Client PC no longer sees Laser Printer on home network

Hello and thanks for any help in advance.

As a home network I have a destop PC (win 2000) and a wireless laptop PC (XP). For 9 months things were working fine with the wireless laptop using the "Host Printer" connected to the desktop. For some reason lately, the wireless laptop no longer sees this printer on the network...I've tried adding again, re-installing, etc. with no luck.

Additionally, I can no longer VNC in from the wireless laptop to the desktop, but I can from the desktop to the wireless laptop. So I'm not sure if it's the same problem as the printer with connectivity to the desktop from the wireless.

The printer is a Samsung ML-1450 Laser Printer.

The wireless laptop has Norton anti-virus and Internet security. I've disabled Internet security because that has caused some probs in the past, but still no luck with the printer.

Thanks - Bob D

 

Hmm, my first thought is that you've recently applied the XP service pack 2, and that's when things stopped working. But, you also say VNC doesn't work from the laptop out, but does into the laptop. If it was a security setting, I would expect the opposite to be true. But, in any case, I expect the two issues to be symptoms of the same root problem, whether that's security or not.

Hope this helps,

-Scott

 

any recommendations on how to move forward? XP may have been updated because auto updates are done from that computer.

 

Make sure the XP firewall gets turned off; at least until you get things working again. Do some more testing, look at the IP configurations, etc. Post detailed information here about what you find...

 

The XP firewall is already disabled. I followed these directions to check for this.

http://www.hmcscomputers.com/techtips/firewall.htm

I can ping the wireless laptop with XP no problem at all from the desktop with win 2000. I can also ping myself using the desktop with win 2000.

What I can't do is ping the desktop from the wireless laptop, which goes along with no VNC and not seeing the printer....

I'm using a Netgear WGR614v2 wireless router connected to a Motorola broadband modem. The router is hardwired to the desktop and connected via 802.11B protocol to the laptop.

Internet connectivity is fine on both machines. Only problem is wireless laptop (XP) no longer talking to the desktop (win 2000).

Thanks for any further tips...

 

We need the output of < ipconfig /all > for all the computers.

 

IPCONFIG for Desktop Win 2000 machine

C:\Documents and Settings\Robert Donovan>ipconfig/all

Windows 2000 IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : donovan-c9cpn7s
Primary DNS Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connecti
on
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-03-47-29-38-C9
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, September 15, 2004 3:04:4
4 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, September 16, 2004 3:04:44
AM



IPCONFIG for Wireless Laptop XP Machine

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Joanne Donovan>ipconfig/all

Windows IP Configuration

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

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless LAN 2100 3B Mi
ni PCI Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-04-23-79-D7-F8
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.3
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, September 15, 2004 10:40:
36 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, September 16, 2004 8:03:16
AM

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connecti
on
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-08-0D-4A-07-C6


Thanks

 

Well that looks like it's all correct. But the laptop can't ping the .2 address. Can it ping the .1 address? If not, I've got to start suspecting low level driver issues on the laptop. Especially if you've eliminated the XP firewall from the picture.

If it is driver problems, remove the wireless NIC, remove all the network components, and then remove the device frrom within "device manager", reboot, then plug the NIC back in. XP should detect it and start the installation process.

-Scott

 

Sorry I didn't know you replied... I didn't get an email for some reason.

Anyway, I checked and yes the laptop can in fact ping 192.168.0.1, but not the desktop of 192.168.0.2.....

 

Hmm, then I've got to suspect the XP security stuff again.

The laptop can get on the internet just fine? Just can't get to the XP box at all?

If true, then XP is keeping the laptop from talking to it...

 

I should clarify a little bit...

Yes both the desktop (win2000) and the wireless laptop (XP) get on the Internet fine. However it's the laptop, (which has the XP not the desktop) that can't connect to the desktop.

Thanks.

 

You got me thinking this thing through a little bit...turns out the firewall was accidentally enabled on the desktop (win 2000) pc. Printing and VNC now work from the laptop to the desktop.

Thanks!!!!!

 

Glad to hear you got it solved.

-Scott