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Workgroup is not accessible

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by lcscherzer

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Peer to peer network. Windows XP Home or Pro on 7 computers, 2000 on 1.
Hub for T1 line is DHCP server, connects to main switch.
All computers can ping 3 specific computers by IP address. No computers can ping the other 5 computers. All can access the internet thru the T1 line. All have DHCP assigned IP Addresses. All set for default (DHCP, then NetBios over TCP/IP).
Mostly the non connectivity doesn't matter as most computers don't share data.
The 2 computers that do need to share, cannot. The older computer can "see" others computers in it's workgroup, cannot ping the new computer.
The new computer was able to "see" the older computer when programs, etc. were installed. Something changed and now the new computer can no longer "see" the older computer, but can ping it.
When trying to access the workgroup in Network Places, get message: Nhk is not accessible. (NHK is the workgroup).
Older computer is one of the 3 that can be pinged by all.
New computer is one that cannot be ping by any.
I've tried:
Removing the network adapter in Device Manager and letting Windows re-recognize the hardware on restart. No help.
Check workgroup name. OK
Checked all IP addresses; no duplicates.
Computer Browser Service is running.
net user shows an administrator user on both computers.
No "hidden" key in Registry to hide a computer from the network.
Since not much work has gotten done with this new computer in this state, my next step, without a better answer, is to revert the computer to its original out-of-the-box state.
Any help will be appreciated.

12 replies

by dryflies

If the older computer is also WINXP create a nextwork installation disk on it and use it on the new computer.

by cg it

humm you don't mention it but if Windows XP SP2 is on both Home and Pro, then the firewall enabled as a default. Said firewall will do to others on the LAN as it does to those on a WAN, block access. You have to allow acces for those on the LAN that you want to share folders with. If your not running W98 or earlier you don't need NetBIOS over TCP/IP enabled. As an added security measure, disable NetBIOS over TCP/IP.

Further, the built in firewall has a ICMP filter and if enabled would block ping [ping is ICMP]. Check your Windows P Security Center settings for ICMP.

Accessing shared folders on other computers in a workgroup setting requires identical user accounts on those machines that share the folder and those that will access the share meaning user1 account must be one computer1 which is sharing the folder and also on computer2 which will access the folder.

If you get a not accessible message when trying to browse the workgrop via my network places, try removing the computer from the workgroup [join it to another workgroup name], reboot, the join the orginal workgroup again, reboot.

by cg it

oh, check your subnet mask. all computers on the LAN have to have the same subnet mask e.g. IP 192.168.1.1 subnet mask 255.255.255.0 if they have different subnet masks, like 255.255.255.192 then those with the different subnet masks from 255.255.255.0 are on a different segment.

by cg it

note just checking the workgroup name isn't sufficent evidence that all computers are actually members of that workgroup. All computers when you initially install Windows [W2K included] are members of the "workgroup" workgroup. That doesn't mean they are all members of the same workgroup named workgroup. Its best to create a new name and join the computers to that new workgroup. Then add user accounts on all machines. Then setup folder sharing adding in users that will be granted access to the shared folder through the shared folder permissions. Its also a good idea to remove the everyone group from shared resourses. everyone literally means everyone including Cousin whosits who finds a way to break into your computer via the internet. Also it's a good idea to rename the quest account, give it a password, then disable it.

by lcscherzer

Poster rated this answer.
I tried most of the suggestions offered, or had already tried them. Nothing helped. Since the computer was new and not much had been added, I recovered the original system, re-setup the workgroup and it's running just fine. It can access to other computer and the other can access it. It survived an overnight shutdown. So we'll just monitor it from here on. Thanks for the help.

by lcscherzer

Any idea what happened from Friday when the computer was setup and networking, turned off for the weekend, then wouldn't network on Monday?

by bdulac

Are there any firewall programs on any of the PCs?
If so, they will need to be configured to allow local network traffic.

If not, try joining the problem computers to a different workgroup and then re-join to your NHK workgroup.

When you say "older computer" is that the one that has 2000 on it? And does the "new computer" have XP?

by lcscherzer

Both computers are XP Home SP2.
I'm not sure if firewalls are on or off. Hub for T1 has built in firewall, so Windows firewalls can be off.

by sgt_shultz

do you have link light both ends on bad computer. can it ping router/gateway. what do you get when you run ipconfig /release ipconfig /renew at the cmd prompt. have you tried swapping bad computer's network patch cable AND switch port with another comptuer that works.

by razz2

CG IT has the best ideas for your next troubleshooting steps with checking subnet mask's etc. One thing no one mentioned though is the design.

XP Home has limit of 5 P2P machines. PRO's limit is 10. You have a total of 7. In ANY LAN environment the choice should be PRO. This may or not may not be the cause of your issue but it is worth remembering.

Here is a TR article on this too:

https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5100-6270_11-1040571.html

Good Luck,

razz

by lcscherzer

I tried most of the suggestions offered, or had already tried them. Nothing helped. Since the computer was new and not much had been added, I recovered the original system, re-setup the workgroup and it's running just fine. It can access to other computer and the other can access it. It survived an overnight shutdown. So we'll just monitor it from here on. Thanks for the help.

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