probelm acessing shared file

[bfradgley]

Hi there iv been reading some other threads here and been getting some ideahs but i still think i may need help as im new to networking. Heres my problem

DESCRIPTION
i have 3 desktop del 2001 computers with windows xp home edition 2001 installed. network runs through the 3 and in the past has connected very well. The internet conection is fine on all 3 computers as they all individualy conect to the modem.

PROBLEM
recently computer 3 required reinstaling of windows xp when it was done and set back up i got the conection back but now i cant access any of the shared files on the network space every time comes up with the error msg ( may not have permision and to contact my admin) i cant also conect to a local printer thease are to things i could perform fine before the reinstaling of windows xp so im looking to get conection back to the shared docs and printer. computers 2 and 1 still share docs and still use the printer .
There is a problem with computer 1 the administrator on its own can not gain access to the shared docs i recieve the same error msg (dont have permision contact my admin) this is hard as i though that was the admin to contact and also i am the admin so i have much to learn. The odd thing to me is the 2nd and 3rd users on computer 1 can gain access to the shared drive fine. computer 1 and 2 can use the printer fine.


ADDITIONAL INFO
i have attempted to ping all 3 computers which has been unsuccessfull

i have recently installed norton anti virus so the fire wall may be the problem or at least part of the problem so i may need to turn off all fire walls before continuing.

all 3 computers ip addresses are the same appart from the last 2 digits which suggests static ip addresses.

i am happy for all computers and users to have full control of the shared docs but need to know how to do it. and being the admin i wish to have more control over the users.

the problem with admin on computer 1 has been experianced for several weeks before the reinstalation of xp on computer 3




ANY help is much appriciated and any further details if pos can be supplyed thank you for reading i will report further details as to the outcome.

[johnwill]

Failure to ping is almost always a firewall configuration issue. I'd address that failure first.


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.

[bfradgley]

Hi john will much appriciated for you response.

bit of an update for you the day after i posted the msg i turned off all fire walls and successfully ping all computers but the problem still remains at least i know why i couldnt not ping.

today i took your advice and checked the services, when you mentioned to set remote procedure call to start did you meen both services needed to be set to start as i unexpectidly found to services with the same name but had different funtions and in regards to the service checking i have entered my findings below.

COMPUTER BROWSER
com 1 was the only of the 3 computers to be set to start on computer broweser. when attempting to set com 2 and 3 to start it did not allow me and gave me the following error (could not start the computer browser error 126 the specific file could not be found. So as to date i have not set this service to start on eather coms 2 and 3


REMOTE PROCEDURE CALL
com 3 was not set at stat for remote prcedure call. i attemted to set for both services start. one of the services for remote procedure call manages desktop and when Com 3 allowed me to set as start but i exited services and came back in to find the service was set off start. its confusing and i hope iv explained it adequitely.

as for all the other services i checked them on all 3 coms and they was all set to start.

when you say all groups should be in the same work group do you meen have the same name for the workgroup ?? or is there anything els i need to perform to ensure they are all in the same group ?

further more i attempted to take your advice in sharing the files fro each individual computer going in to computer finding the shared drive in there going into sharing and security option and choosing options in there for each of the computers. I found when attempting this that the shared drives on coms 1 and 3 did not contain the files that should be on the shared file if you get what i meen, they contained individual files to that computer so should i be finding a drive in computer for each computer which contains the files that are in the shared file ?


also in your response you put the fillowing : make sure the computer being accessed has an account with the same name/password as the system connecting to it uses to login. what shpould i be doing here if you could please elaborate ? also i was advised that all users and admins should have different user names and passwords is this correct.

SOME GOOD NEWS
the printer sharing is working i can print now from all coms including com 3. I believe the conection seems to be working very well appart from the fire wall.

The issue still seams to be hidden for me thats why i am leaving no stone unturned. I still can not access shared drive on eather com 3 or the admin on com 1.

This may seam like a mission but any help will be welcome thank you hope to speak soon

[johnwill]

They not only have to be set for start, but they also have to be actually running. Make sure they're all running, because if a dependency fails, they won't be running.

[bfradgley]

i looked to see if the svchost.exe and drowser.dll files were located in the 'system 32' folder and they were there. what do i do next to get computer brouser started ?

[johnwill]

If Computer Browser is not running, look at the dependency list in the Service properties and see what is preventing it from running.