lily519
asked on
File and printer sharing between Win2000 and WinXP via workgroup and wireless LAN
I have a small office network. 2 PCs are on Win2000 (hard cabled) and 2 Laptops on WinXP Pro (with wireless cards). I have successfully set up a wireless D-Link router to allow Internet Connection Sharing via a cable modem. All PCs and Laptops can now access the Internet ... but the 2 Laptops on WinXP cannot get access to the files and printers on the Win2000 PCs. All PCs and laptops use the same "workgroup" name (I did not use a "domain" name).
How do I get both laptops (on wireless) to access printers connected to the Win2000 PC?
Note:
1. The 2 Win2000 PCs can see each other - using the "Windows Network" explorer
2. The 2 WinXP Laptops (on wireless) can see each other - using the "View Workgroup" explorer
3. But the PCs can't seem to see the Laptops
... looks like I have a networking problem between the two OS?? Appreciate some HELP!
--lily519
How do I get both laptops (on wireless) to access printers connected to the Win2000 PC?
Note:
1. The 2 Win2000 PCs can see each other - using the "Windows Network" explorer
2. The 2 WinXP Laptops (on wireless) can see each other - using the "View Workgroup" explorer
3. But the PCs can't seem to see the Laptops
... looks like I have a networking problem between the two OS?? Appreciate some HELP!
--lily519
can you ping the PCs IP addresses from the laptops?
ASKER
yes I can ping the PCs from both laptops
--lily519
--lily519
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ASKER
Did some research on this site ... and one suggestion was to create a user account on the Win2000 PC - using the laptops' computer username and password. This supposedly allow the laptops to use resources on the Win2000.
I did that and it allowed the laptops to browse the network, find the win2000 computers and add the printers ... yea!
Of course I tried a test print and it was NOT successful.
Did more research on this site and found out that WinXP, because of the Internet Connection Firewall, by nature, does NOT allow "Internet Printing" (or printing using TCP/IP) over the wireless connection.
So, your suggestion to use NetBIOS over TCP/IP - WORKED!! Yea...now I can connect the laptops to the office network wirelessly AND wirelessly print.
THANKS!!
--lily519 the happy customer
I did that and it allowed the laptops to browse the network, find the win2000 computers and add the printers ... yea!
Of course I tried a test print and it was NOT successful.
Did more research on this site and found out that WinXP, because of the Internet Connection Firewall, by nature, does NOT allow "Internet Printing" (or printing using TCP/IP) over the wireless connection.
So, your suggestion to use NetBIOS over TCP/IP - WORKED!! Yea...now I can connect the laptops to the office network wirelessly AND wirelessly print.
THANKS!!
--lily519 the happy customer
glad i could help... so wait... adding the user allowed you to browse? or enabling NetBIOS over TCP/IP did?
ASKER
Well I did "adding the user" first. This allowed me to browse the network and find the Win2000 PCs and add the printer.
But when I tried a test print, my laptop complained of a Printing Error ("..remote downlevel document...") and nothing printed.
So I tried your idea of adding the NetBIOS over TCP/IP. I re-added the printer just to be on the safe side. And did a test print. And it printed. :-)
But when I tried a test print, my laptop complained of a Printing Error ("..remote downlevel document...") and nothing printed.
So I tried your idea of adding the NetBIOS over TCP/IP. I re-added the printer just to be on the safe side. And did a test print. And it printed. :-)
ok great! thanks.