Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests XP networking question

I have been trying everything I can to share files between my laptop and my desktop computers. The laptop has XP Home and the desktop has XP Pro. I am using a wireless connection for the laptop and a wired connection for the desktop. Both are hooked up to a router and share a DSL connection. I have made sure that the users on both machines have passwords and are in the same workgroup. I know that you cannot turn off simple file sharing on XP Home, so should I leave it turned on in XP Pro? Currently the laptop can access my desktop computer but the desktop cannot see the laptop at all. I should also mention I have Norton Internet Security installed on both machines. I have set the trusted range for the network on Norton which I would think would allow an open port for the machines to get access past the firewall. Any ideas?

Have you tried Start~>Run~>\\***

*** = The name of the oher computer?

Yup

XP Home has issues regarding networking. For instance, you cannot become a member of a domain using XP Home. I'm not sure if this is what's causing problems between your two XP systems, but it might.

Have you tried using a crossover cable and directly linking the two computers without being on your wireless network?

Did you try disabling your firewall when you try to connect to your other computer, are you useing the same protocols, what about sharing the folder that you wnat to access

P.s. i forgot something, you hve atleast 3 firewalls, one with norton, one with xp, and one that comes with from your ISP, make sure that you turn those suckers off either wise you won't be able to connect to your other computer

I have both XP firewalls turned off, and I thought as long as my IP and Subnet mask for the two computers was "trusted" within Norton's firewall I would be alright but I will try to turn it off as well and see if that has an effect.

I have not tried using a crossover cable. Am I correct that you have to change the order of the wires in the RJ-45 connector to do that, unless you buy a cable that is already that way.

I have the same setup with my laptop (XP Home) and my desktop (XP Pro) running wireless. It's a PITA to get setup but it can be done...I just don't remember exactly what I had to do. I think the problem I had was I had to manually install netbios for my wireless connection on my laptop but it was a while ago and I'm not sure if that was it. Also, if you are running encrypted wireless setup there is a settign for a specific channel that both computers and your router have to be set to. But being that one can see the other but not vice versa I think it might be that netbios issue I had because IIRC that was the same thing mine was doing until I added it. Hope that helps some.

If you want to make your own crossover cable here is a HOW TO that can help you make one

Try this....(I know some of this is the same as what was posted earlier, but just bare with me)

Make sure both computers have the same workgroup name

Try putting both computers on a static IP address
(i.e. 1st computer---> 207.0.0.1
2nd computer---> 207.0.0.2)
Next you should make the subnet mask identical for both computers
(i.e. both computers: 255.255.255.0)

Make sure both firewalls are disabled/trusting.

Right click on the 'My Network Places' icon on the desktop and go to properties. Right click on your network connection and go to properties. Click the 'Authentication' tab' and make sure both computers have the same settings there.

Finally, I would say the easiest way to share information among the two computers is to map the hard drives of your computers. To do this....open 'My C omputer' and click on the 'Tools' menu then select 'Map Network Drive.' The drive letter does not matter, but in the 'Folder:' box type in the following depending on what computer you are working on: (using the example IP from above)

\\207.0.0.1\C$

or

\\207.0.0.2\C$


Then when you open 'My computer' you should see your mapped network drive. Simple as that