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View workgroup computer

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by keenweng2001

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I am currently using WinXP Pro edition.My pc is connected to a workgroup name "HOUSE". Sometimes, when i press the view workgroup computer. The windows return error " HOUSE is not accessible. you might not have permission to use this network resources.Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permission.The list of servers for this workgroup is not currently available".

I am very frustrated with these. I am able to ping other connected computers but not able to view it. They able to view me but only i cannot. And others also using WinXP Pro.Even after i format, i still facing same problem sometimes, can anyone tell me why?

4 replies

by lmon

Try enabling guest account on all XP boxes. Also if you have a firewall it will need to be configured to allow one pc to connect to the other.

Temporarily diable firewalls by doing the step below:

If you have norton's\symantec go to start and run type msconfig then go to the services tab and uncheck password validation, script blocking services, and zone alarm. hit apply and restart the machine. Then attempt to browse if you can browse you had a firewall issue. Go back to msconfig then place a check mark on one of the ones that you unchecked hit apply and restart. Then check to see if you can browse. If you cant then that is the one you have to reconfigure to allow access to the network. Keep doing that until you restart those services and are able to browse.

by pctech

Hi,
LMON gave you good suggestions except I would NEVER enable the Guest account. Doing so makes your computer too easily hacked by even a novice hacker. The Guest account has little more security than the Windows Login Client on 9X systems. While the ESC key will not get you past the login screen, a simple script file with an associated .txt file will usually do the trick. This is also true with the Adminstrator account with no password assigned or a common password, such as admin.
Leave XP's firewall disabled. It is rudamentary, at best.
Also, should you discover that it is a Zone Alarm, or similar firewall, issue, I would configure the firewall to allow access from the needed systems and keep the firewall in place. Since you can "sometimes" not see the network and other times can, I would not think this to be a firewall issue. Still, leave no stones unturned.

I hope this helps you.

by bruno.ranzini

Hi,
have you already checked that NetBios over TCP/IP is enabled and that Computer Browser service is running on all machines?
You know, sometimes you think about big problems and forget checking basic things....
Hope this helps.

by Mark W. Kaelin

I had similar problems with my home network for a long time ? it was very frustrating. I solved the problem in my network by forcing the network cards (NICs) in all the PCs connected to the network to operate at the 10Mbps rather than auto choosing between 10 and 100Mbps.

It turns out that a few of the PCs had just a little too much wire to cross to get to the router. Since I don't do a lot of large file transfer over the network the reduced speed in not really a problem. Perhaps you have a similar situation?

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