Home network problem

Are the computers receiving ip addresses in the same network? If each lan port on the device acts as a real router port and not a switch, then you will see this communication problem.

Can you actually see the laptop(s) in question, or are you explicitly trying through UNC names?

Its a user issue.

Go to the desktop a and add the user(s) that will log in from laptop b and c and give them the appropriate pemissions.

Control panel, user accounts and then select add. Use browse to locate the users on the laptops.

Log into the laptops with the appropriate (ie matching to the new imported to desktop) log ons and you should then be ready to roll.

Are you using multiple OS's? I have my network setup with 98, 2k and xp and I couldn't access every pc from every other pc until I installed netbeui. I know that some say you don't need this older protocol but it has resolved my networking problems in a number of networks I have set up. If you're using 2k or xp then each user wanting to access a pc must have a user account on the pc (or you can set each logon/password the same on each pc) or you must enable the guest account (not recommended), you must have a share established on each pc and if you are using any firewalls they must be set to allow traffic to them (either specific ip addresses or a complete net/subnet).

Post back with the specifics on each pc regarding OS, ip addresses (are they static or coming from a dhcp server), firewalls used (and settings) and how the shares are set up.

Cheers.

RW

Where is the shared folder located on the desktop pc and what are the shared properties? Is the windows firewall enabled on the desktop pc and if so are the advanced settings enabling file and print sharing (or do you have a different software firewall installed like zonealarm, sygate or kerios)?

Post back with additional info on the desktop configuration.

Cheers.

RW

OK. Go back into the Sharing properties and click on the Permissions button. If there aren't any users or groups here you will need to add them. Click the Add button and type in Everyone and then click Check Names button. Click OK to close. Once this is done (or if the Everyone group was already there) you must have at the minimum Read permissions selected in the Permissions area (at the bottom of the screen). You can also check the Change and/or Full Control options if you want to give users full control to edit/delete items in this folder.

Click Apply and OK your way out of the dialogs.

Cheers.

RW

Did you reboot the desktop for the changes to take effect?

Cheers.

RW

What are the ip addresses and subnets for the desktop and 2 laptops?

Cheers.

RW

OK. So let's summarize:

3 pc's all running winxp pro.
pc A - desktop wired to router.
pc B - laptop wired to router.
pc C - laptop on wireless network card.

pc A can see and access pc's B and C.
pc B can see A and C but can only access C.
pc C can see A and B but can only access B.

There are no firewalls installed on any pc.

On the Computer Name tab for My Computer-> Properties the Workgroup Name is the same for all pc's.

All pc's: in local area connection properties has Client for Microsoft Networks, File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft networks and TCP/IP installed (and possibly NetBeui). TCP/IP is configured to obtain an address automatically in the range of 196.168.0.x with a subnet of 255.255.255.0. Under the Advanced settings on the WINS tab "Enable Netbios over TCP/IP" is enabled.

I'm guessing here but if you type "ipconfig /all" at a command prompt on each machine you'll see the Default Gateway, DHCP Server and DNS Server all have an IP address of 196.168.0.1.

pc A - for the Shared Documents folder:

Under the Sharing and Security properties "Share this Folder" is enabled with a Share Name of SharedDocs. The User Limit is set to Maximum Allowed. Under Permissions the group Everyone is allowed some access (read, change or full).

User accounts have been set up on pc A with the user logon/password's (no blank passwords) for users on pc B and pc C.

Now, check the security tab and see if any of the permissions for Everyone (or for the individual users) are explicitely denied.

Let's see where we go from here.

Cheers.

RW

If you go to Control Panel->Network Connections-> and then right-click on Local Area Connection and click on Properties. Select Interet Protocol (TCP/IP) and click on the Properties button. Click o the Advanced button. Go to the WINS tab and see if Enable Netbios over TCP/IP is selected. OK yourway out.

Just out of curiosity. Can pc's B and C see pc A when browsing the network in Windows Explorer?

Cheers.

RW

OK, just for fun do this. On pc B (or C) set up a user account exactly like the user account you use on pc A (same logon/password and type [like Admin]). Log onto the B or C pc with this account and then try to connect to the pc A. Does this work?

P.S. We're either going to solve this or die from old age!

Cheers.

RW

OK, I think I understand now. If you have not done so yet, on the desktop pc logon using each of the logons for pc B and pc C. What I think is happening is that the user settings for the pc B and pc C logons have not been initialized on the pc A system and so it will not let the users for pc B and pc C attach remotely.

If that still does not do the trick then it's an issue of rights. If the user logon's on pc A for the users from pc B and pc C are just Users then try raising them to Power Users or Admins.

Cheers.

RW

You can't really, other than manually setting the 2 up to look the same. Other than the user name and passwords the 2 accounts are totally separate. You might or might not have all of the software installed on one pc versus the other. The 2 logons only provide credentials. Even if you manually set the accounts on both pcs so that the desktops looked exactly the same, if you changed one you would have to manually change the other.

To have a logon that looks and acts exactly the same on multiple pc's you would have to have a network server set up and roaming profiles enabled. In such network systems the profiles containing software access, desktop layouts and system privaleges are stored on a network server and applied whenever a user logs on to the network from any pc that has access to the network. On a peer-to-peer network roaming profiles are not implemented.

Glad to here things are working. Sometimes persistence pays off.

Cheers.

RW