[SOLVED] Can only see myself in WORKGROUP

[Paper]

Hello,
I am trying to share my files on a wider network, but all I'm seeing is mshome and my computer in it, with no one elses computers showing. I can also see workgroup, but can't gain access to it.

Why is this? I've even reinstalled windows in the hope it would fix itself and run the wizard a million times, but I still can only see myself.

Is it possible that the provider thingy won't let us share files? How can I know?

[johnwill]

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.

[Paper]

Thank you very much, especially for the detail. You'll be suprised to learn that I'm doing a course in computer science at uni, I just absolutely hate networks and really have no idea what I'm doing. I have two copies of windows installed, so security isn't too essential in this case.

I've scawered google with little sucess.

Woo progress! Now another workgroup shows, "mshome" which is mine and "workgroup". I am starting to be able to see the whole network. I added "File and Printer Sharing" to Windows Firewall, which made the difference.

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : 89764155F560
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : student.shef2.opal.lan

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : student.shef2.opal.lan
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-19-66-22-F7-C8
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.78.1.64
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.192.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.78.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.78.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.78.0.1
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 01 May 2008 15:35:06
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 01 May 2008 15:50:06

Thanks for your help

[johnwill]

Glad we could help.

You need to learn more about networking if you're going into Comp Si, it's a major part of computing nowadays.