Re: Help with home network needed

[A J Hawke <ajh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:37:43 +0100, SS wrote:

> "Krustov" <me@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:MPG.22c0625d152e342998b632@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> <uk.comp.home-networking>
>> <SS>
>> <Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:00:31 +0100>
>> <8Rq5k.188556$zc6.110076@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>
>>> Ive just set up my home PC using XP and my laptop using Vista on a
>>> wired network and set it up as per these instructions:
>>>
>>> http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1165037
>>>
>>> Ive set up the sharing on the folders i want to share on both the
>>> laptop and
>>> the PC and all are visible on the PC and laptop however when i click
>>> on a folder is says:
>>>
>>> \\\john\my Documents is not accesible. You might not have permission
>>> to use
>>> this netowrk resources. Access is denied.
>>>
>>> I am the only user on the PC and laptop.
>>>
>>>
>> If 2 computers cant talk to each other - it can sometimes be a firewall
>> problem rather than a network settings problem .
>>
>> And if thats the case - then you might have to adjust the firewall
>> settings on both computers to allow access .
>>
>>
>> --
>> www.krustov.co.uk
> 
> Firewalls off on both!
> cheers

To clarify:

Can both machines browse each other? In windows explorer (hold down the 
windows key and press 'e') can you browse the network to see the 'shares' 
in both directions?

Is it then when you click on them you get the warning?

I know I've jumped through this hoop before in the past. AFAIR (and I am 
open to correction) the share names are resolved by Netbios but the 
actual connecting to them is TCP/IP. So, you can see them but when you 
click you can't actually connect.

The idiot checks are to make:
The folders shared have had their permissions set correctly:
Select folder, right click and select the 'sharing tab'. Make sure that 
'Share this folder as' is selected and a name is in the box. You can also 
set the folder as read only or write in this area.

Be sure you don't have two firewalls running (windows firewall and Norton 
Internet security for example). Check they really are off. AFAIR Zone 
Alarm stays 'on' sometimes even when it tells you it is 'off'.

Make sure that the network lead is of the correct type (straight or 
crossover as required by your kit)

Basic diagnostics checks you can do:
A) Check each machine to make sure they are on the same subnet
* [START] [RUN] open: cmd (this will open a dos command window)
* enter the following at the cursor > ipconfig /all
* look at the results:

Windows IP Configuration

        Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : your_computer_name
        Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
        Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
        IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : your_adaptor
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No or Yes
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.x
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.x.x
        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : x.x.x.x
                                            x.x.x.x

Look at the IP address on both machines and make sure the first three 
numbers are the same (they may not be 192.168.0 - that does not matter - 
they must match on both machines)

2) Confirm TCP/IP is working by typing:
ping 127.0.0.1
You should see something like:
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.058 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.077 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.054 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=0.056 ms
*TIP [CTRL] + [C] breaks you out of it

3) Can you ping the other machine by typing:
ping xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
(where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the IP address of the other machine)

If all of these prove good, and you are sure that both machines are in 
the same workgroup - then I'll be buggered what is wrong with it.