Home networking problem...
 

Hi all, I have a problem with home networking. I have 2 laptops, both with windows XP installed.
I have an Ethernet connections via the USB port on both pcs. The connection is working (lights flashing) and both pcs say the local network is active at the same speed.
I cannot "see" the "main" computer on the "second" computer, and therefore use files held on it.

The drive has been shared
The networking wizard has been run on both machines

Why can the second pc not see the first?

In theory Windows APIPA (Automatic Private IP addressing) should kick in and self configure each adapter with an IP address in the 169.254.x.y range. However, you're not doing yourself any justice by using Windows XP's networking "wizard".

Do this.

1.) On both PC's. Double click My Computer. Go to the Tools Menu, and select Folder Options.

2.) Click the View tab. Scroll right down to the bottom and remove the tick next to 'Use Simple File Sharing....'

3.) Reboot both machines:

4.) When they come back up. Go to Start>Run and type "cmd" (without the quotes obviously). Then click OK or press ENTER.

5.) In the console window that appears type "ipconfig" and press ENTER.

6.) Note down each computer's IP address.

7.) Leave the Console windows open and then type "ping <the other computers IP address>", example:

ping 169.254.1.1 [and press ENTER]

8.) If you receive a reply that means network connectivity has been established.

9.) Next step, double click My Network Places and then on the left click 'View Workgroup Computers'.

10.) Locate the other computer and attempt to open a share on that PC.

Hope this helps. If not let us know and I'll tell you how to set IP addresses manually and troubleshoot further.

Have you got a firewall on one of the machines?

Also the phrase "I have an Ethernet connections via the USB port on both pcs." doesn't make sense - what equipment are you using - is the modem connected to one of the USB ports on one laptop and the Ethernet is providing the network via a hub or switch maybe?

Sounds like one of these DIY especially for the home networking solutions. They probably chuck in a cross over cable. Maybe atco-matic can send us a link of what he purchased.

thanks intheair, both laptops have active connection on the cable and local area network is established, but when i try typing in the ping bit, it times out without doing anything...

Any luck with your problem??

OK, on both PC's:

1.) Right click My Network Places and select Properties.

2.) Select your network interface (normally Local Area Network Connection). Right click and go to properties.

3.) Click TCP/IP from the list and click the Properties button.

4.) In the IP address field select enter IP manually and type: 192.168.0.1 (192.168.0.2 on the other PC) and Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0 for both.

You can leave all other fields blank for now.

5.) Now try the ping bit....

BTW, if you do have a firewall disable it for testing purposes at least.

Hi
I'm also having the same kind of problems. I've tried to ping the other pc and that comes back fine, but when I click 'view workgroup computers' after a considerable wait I get an error message saying the network could not be found.
Strangely though I can access the internet through the second networked pc.

just a thought are both computers running the same file system, because a NTFS drive computer can see a FAT32 drive one but not the other way around.
I run one computer on the network on NTFS and can see and use files on the other two comps but they cannot access the NTFS computers files

Max

As your network seem to work (i.e. you can ping) try this:

Go to network connections

START > CONTROL PANEL > NETWORK CONNECTIONS

Double click the LOCAL ARE NETWORK or whatever you called it

click PROPERTIES

Double click the TCP/IP

Press the ADVANCED button

Go to the WINS tab

select "Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP"

then click ok, and if asked restart your computer.

Thanks but that made no diffrence, still got the same error message. Both hard drives are FAT32. This is really bugging me now.:{

hmm...try opening up My Computer and typing "\\computername" in the Address bar (without the quotes). Change computername to the name of the computer which you are trying to access. This should display a list of shares on the computer.

What OS are you using on each? If XP does the account have admin privileges....

Good luck!;)

It seems to be working suddenly. Englishal your tip worked as you suggested and since then everything seems to be hunkydory:cool: Not sure what I did but I'm not going to tinker with it any more! Thanks for all the advice everyone.

I just have one final question. The two pcs are sharing the broadband connection through the network. I currently have Kerio personal firewall running on the 'host' pc, do I also need it on the other one or is this sufficient?
Thanks again