Share a file between computers on the homenet

[loninappleton]

Originally Posted by loninappleton

Ok. I'm just in the mood to give it a whirl.....


Be back with any news.

I'm back.

Here is what I found with both machines started in Safe Mode with Networking (something I never did before.)

lon1machspeed running Win2k

My Network places gives

And I'm describing the icons I see....

folder (open) This one is a shared folder I made
Computers Near Me

Computers near me shows 2 computers properly named for homenet

Under lon2biostar 3 open folders are found

personal folder, homenet, sharedocs (the default one)


On lon2biostar safe mode logged in as user

My Network Places

folder (closed) personal folder
disk homenet on lon2biostar
folder (closed) shared folder

In Safe Mode I can move files now to from personal folder.

This nightmare is brought to you by Microsoft. :-)

I'm hoping you can deduce the sharing violation.

If I remove the personal folder icons and a shortcut made to it,
will Homenet remain intact? Can I get to this stuff from the homenet disk icon?

I'm confused by homenet marked as a folder in one place and
a disk in another. And by the open and closed icons.

I'm sending you this much. Any more would be too complicated.

Please give one step at a time to correct the sharing violation.

[johnwill]

Here's the whole cookbook. Start at the top and let us know when you run into a problem, or it doesn't react like it should.



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.

Hold the Windows key and press R, then type CMD to open a command prompt.

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands:

PING each remote computer by IP address, and if successful, PING by name. Open a command prompt as described above and type.

PING <ip address>
or
PING <computer name>

Where:
<ip address> - is the x.x.x.x IP address
<computer name> - is the computer name

A failure to PING is almost always a firewall configuration issue. Any failure to PING needs to be corrected before you go any farther.

Note: You can obtain the IP address and computer name of a computer by opening a command prompt (DOS window) and typing IPCONFIG /ALL. This should work for any Windows version. The IPCONFIG /ALL display will provide a wealth of useful information for debugging your network connection.

Check your Services are Started on all PCs:

• Computer Browser
• DHCP Client
• DNS Client
• Network Connections
• Network Location Awareness
• Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
• Server
• TCP/IP Netbios helper
• Workstation

Note: You can check the services in Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services.

All of these services should be started, and their startup type should be automatic.

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.

[loninappleton]

I seem to be behind one or two replies.

Don't know where they got to.

On the XP machine when I ask to view the workgroup I get
both computer icons (not folders, disk drives or something else.)

When I try to open the other machine called lon1machspeed
I get a permissions error after a request for name and password.

The name is refused and there is no password.

What combinations of logins do I have to do to get this
password jumble straightened out? I try to do very little of
that during setup because I know what a hassle it is.

No passwords should be on here.

On XP there is Administrator and User. Apparently I have to get access
to lon1machspeed that I cannot do.

[johnwill]

I recommend creating a password on both machines, since sometimes a lack of a password will cause file sharing issues. Also, note the suggesting in my "cookbook" about creating a matching account name on the server that matches the login name/password of the connecting machine.

[loninappleton]

Alright starting from the Cookbook above:

(I have firewall programs, only Avast virus checker.

On lon2biostar

for the command at the run prompt it returned:

Pinging lon2biostar [192.***.0.68]
with 32 bytes of data
Reply from 192.***.0.68 (same IP) bytes -=32 time<1ms TTL=128


On lon1machspeed

PING lon1machspeed returns

Pinging lon1machspeed [192.***.0.67]
with 32 bytes of data
Reply from 192.***.168.0.67 (same second IP)
time <10ms TTL=64


The services at the admin services seemed normal and complete.


As to the making of passwords, where is the user profile needed for change? Admin or user? Or does a new user have to be made? If I make one name and one password for one user on both machines,
will it give errors such as "name or password already in use"?

At least we are now beginning a diagnostic. I have no idea how things
get so messed up. the goal is to clean out all the errors and have
2 accessible machines by me.

Please give separate details on this password routine.

[johnwill]

You create a new account on the "server" machine with the same name/password as is used to login to the connecting machine. The new account just needs access rights to the folders you're sharing, it does not need to be an admin account.

[loninappleton]

Originally Posted by johnwill

You create a new account on the "server" machine with the same name/password as is used to login to the connecting machine. The new account just needs access rights to the folders you're sharing, it does not need to be an admin account.

Today I could see that there was some sort of conflict on the Win2k
machine that would not let me do changes at the Users/Passwords Icon.

The dialog was greyed out. There was something that would not set up.

So in trying to make the logins the same, I got blocked.

Does that have to be done in Safe mode?

[johnwill]

No, but it has to be done on an account with administrative rights.

[loninappleton]

Originally Posted by johnwill

No, but it has to be done on an account with administrative rights.

I was able to change it. Both machine should have the same login name and password now-- no confusions between trying to remember lon and lon1. I would still prefer to not have to go through that.

Next thing I need to do is clean out the rubbish and standardize the
sharing between the 2 machines.

My Network Places is a mess. It shoudl be cleaned out and sharing
established.

All this rubbish got in there from right clicking and naming things and not really doing it in a 'system map' manner. The network tree doesn't show things in the right place or doesn't show them at all, yet one personal shared folder is still accessible to transfer files one way.

I remember setting up 3 machines under Win2k and did it all at once.

Those routines are no longer fresh and I have to do it a step at a time.

Unfortunately no single book or printed routine seems to work well.
They talk about these things but not how to troubleshoot.

Thanks for your patience.

[johnwill]

Do they all work properly now?

[loninappleton]

Originally Posted by johnwill

Do they all work properly now?

Unfortunately no. Still doing the trouble shooting.

I've lost the lon1machspeed on the lon2biostar info about the workgroup.

The workgroup is the next problem to address. Also there are too many different checks to perform: administrative, my workgroup, my this and my that.

Let's start from here.

When I view the workgroup on lon2biostar I see the workgroup homenet but only lon2biostar on it. I want to add lon1machspeed and be able to see all it's folders-- what's called mapping a drive.

On the lon2biostar, I have one "networked computers" (the icon with the little pipe connected to it.) It is called J:

It is by itself showing connection to the workgroup homenet.

On the lon1machspeed machine I have both machines when asking for
computers near me.

When clicking on the lon2biostar from lon1machspeed I get
open folder icons one of which is marked Homenet. Homenet should not be a folder icon but something identifying the workgroup.

If this sounds confusing it is. That's why I want to clean out stuff.

I want to remove the personal shared file folder and have the
C: drive on both machines mapped. One is mapped. I have attempted to map the other but don't want to make the problem worse.

[ComputerQueen]

Personally - at this point if I were you, I would wipe out the home network and start over fresh and let the Wizard do it's thing! I would make sure whatever permissions are needed are set up before re-doing the home network setup. (XP is more likely the cuplrit in my opinion than 2000).

[loninappleton]

Originally Posted by ComputerQueen

Personally - at this point if I were you, I would wipe out the home network and start over fresh and let the Wizard do it's thing! I would make sure whatever permissions are needed are set up before re-doing the home network setup. (XP is more likely the cuplrit in my opinion than 2000).

Well, it comes down to not wanting to lose the file transport I have
at the moment.

How can I be sure that I've 'got everything' when eliminating 'homenet'?

And since I've been confused by book reading and web links, what is the
exact process to run the Wizard on both machines?

During setup of the OS I've done the task of making the workgroup.
What I haven't been able to get right is sharing the whole volume of C:
on both machines.

When I see c: icon on My Computer I want to be able to say add to
lets call it newworkgroup on each machine. This involves making a network drive with a different drive letter like J or K. I've done that.
I haven't gotten it right.

Please give an exact how to or I might be in over my head and lose
the file transfer ability I have now. I make printed copies so I can follow them.

[loninappleton]

One thing that is driving me batty is this:

No matter how often I establish a workgroup, the view whole network
option does not show the workgroup connection nor anything on it
in either machine.

This is giving me the rat in a maze feeling and that's why no progress.

Everything seems to be a dead end on this. It's something I'm not doing but I don't know what it is.

[johnwill]

What's the "View whole network" option?

[loninappleton]

Originally Posted by johnwill

What's the "View whole network" option?

Oh.

On XP I'm talking about View Computer Connections.

That gives the local Area Connection on the Rhine Fast Ethernet Network/Connected/Firewalled/

Doesn't show workgroups or anything else. It's bare.

On Win2k:

Start> My Network Places > Entire Network gives an Empty window
Under Computers Near Me My Network Places gives the compter icon lon1machspeed.


Even though no connections seem to visible, shortcut from
lon1machspeed to a personal shared folder on lon2biostar is functioning.
That's the only thing that functioning with out errors.

Plus my slippers are getting worn out.

I'm still in the position of having to clean things out and not knowing
what needs to go. The advice above about letting the wizard do it went unanswered.

I've looked at what should be done about firewalling in XP at the Control Panel but did not find any places to turn things off.


From your previous cookbook help all I've really done is make the name and password the same on both machines.