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LAN Problem with W2k & WinXp

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7 replies

by ron1

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I've set up a simple peer to peer LAN between my Win2k laptop and my desktop which has WinXP. The XP machine can see the shared folders on the Win2k laptop and even use its printers via the LAN. However, the Win2k laptop will not communicate with the XP computer. Most of the time the XP machine name will not show in "My Network Places" in the Workgroup on the Win2k laptop. If it does and I click on the icon, it will generate an error message stating "Network Path was not found".

I've checkedLAN Connection protocols on both machines to ensure they are the same and setup identical users and passwords on both computers for log in. I even setup a Win2k user with the same name as my desktop computer. Both PC's are configured with the same Workgroup name.

Event Viewer does show a warning message that the laptop's network card automatically configured a specific network address and that the IP address being used is different. Could this be the problem?

I'm both a network novice anda Win2k novice relative to networks. Any help anyone can provide is greatly appreciated.

7 replies

by gigelul

First of all,your laptop is used only at home in a network or also at office network?

by ron1

The laptop is only used at home on LAN. I've not used it on a corporate lan and don't plan to for some time.

by lderas

you should start something like this:
in the command prompt of the 2K computer use the command IPCONFIG.exe /release (caps not needed), then go to your network properties and manually configure the ip address, now in both of your computers compare that the 3 first fields of your ip address are the same i.e. 198.175.182.xxx where xxx will be the numbers that you will assing to the 2K computer, also check that you are using the same netmask (something like 255.255.255.0), after doing all this restart your laptop, and go to the event viewer. you should do this as an administrator.

by ron1

Your answer was perfect. I set the IP addresses on both machines as you instructed and walla! Instant Connectivity on the Win2k laptop. Thanks so much for your attention to my problem. I'll get the hang of this Win2k thing yet.

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