

Good Luck

Kabaam,

Unfortunatly, right now I don't have access to my computers.  I will in the matter of two hours.  So if it's anything specific relateding to my computers, that'll have to wait.

As for your questions...

1.)  Both computers do have the internet.  Each computer pulls it's internet seperatly from the router.  Neither of the computers, go through the other computer to recieve the connection.

2.)  The internet works perfectly fine.  2 years & counting. :)

3.)  It's both.  This is a wireless Linksys router.  My "Main" computer is attached to the router via cables.  My laptop is connected to the router wirelessly.  At certain times, I may connect my laptop to the router via a cable, but I only do this if I am massivly downloading files.  But 90% of the time I am using it wirelessly.

You can ask as many questions as you like, I don't care how much work it takes to get it done, I just want it done.  I've waited so long for this, I'm determined to get it working.  And any help, you or others could give would be hugely appreciated.

As for my TCP/IP numbers, for one I'm don't have access to the computers, so it would have to wait.   But I do have concerns though over giving out that specific information.  Assuming we are specifically talking about IP numbers & gateway numbers & such, from what I've always understood was never to give anyone that information, and it's basically the key to get into your computer.

Jay

Jay,

You are correct about the IP numbers ..sort of.
Sure you do not want to be handing out your public IP address to folks that do not need it but, a private IP address would be ok.
The private IP address is used only for your network and not accessable directly via the internet, someone would have to access the public address first.  
if the address starts with 192.168 or 172. or 169 they are private address ranges.  That means that you and I can use the same address for our computers at home but, our routers or modems will require an address not used anywhere else.
90% of ISP accounts use dynamic addressing, which means that the public ip address will change every few days.
almost everyone that has a small home or buisness network will have addressing in the same range for private use. 192.168.0.1-254 or 192.168.1.1-254

Jay,
Since both PC's are on the same side of the Linksys, on the same subnet, it's just a matter of getting them talking to each other. Here's some specific guidance on getting Xp systems talking to each other:
First and formost, make sure there is no firewall software running! XP has built in PFW.Turn off the Internet Connection Firewall ICF in the advanced settings for the Lan Connection. Check for Norton Internet Security AV/Firewall, BlackIce, ZoneAlarm, PC-cillin (yes, some AV products have built-in firewall), VPN cliet (Raptor Mobile, Cisco VPN), et al.
-------------
Next, check your XP networking setup:
http://support.chartermi.net/support/pipeline/windows/winxp_network.html
Although this link says to set netbios over tcp/ip to "default", follow the instructions below...
-------------
Turn on "Simple file sharing" on the XP (Pro only) machine. Open explorer, click tools, click folder options, click the view tab and scroll down until you see "Use simple file sharing" then check the box..
----------------
For the duration of testing, enable the Guest account on XP. If all works, you can deal with that issue later (username/passwords for everyone on every PC)
----------------
Client for Microsoft Networks needs to be the primary network logon for all other machines

http://www.wown.com/j_helmig/wxpwin9x.htm
----------------
All machines are in the same workgroup
----------------

Enable NetBios over TCP/IP in WIndows XP
Step 1: Turn On NetBIOS over TCP/IP
Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Network and Internet Connections.
Click Network Connections.
Right-click Local Area Connection, and then click Properties.
Click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click Properties.
Click the General tab, and then click Advanced.
Click the WINS tab.
Under NetBIOS setting, click Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP, and then click OK two times.
Click Close to close the Local Area Connection Properties dialog box.
Close the Network Connections window.

Step 2: Start the Computer Browser Service
Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Manage.
In the console tree, expand Services and Applications.
Click Services.
In the right details pane, verify that the Computer Browser service is started, right-click Computer Browser, and then click Start.
Close the Computer Management window.
Reboot the workstation.

Make sure you have identical username/password on both workstations.

Here's my Windows Network Troubleshooting Guide - Hope this helps.

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Troubleshooting Microsoft Networking
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Most of these articles are intended to be used with Windows XP on the client side.  However, they can also apply to Windows servers with network connectivity issues.  Cabling, duplex mismatch, and ICMP(ping) testing also apply to other operating systems.

-------------------------------------------------
Table of contents
-------------------------------------------------
Check the cabling

Duplex Mismatch

Ping Help
Ping the loop back to test the stack
Ping the NIC to test the NIC
Ping the default gateway to test network connectivity
Ping a site by name      
Ping a site by IP
Run Trace Route


How to troubleshoot network connectivity problems
How to troubleshoot TCP/IP connectivity with Windows XP      
How to Troubleshoot TCP/IP Connectivity with Windows 2000 or Windows NT
How to reset Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in Windows XP
How to determine and recover from Winsock2 corruption
How to disable simplified sharing and set permissions on a shared folder in Windows XP
"Access is Denied" Error Message When You Try to Open a Folder
How to set, view, change, or remove file and folder permissions in Windows XP
Access Denied Error When Attempting to Connect to a Network Share
How to Capture Network Traffic with Network Monitor
How to Install the Support Tools from the Windows XP CD-ROM
Description of the Network Monitor Capture Utility
How to install NetBEUI on Windows XP
 

-------------------------------------------------
Check the cabling
The first thing to check, with network problems is the cabling.  Verify it’s completely plugged in and not a little loose.  Most “modern” copper network cabling is Cat5, Cat5e, or Cat6.  Cat refers to category.  This means speed the cable is rated for.  The higher number, the better for “speed” and also the expense.  When I refer to cabling, I am not referring to fiber cabling – although physical issues such as unplugging can also affect fiber cabling.

Copper cabling can be susceptible to Electro Magnetic Interference (EMI).  Care should be taken not to run copper cabling over phlorescent lights, near large electrical motors, or other sources of high EMI.

Ethernet Cat5, Cat5e, or Cat6 cabling should not be run over 100m (~328 feet) without the use of repeaters, hubs, or switches in between segments.

If a patch cable does not work – make sure it’s a straight through, not a cross over.  Straight through cabling will be color coded the same on both ends.  If the cabling is 568B pinout, the color pattern will be:

White with orange
Orange with white
White with green
Blue with white
White with blue
Green with white
White with brown
Brown with white.

An alternative pin out color scheme is 568A in which case the oranges and greens are swapped.

Cross Over cable – a cross over cable will swap the transmit pair with the receive pair.  This will let two similar devices communicate by crossing receive to transmit and vice versa.  Cross over cables will have oranges and greens swapped from one end to the other.

Roll Over cable – a roll over cable will “roll over” pins 1 through 8 to be pins 8 through 1 on the other end.  These are commonly used with network equipment in a  communications port.

Split Pair – please note – if you are doing your own cable termination, you CANNOT wire a cable so that pin 1 is color A on both ends, pin 2 is color B on both ends, pin 3 is color C on both ends and so on.  If you do, this will result in a “split pair” which will cause errors on the wire in the form of “near end cross talk”.


-------------------------------------------------
Duplex Mismatch
An insidious, common problem is a duplex mismatch.  Duplex refers to a device’s ability to listen and talk at the same time – or not.  A device which is operating in half duplex can only send OR receive – but not both at the same time.  

A device operating in half duplex mode uses Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) – a mechanism in which the device can tell if electrical signals have “collided”, alert other devices on the segment there has been a collision, and a way to retransmit while hopefully avoiding another collision during the retransmission.

A device operating in full duplex mode turns off the CD part – it does not detect when a collision occurs because there should be no collisions with two devices operating in full duplex mode.  Devices in full duplex are able to transmit and receive at the same time.  They typically only achieve this ability when plugged into another device which can operate in full duplex – such as a switch.

The problem occurs when there is a misconfiguration on one end of the connection and one device is set for Autonegotiation while the other side is not.  In this scenario, the side set for autonegotiation is unable to autonegotiate, because the side set for full duplex does not negotiate.  The autonegotiate side will assume it is talking to a device which is incapable of autonegotiation and to be backwards compatible with older equipment, WILL CONFIGURE ITSELF FOR HALF DUPLEX.  In this scenario, the full duplex side will not listen for collisions and the half duplex side will.  The full duplex side will see frames with Frame Check Sequence (FCS) and Alignment errors while the half duplex side will see late collisions and giant frames.  If a PC is set for 100 Full duplex and it is connected to an unmanaged, autonegotiating switch, there WILL BE NO ERROR STATISTICS to tell the user or administrator there is a problem.

What makes this particularly insidious, is that basic PING testing will succeed.  The user will be able to access files, the internet, print, and so on.  However, as the size and frequency of the packets increases, so will the errors resulting in retransmissions of packets and delayed reassembly of large datagrams due to higher layer retransmission requests.  This will result in approximately 1/10th the perceived throughput with large file transfers.

Although autonegotiate to autonegotiate should negotiate correctly to the highest speed and duplex, the key word is SHOULD.

Best practice is for devices which do not move much – servers – or for devices which optimal speed is desired – should be configured with manually set speed and duplex – for instance 100Mbps and Full Duplex on both sides of the connection.

Devices which connect to unmanaged devices – devices which rely upon autonegotiate should also be configured as autonegotiate.  In cases where autonegotiate is not working correctly, the configurable side should be configured for HALF duplex and let the autonegotiate side also select HALF duplex.

Please see the following chart for autonegotiate settings:
Auto> 100 Full = duplex mismatch & lots of errors
100 Full > Auto = duplex mismatch & lots of errors
100 Full > 100 Full = good config no errors
Auto> Auto = SHOULD be ok, may not be.  Possible errors.
Auto> x speed HALF duplex = SHOULD be ok.  May not be, because of speed mismatch.


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Using “ping” to troubleshoot connectivity.
PING stands for Packet Internet Groper.  No one really understands what this means, but the name is in common usage because of its similarity to the way ships detect the presence of submarines in the movies.  

A PING is an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) “echo request” followed by “echo replies” coming from the destination, or target.  Device A can send a PING to device B, and device B should respond, if it is reachable from device A.

PING is the first, and most common, method of troubleshooting whether devices using the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) can “talk” to each other.

Open CMD window:
To run PING a command window should be opened – note, there are graphical utility programs which have been written which allow a more friendly user interface – however, we will focus on the command line version, since it comes “installed” with most TCP/IP “stacks”.

In Windows, click on start, then run.  In Windows NT, XP, 2000, and 2003, enter the word “cmd” and click on OK/Start/Enter.  In Windows ’95 and ’98 type the word “command” and click on OK/Start/Enter.

 
Usage:
The following is from entering the PING help.

C:\WINDOWS>ping /?

Usage: ping [-t] [-a] [-n count] [-l size] [-f] [-i TTL] [-v TOS]
            [-r count] [-s count] [[-j host-list] | [-k host-list]]
            [-w timeout] target_name

Options:
    -t             Ping the specified host until stopped.
                   To see statistics and continue - type Control-Break;
                   To stop - type Control-C.
    -a             Resolve addresses to hostnames.
    -n count       Number of echo requests to send.
    -l size        Send buffer size.
    -f             Set Don't Fragment flag in packet.
    -i TTL         Time To Live.
    -v TOS         Type Of Service.
    -r count       Record route for count hops.
    -s count       Timestamp for count hops.
    -j host-list   Loose source route along host-list.
    -k host-list   Strict source route along host-list.
    -w timeout     Timeout in milliseconds to wait for each reply.


Determine if TCP/IP stack working correctly:
At a command line (looks like: c:\ or something similar in a command window) type:
Ping 127.1.0.1
This command will return results like:

C:\WINDOWS>ping 127.1.0.1

Pinging 127.1.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 127.1.0.1:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms
This indicates the TCP/IP stack is working correctly.  If you don’t see these results, please see the How to reset Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in Windows XP section.

 
Determine if Network Interface Card (NIC) stack working correctly:
If your IP address is something similar to 192.168.0.10 (it can be any number less than or equal to 255) then try pinging your IP address.

C:\WINDOWS>ping 192.168.0.10

Pinging 192.168.0.10 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.0.10: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.0.10: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.0.10: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.0.10: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 192.168.0.10:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms
This indicates the NIC is working correctly.  If you don’t see these results, please see the How to reset Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in Windows XP section.  If resetting TCP/IP doesn’t work, you may have a hardware issue with the NIC.

First, make sure you have the latest driver.  If that does not work, make sure you cannot fix the problem by swapping network cable(s) and possibly ports on network equipment.  If all else fails, reinstall or replace NIC.

Determine if your device can “see” the default gateway (or other device on the network):
If your default gateway is something similar to 192.168.0.1 (it can be any number less than or equal to 255) then try pinging your default gateway.  Note, if you know the IP address of another device on your network – such as another PC or server – you can try pinging that too, it’s just that if you’re going to connect to the Internet or another network, you must be able to reach your default gateway.

C:\WINDOWS>ping 192.168.0.1

Pinging 192.168.0.10 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 192.168.0.1:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms
If you cannot ping a device, or the default gateway, but you CAN ping other devices on the same network, then check the device you cannot ping.  
Note, many software firewalls and network equipment may be configured NOT to respond to ping.

Determine if your device can perform name resolution:
Ping a website on the Internet.  Ping a well known site, with the expertise to stay up and is a professional site that isn’t going anywhere.  An example is Cisco’s website.

C:\WINDOWS>ping www.cisco.com

Pinging www.cisco.com [198.133.219.25] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 198.133.219.25: bytes=32 time=76ms TTL=241
Reply from 198.133.219.25: bytes=32 time=76ms TTL=241
Reply from 198.133.219.25: bytes=32 time=85ms TTL=241
Reply from 198.133.219.25: bytes=32 time=80ms TTL=241

Ping statistics for 198.133.219.25:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 76ms, Maximum = 85ms, Average = 79ms

If you cannot ping a website by name, pick another website which should be up, such as www.yahoo.com or www.google.com.  If the name does not change to an IP address, check your DNS configuration.  If your DNS configuration looks good, contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or IT Department.


 
Ping a site on the Internet:
Ping a website on the Internet by its IP address.  Ping a well known site, with the expertise to stay up and is a professional site that isn’t going anywhere.  An example is Cisco’s website.

C:\WINDOWS>ping 198.133.219.25

Pinging 198.133.219.25 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 198.133.219.25: bytes=32 time=76ms TTL=241
Reply from 198.133.219.25: bytes=32 time=76ms TTL=241
Reply from 198.133.219.25: bytes=32 time=77ms TTL=241
Reply from 198.133.219.25: bytes=32 time=76ms TTL=241

Ping statistics for 198.133.219.25:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 76ms, Maximum = 77ms, Average = 76ms

If you cannot ping a website by IP address, pick another website which should be up, such as www.yahoo.com 216.109.117.110 or www.google.com 64.233.161.104.  If you are unable to ping these sites, but you can ping your gateway, contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or your IT department.

-------------------------------------------------
Trace Route
Trace route is very similar to PING except it shows “hops” through routers.  Trace route is a clever use of ICMP.  

Note, like PING, some equipment can be configured not to respond to Trace route or not to allow trace route to pass beyond it.  It may be entirely possible to PING something but not do a complete trace route to it.

Trace route has different commands in different implementations of TCP/IP.  In Windows XP, the command is “tracert”.

C:\WINDOWS>tracert www.yahoo.com

Tracing route to www.yahoo.akadns.net [216.109.118.65]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     6 ms    <1 ms     1 ms  deviceA.mycompany.com [x.x.x.x]
  2     1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  deviceB.mycompany.com [x.x.x.x]
  3     2 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  deviceC.mycompany.com [x.x.x.x]
  4     4 ms     1 ms     1 ms  deviceA.myprovider.net x.x.x.x
  5     2 ms     1 ms     1 ms  device B.myprovider.net [x.x.x.x]
  6    11 ms    10 ms    19 ms  core-01-so-0-0-0-0.myprovider.net [x.x.x.x]
  7    10 ms    11 ms    10 ms  x.x.x.x
  8    10 ms    11 ms    17 ms  g2-12-bas2.dce.yahoo.com [206.223.115.2]
  9    15 ms    11 ms    11 ms  vlan221-msr2.dcn.yahoo.com [216.115.96.167]
 10    16 ms    13 ms    10 ms  vl32.bas1-m.dcn.yahoo.com [216.109.120.150]
 11    12 ms    16 ms    16 ms  p2.www.dcn.yahoo.com [216.109.118.65]
(real IP’s have been replaced with x.x.x.x to protect the security of my network)



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The following articles are from Microsoft.com.  All of the headings, summary, symptoms, and summary information are from Microsoft, Inc. and were downloaded 7/19/2004 from http://www.microsoft.com or other portions of its website, as indicated by the hyperlinks.
-------------------------------------------------


 How to troubleshoot network connectivity problems
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=325487
SUMMARY
This article describes ways to troubleshoot network connectivity problems.
MORE INFORMATION
Network connectivity problems have various causes but typically occur because of incorrect network adapters, incorrect switch settings, faulty hardware, or driver issues. Some connectivity symptoms are intermittent and do not clearly point to any one of these causes.

Sometimes an operating system upgrade introduces network connectivity problems. The same network adapter that worked correctly on an earlier or different operating system, such as Microsoft Windows 98 or Microsoft Windows 95, may cause problems after an upgrade. Sometimes a server relocation introduces a connectivity problem.

The most common causes for connectivity problems are:
       Network adapters and switch ports have mismatching duplex levels or transfer speed settings.
       Network adapters or switches with transmission rates of 10/100 megabits per second (Mbps) do not switch over correctly. Some auto sense settings may not correctly detect the speed of some network adapters.
       The network adapter is incompatible with the motherboard or other hardware or software components and drivers.
Typical error messages include the following:
Error 55: "The specified network resource is no longer available" (ERROR_DEV_NOT_EXIST).

Error 64: "The specified network name is no longer available" (ERROR_NETNAME_DELETED).

Error 121: "The semaphore timeout period has expired" (ERROR_SEM_TIMEOUT).

Error 1231: "The remote network is not reachable by the transport" (ERROR_NETWORK_UNREACHABLE).
 
How to troubleshoot TCP/IP connectivity with Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=314067
INTRODUCTION
There are tools that can provide useful information when you are trying to determine the cause of TCP/IP networking problems under Microsoft Windows XP. This article lists recommendations for using these tools to diagnose network problems. Although this list is not complete, the list does provide examples that show how you can use these tools to track down problems on the network.

OR

How to Troubleshoot TCP/IP Connectivity with Windows 2000 or Windows NT
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=102908
SUMMARY
The ARP, PING, FTP, NETSTAT, and NBTSTAT utilities can provide useful information when you are trying to determine the cause of TCP/IP networking problems with Windows. Below is a list of possible TCP/IP symptoms with recommendations for using these utilities to diagnose the problems. Although this is not a complete list, these are examples of how you might use these utilities to track down problems on the network.
How to reset Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q299357&

INTRODUCTION
In Microsoft Windows XP, the TCP/IP stack is considered a core component of the operating system, and you cannot remove TCP/IP. Therefore, when you view the list of components for a network interface, you may notice that the Uninstall button is disabled when Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) is selected. In extreme cases, the best solution for this issue may be to reinstall the Internet Protocol stack. But with the NetShell utility, you can reset the TCP/IP stack to restore it to its state that existed when the operating system was installed. This article describes how to use the NetShell utility for this purpose.
 

How to determine and recover from Winsock2 corruption
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=811259
SYMPTOMS
When you try to release and renew the IP address using the Ipconfig program, you may receive the following error message:
An error occurred while renewing interface 'Internet': An operation was attempted on something that is not a socket.
When you start Internet Explorer, you may receive the following error message:
The page cannot be displayed
When you use your computer, you may receive the following error message:
Initialization function INITHELPERDLL in IPMONTR.DLL failed to start with error code 10107
Additionally, you may have no IP address or no Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) address, and you may be receiving IP packets but not sending them.

When you use the ipconfig /renew command, you may receive the following error message:
An error occurred while renewing interface local area connection: an operation was attempted on something that is not a socket. Unable to contact driver Error code 2.
In the Device Manager, when you click Show Hidden Devices, the TCP/IP Protocol Driver is listed as disabled under Non-Plug and Play drivers, and you receive error code 24.

When you create a dial-up connection, you may receive the following error message:
Error 720: No PPP Control Protocols Configured


How to disable simplified sharing and set permissions on a shared folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=307874
INTRODUCTIION
This article describes how to turn off simple file sharing.

Note You cannot turn off simple file sharing in Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.
MORE INFORMATION
By default, simple file sharing is enabled on a Microsoft Windows XP-based computer if the computer is not a member of a domain. With simple file sharing, you can share folders with everyone on your workgroup or network and make folders in your user profile private. However, if simple file sharing is enabled, you cannot prevent specific users and groups from accessing your shared folders. If you turn off simple file sharing, you can permit specific users and groups to access a shared folder. Those users must be logged on with the credentials of user profiles that you have granted access to your shared folder.

If simple file sharing is enabled, you see the simple file sharing user interface appears instead of the Security and Sharing tabs. By default, this new user interface is implemented in Windows XP Home Edition and in Microsoft Windows XP Professional if you are working in a workgroup. If you turn off simple file sharing, the classic Security and Sharing tabs appear, and you can specify which users and groups have access to shared folders on your computer.

Note You can set security only on a partition that uses the NTFS file system. If you remove the Everyone group from the NTFS permissions, you cannot use the file or folder over the network.


"Access is Denied" Error Message When You Try to Open a Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=810881
SYMPTOMS
When you try to open a folder in Microsoft Windows XP, you may receive the following error message, where Folder is the name of the folder that you cannot open:
Folder is not accessible. Access is denied.
CAUSE
This issue may occur if the folder that you cannot open was created on an NTFS file system volume by using a previous installation of Windows, and then installing Windows XP. This issue may occur although you enter the correct user name and password. This issue occurs because the security ID for the user has changed. Although you use the same user name and password, your security ID no longer matches the security ID of the owner of the folder that you cannot open.

For example, although you use the same user name and password, you may no longer have permission to open the folder after you complete the following steps:
Before you install Windows XP Professional, you change the actual location, or target location, of the My Documents folder to another volume.
You format the primary partition.
You install Windows XP Professional.

How to set, view, change, or remove file and folder permissions in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=308418
SUMMARY
In Microsoft Windows XP, you can apply permissions to files or folders that are located on NTFS file system volumes. This article describes how to set, view, change, or remove permissions for files and folders.

Access Denied Error When Attempting to Connect to a Network Share
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=214759
SYMPTOMS
When you attempt to connect to a network share, you may receive the following error message:
\\Servername\share is not accessible.
Access Denied
If you are accessing a share in another domain, this message may appear even though you have verified that the trust is configured correctly. Also, the share may be visible in Network Neighborhood.

How to Capture Network Traffic with Network Monitor
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;148942&Product=winxp
SUMMARY
The purpose of this article is to provide you with the information needed to capture network traffic from a local area network using Microsoft's Network Monitor. The text of this article comes directly from the Network Monitor's Help file and should be referenced for more detailed instructions.

How to Install the Support Tools from the Windows XP CD-ROM
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;306794
SUMMARY
This article describes how to install Windows Support Tools from the Windows XP CD-ROM.
MORE INFORMATION
The Windows Support Tools for Windows XP Professional and Windows XP 64-Bit Edition are intended for use by Microsoft support personnel and experienced users to assist in diagnosing and resolving computer problems. For individual tool descriptions, see the Windows Support Tools online tool documentation (Suptools.chm).

Description of the Network Monitor Capture Utility
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310875&Product=winxp
SUMMARY
This article describes how to use the Network Monitor Capture Utility (Netcap.exe) that you can use to capture network traffic in Network Monitor.

How to install NetBEUI on Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;301041&Product=winxp
INTRODUCTION
This article describes how to manually install the unsupported NetBIOS Extended User Interface (NetBEUI) protocol on a computer that is running Microsoft Windows XP. The NetBEUI files must be copied manually from the Windows XP CD-ROM before NetBEUI will appear in the list of installable network protocols. Microsoft has discontinued support for the NetBEUI network protocol in Windows XP. However, it is understandable that migration to another network protocol such as TCP/IP may involve significant time in planning and testing. Therefore, if you want to migrate your system environment to Windows XP by obtaining the full, retail-released version of Windows XP, you can find the NetBEUI protocol on the Windows XP CD-ROM in the Valueadd folder.

Jeff,

I was only able to complete Steps 1 - 3.  Neither computer would ping each other.  Wether it was by the IP number, or the computer name.  No luck.

Jay

Does each PC have an IP address?

IF so what are they?

Jeff,

Yes, they both did.

Main:  192.168.1.99
Mini:   192.168.1.100

I don't know if this would play into any of it.  But under Network Connections, where you click on TCP/IP and click proporties, both computers are set to get it automatically.

Jay

ensure any and every firewall you have is disabled and try the ping again.  Most firewalls will disable the ability of the ping messages

Kabaam,

No luck.  Firewalls disabled, yet the pings still "Time Out".

Jay

I am pretty sure this isn't a factor but, check the subnet mask of both computers, they should be the same.
what model is the router?  Is it new?

pseudocyber,
What is the purpose of posting your book?  Most of that information does not apply to the problem at hand.  Before your post Jay stated that both computers are able to access the internet just fine, yet your post includes 50 lines about different types of cables.  
Anyone can cut and paste networking basics but it doesn't help in troubleshooting if it doesn't apply.  I am sure there is something in your post that could help but digging through ALL the extra stuff that does not apply is more hastle than it is worth.  
I completely ignored your post, as I am sure, others have.
There is great information and would work nice as a website but is pretty much clutter(13 pages in Word) here... sorry.

respectfully,
KaBaaM

Kabaam,

The subnet masks DID match.  The model is:  BEFW11S4.  It's maybe 1.5 years old.

I agree, that post was pretty long.  I appreciate everyone willing to help me, true me I do.  But I'm having all I can do keeping up with what is being suggestest, let alone all that text was pasted.

This whole subject is far beyond what I can comprehend on my one.  Being talked through it, is basically my only means of getting this finished.

Jay

Kabaam - thanks for your opinion.  I'll keep it in mind.  Just trying to help - thought some of the Microsoft articles might help.

Since XP310 is doing Internet fine, I don't think it's a networking issue - more of some kind of permissions/file sharing.

XP, are both machines in the SAME workgroup?  And you have file and print sharing enabled?  You have the guest account enabled?  You're using the SAME username and password on both machines?  If you get this working - and you're the Admin on both machines, you should eventually be able to connect to the hidden share  which is the WHOLE hard drive - you would connect to this drive with \\computername\c$.

Pseudocyber,

Yes, but machines are on the same workgroup.

File & printer sharing is not enabled.  It has been in previoustimes someone has tried to help me, but today specifically.  I do not have guest accounts.  The user name and passwords are different on each computer.  Both machines are admin rights.

I didn't go any further with any of the steps, cause I assume seeing how my compuers can't ping, then I'm stuck until that problem is fixed?

Yes, unless you're running a different protocol - but it doesn't sound like they are.

It really sounds like you're running firewalls.  You're absolutely sure the firewalls aren't running/enabled?  No Internet Connection Firewall - no Zone Alarm, nothing?

can you type "ipconfig /all" on both machines so we can see what might be wrong?

Also, do a "ping www.yahoo.com" on both machines and post that too, thanks.

Hi Jay,

There is ceratinly a lot of good information offered.  Because there are a number of tasks to be achieved before your systems can be networks, I suggest you attack the problem via simplification.

First thing is to get the computers to speak to each other via ping.

Do both of the systems have Ethernet ports?  The very first thing I would do is dump the wireless for now and connect the two computers with a crossover Ethernet cable.  This eliminates any networking difficulties in the infrastructure.

Once you have connected the units via x-over, you can look to be sure they each have a link (windows will complain if there is no link).  If there is no link, we've either got the wrong cable, or bad hardware...

When you get the link, give each system an IP address and netmask (you can use the same ones that you received automatically from the wireless AP).  This is accomplished via the Network Configuration settings in the control panel.

Now, try to ping from one to the other.  With this configuration, once they can ping, I bet someone here on the thread can tell you how to complete the windows networking configuration.  

THEN, we can put the wireless back in place and troubleshoot anything left over...
(and please do post the ipconfig/all when you get them hooked together via wire :-)

Don't give up, this will work!  Start with the most simple configuration and work forward from there....

t

All,

Forgive me as I have left this question opened for such a long time.  During the past couple weeks there's been an illness in my family therefor I havn't had the free time to sit down and monitor all my opened questions.

---------------

I have since found my answer elsewhere.  A friend of mine had talked me through it over the phone.  What exactly I did to get it working, well I'm not sure.  I clicked on a million things in getting it to work.  But the first problem was my computers not being able to ping each other.  Once he helped me solve that, we were then on our way to networking them together and since then everything has worked perfectly.

I'm not exactly sure how I should award my points.  In going over the responses, "Kabaam" was pretty involved in my questions, so I believe the points should go to him.

Thank you again everyone for posting your suggestions, I truely appreciate everyone here.

Jay

This is something I had to figure out lately as well though I could ping either computer.

Problem: Can ping both computers, can browse only one computer

Solution: A)Disabled firewalls B)Made sure both had the Service Advertising Protocol installed C)Reboot  D)Make sure you logon to each computer with an account and password. E)Final solution for my particular problem was that some services had been disabled (my ultra performance "I don't want anything running that doesn't need to" tweak), so make sure that these three services are running:

1. Computer Browser - Automatic - Start

2. Server - Automatic - Start

3. Workstation - Automatic - Start

This solved my problem and then all I did was go to Windows Explorer>Tools>Folder Options>View>Enable Simple File Sharing, then you can right click a folder select "sharing and security" and share the folder on the network.

Jesus, there's a lot of info here... I didn't read all of the comments, so this was probably already covered... And I see it's been solved by another means.

The easiest (and most certainly not the the cost effective way) is to get a server, set it up as a domain controller, and add the computers to a network.
Either that, or set one of the two computers up as a server and join the following computer to a domain under it.  Of course DNS needs to be set up, but for a small network, that's fairly easy : D

Be also aware that VPN client software (such as Symantec) can block, file and printer access, from one pc to the other. There will be an exception that one can set in the VPN client software to enable this.

Jay,

Make sure client for microsoft networks, and file and print sharing are both installed on both machines.

In this case i would turn off simple file sharing.

Make sure they are in the same workgroup.

If all else fails, you may have a spyware problem.  I would suggest downloading spysweeper trial version to check and see if you have any.  You can get it here: http://www.spychecker.com/program/spysweeper.html

In many cases certain variants of spyware can "hyjack" the tcp/ip stack, and cause windows networking to not function properly.  I have seen this first hand many times when networking computers infested with spyware.   One machine had 7,200 traces of spyware on it.

Do you have a firewall running on one of the computers?  I just ran into this same problem the other day.  Seems the user got a new laptop and wanted it to see his workstation.  He had a wireless router.  The workstation could see the laptop, but not vice verse.  I asked about software loaded and he hadn't loaded any.  When I pinged it, it wouldn't work.  I finally found the firewall running and shut it off to check and everything worked.  I then put it back on and made a rule to allow the other computer through.  It was frustrating.  Sounds like your problem.

Try going to "my computer" and click on the drives you want to share the contents of.  There is an option when you right click called, "sharing and security"  from tehre it should be pretty straighty forward what you need to do.  If you are using DHCP on a router there should not be any question as to your IP or subnet being inappropriate.  The DHCP server in the router has handled this for you.  You may want to check your firewall settings.  However, using XPs firewall should not be a concern if you have chosen to share the contents of a drive over your network.

By the way do you have SP2 yet?  There seem to habve been some changes.  under ICMP settings you should have the echo enabled.  Good luck.

I forgot the simple patr of why they might not be showing up.  Check your workgroup.

Right click "my computer" select "Properties".  Then look at the "Computer Name" tab, click it and then click on the button labeled, "Change" make sure the "workgroup" button is filled and that the workgroup is exactly the same on both machines.  Also, make sure the names are differengt for both machines.  You do not want two machines in the same workgroup to have the same name.  This is usually why computers are not showing up when you open the network neighborhood folder.

Oh I see you alerady fixed this sorry.

Is there a possibility you could tell us exactly what you did to at least fix the pinging problem? I have the same thing going on with my Linksys router and XP Pro machines. Nothing seems to work, I cannot ping, but they are on the same gateways, can access the net, and each have their own IP...

Check to see if you have a firewall running.

Turn the service off and then try to ping.  This should work, make sure to turn the firewall back on and configure a rule to allow the computers to communicate.

astonMarton,

If I knew exactly what I did, I would post it.  It did involve code in the command prompt though.  And the ping problem was solved in the matter of two minutes.  It was very easy.  But unfortunatly, I don't talk to that person anymore, so I'm sorry I can't help you with this.

Jay