networking WinXP

[jtn3833]

I need to connect my new computer which runs WinXP to my old network which connects a Win98 & WinMe and DSL through a router. I've made the connections and can use WinXP to connect to the internet through the router the network uses but I am unable to access either of the other computers on the network, and they will not recognize the WinXP system. In fact, I set up a new network using the XP's network wizard and both of the old computers recognize each other but not the XP and the XP sees the network but none of the other computers.
I've disabled the XP firewall (using the hardware firewall in the router anyway), as well as Norton's Internet Security (came with the XP). As far as I can tell everything is configured properly, but the XP does not see the other systems on the network and the other systems see each other but not the XP.
Any suggestions, thanks.
JTN

 

[JohnWill]

Are the workgroup names the same?

 

[jtn3833]

Yes, workgroup names are the same. I created a new workgroup through the XP network wizard, the old systems recognize both the old and new workgroup names. The XP system will display the workgroup name but not display any systems hooked to it. At first I set XP up for the old workgroup and it displayed the workgroup name but nothing attached to it, just as with the new workgroup. I feel it's connected fine, but there seems to be no way to access the other systems on the network because it is using the internet connection through the router the other systems are hooked to.
Thanks for the reply, I really hope to get this thing going soon.
JTN

 

[JohnWill]

I think it's time to work through the basic network debug list.

All machines are must be in the same subnet, i.e. 192.168.0.x where x is any number. The subnet mask should be 255.255.255.0 for most small networks.

Turn off any firewalls for debugging. If the firewall is the problem, you'll have to configure it to allow access to "trusted zone" addresses. Note that some firewalls must be completely uninstalled to stop them from affecting your networking.

PING each computer by IP address, and if successful, PING by name. You can obtain the IP address of a computer by opening a command prompt (DOS window) and typing IPCONFIG. This should work for any Windows version.

All computers should be in the same workgroup for computer browsing to function properly. File & Print Sharing has to be enabled on any computer you wish to share files or printers from. You also need to actually share the resource in question from My Computer, right click on the drive/printer/folder, and select sharing.

If you encounter difficulties accessing computers that are visible in Network Neighborhood, make sure the computer being accessed has an account with the same name/password as the system connecting to it uses to login.

While the default NetBIOS setting is correct for normal network configurations, it's possible for it to be altered, and it costs nothing to make sure it's correct. NETBIOS over TCP/IP must be enabled for normal network browsing.

 

[Bob Cerelli]

For troubleshooting purposes, turn off XP's and completely uninstall any other firewall software. You can always add more complexity after you get it working. There are many instances where folks think they have either disabled or correctly configured a 3rd party firewall. Then spent a lot of time working on figuring out why the network wasn't functioning. Turned out to be the firewall. So just uninstall it and you can add it back in once you got it figured out.

With XP, make sure you have the same username and password as the person logging onto the other computers. The default setting for XP Pro is to require a password for network access.

More details about how to network XP can be found at:
http://www.onecomputerguy.com/networking/xp_network.htm

More details about how to troubleshoot TCP/IP networks can be found at:
http://www.onecomputerguy.com/networking/trouble.htm

 

[jtn3833]

I'm not sure exactly what happened, but it's working now. I made no changes, but perhaps I needed to restart all the computers on the network. I just came into my study, booted up the system and everything was working properly.
Thanks for the help.

JTN