Networking Laptop to Base Unit

[Greek God]

Hi all
I recently had major snags with my main home PC when I flashed the BIOS & it wouldn't play ball after. Thanks everyone for your help, direction & advice, anyway managed to resolve the issue & thought it would be good idea to network home to laptop and copy all relevant files across in case of any other hiccough. I went and got a cross over cable (both units have LAN cards) and tried to run the Network wizard. It all seemed to run OK but it would appear that my laptop can only see itself & the base unit can't see anything. Do I need a Hub or extra soft/hardware or am I trying to do the impossible?
Both PC & laptop have Win XP & all I want to do is copy across various folders th mirror the PC on the laptop. I thought I would be able to do it in explorer as if the laptop was just another hard drive?
As another thought can you connect 2 PCs with a USB cable & copy files that way?

Thanks
GG in who's hands a little knowledge is a dangerous thing!!!!

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

Greek God,

Do not forget to share a directory on the computer in order for the other computer to see.

I would use TCP/IP. Set one comp's IP as 192.168.1.1 and the other IP as 192.168.1.2

Then make sure both are part of the same Workgroup. Just name it Workgroup.

Then you should be all set.

Take Care,

Richard

[Greek God]

Hi Richard
Thanks again for your help. I have allocated both PC and Laptop with the 2 TCP numbers but still have no joy.
PC Network connections I have 1394 Connection enabled on TCP 192.168.0.1 and Intel(R) PRO 1000 Local Area Connection enabled on TCP 192.168.1.1
Laptop exactly the same except TCPs are 192.168.0.2/192.168.1.2. The Laptop has Intel Pro/100VE
If I use the Ping command from the PC to 192.168.1.2 it comes back fine but if I ping the PC from the Laptop I get Request timed out. Neither will ping to the computername.
I have set both hard drives to share but when i go to view network places on the laptop I get both Laptop and base unit, however if I try to access the base unit i get:
\\Primary is not accessable. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have permission. The network path was not found
I'm lost I'm afraid!!!
Thanks
GG

[Evo]

What netmask are you using?

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

Greek God,

IEEE 1394 is Firewire. Unless you are trying to setup a Firewire Network, I would remove all the TCP/IP settings in it.

You should have the Subnet Mask of 255.255.255.0 on each comp.

Take Care,

Richard

[Evo]

You should have the Subnet Mask of 255.255.255.0 on each comp.

Is that correct if one is on 192.168.0 and the other 192.168.1? Doesn't it need to be 255.255.254.0?

Disclaimer - i'm no TCP/IP expert, far from it

[fobotcso]

No, Richard is correct (as usual )

255.255.255.0 is a good mask for general use. Use different masks where you want to preserve the option to restrict privileges.

With those nine-digit addresses of yours, how can we tell you're not an IP expert...

GG my guess would be that your Network Wizard has created a "bridge" and the two PCs think they are on different Networks.

Take a look at:

Start>Settings>Network Connections(right click)

and see if there is a bridge. If there is, delete it.

Next, find your "Local Area Connection" and right click to get the context sensitive menu.

Left click "Repair". This might work.

If not, you may have a broken Winsock, so take a look at the thread up top covering Freeware

[Evo]

Ooops

Shows what I know

[Greek God]

Thanks Guys
There were indeed bridges on both units which I have deleted. Was already using the masks and just trying to connect with a Xover cable through the LAN port. I also disabled the IE1394 connection. I can now get the laptop to see the PC but when I click on it I still get the unaccessable message. The PC still won't see the Laptop but does see itself ???
Thanks again
GG

[fobotcso]

Some progress, then. Good.

So it's probably down to Permissions and Sharing now.

Ensure the Guest account is enabled on both units and that you are "sharing" the Drives and Folders you want each to see on the other.

Disable any Firewalls or enable access for the IP addresses you are using.

WinXP is paranoid about restricting access and permissions by default, so you have to do a lot of right-clicking on properties and permissions to grant the privileges you need to make the system work. Personally, I give all permissions to"Everybody". But then the Networks I deal with can handle that kind of Open House environment.

[Saab Dastard]

255.255.255.0 is a good mask for general use. Use different masks where you want to preserve the option to restrict privileges.

AAAARRRGGGHHHH!

I can't stand by and see IP addressing so misunderstood!

The subnet mask is used by the IP stack in a computer or router to determine whether or not a given IP address is on the same IP network as its own. Period.

Privileges have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with it.

Subnet masks, like everything else in computing are binary numbers - ones and zeros. There are 4 octets (8 binary digits) seperated by decimal points in a netmask, just like in an IP address. We normally write them as base 10 numbers for convenience, but it is only possible to really understand netmasks by looking at them in binary form.

Therefore 255.255.255.0 is really 11111111.11111111.11111111.00000000

An IP node uses the netmask to determine if two IP addresses are on the same IP network by comparing the binary digits of the netmask with the binary digits of the IP address. Basically, anything under the ones in the netmask is part of the network address, while anything under the zeros is part of the individual node address.

Hence for the subnet mask of 255.255.255.0, the first 3 octets define the network address while the last octet defines the node address. 192.168.0.2 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 is NOT on the same network as 192.168.1.2 The value of the first two octets is the same, but the third octet is different.

EVO is quite correct - 255.255.254.0 (among many others) would make these both be on the same network, as the subnet mask would now be
11111111.11111111.11111110.00000000

The IP addresses 192.168.0.2 and 192.168.1.2 in binary form are

11000000.10101000.00000000.00000010 and 11000000.10101000.00000001.00000010

Comparing the digits under the ones in the subnet mask you can see that they are the same - 11000000.10101000.0000000 - and therefore are on the same network.

255.255.255.0 is NOT a "general purpose" subnet mask. It is the standard class C subnet mask, where only the 4th octet is used for the node address, the first 3 defining the IP network.

There are lots of resources for understanding IP addressing on the 'net if you want to find out more.

SD

[Evo]

EVO is quite correct - 255.255.254.0 (among many others) would make these both be on the same network

Hurrah!

Thanks Saab. I'm going to stash that one away

[fobotcso]

SD, so what are you like when you really get excited?

I think I now understand your handle better

[Saab Dastard]

fobotcso, you're right, IP addressing isn't something one should feel passionately about

It just appeals to my sense of the absolute.

[Keef]

Network cards are nice, and my network is excellent, but I avoid the agony when I'm fixing friends' laptops by using a USB link cable. Not as fast, but behaves perfectly, and I don't have to faff about with permissions and such.

[Wing Commander Fowler]

For what it's worth I had VERY similar problems - Humour me here and try deselecting your modem connection as the default Dial up and retry accessing your network. My XP setup kept referenceing the modem and building a bridge to communicate through. De-selecting the modem as default cured the problem for me!

[Greek God]

First off thanks to you all for your help & suggestions - So much for with WinXP networking is a doddle!!! It would appear that I am up & running now after following all of your suggestions. Not exactly sure which specific event fixed it as it all came together peicemeal & after several reboots.
Keef - how does the usb crossover work? Not the 1&0s!! but does it work the same as any other usb device where you will see the other computer in explorer?
Once again thanks guys
Regards
GG

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

Greek God,

That is great news!

Take Care,

Richard

P.S. A good little "How To" article to read for getting an understanding of networking is: (It is a little dated but a very good start on networking.)

How To Setup a LAN

[Keef]

No, the USB link is a little cable with a USB plug at each end and a small device in the middle. It's not just a plain cable - they are available, but I was warned that those can cause damage.

The software is like a latter-day Laplink: a program that you run on both machines, and which then allows you to transfer files either way. It looks a bit like Windows Explorer, but with two windows - "this machine" and "the other machine". I keep the lead and the CD in the bag with my laptop, and have done quite a bit of "sorting" of other people's computers using it.

It doesn't use Explorer or My Computer - if you want to do that, then it's the "network" arrangement.

I paid about £10 for the USB cable and the CD of the software (Ebay!).

[Greek God]

Thanks again Richard & Keef - may your Buds always be cold & your excuses believed!!
Best Wishes
GG