XP Networking Headache....

ok go to Control Panel...then network connections and on the left side there is a blue pannel...in the first box there should be some thing that says "setup a home network"...do that on each computer you want the network on...make sure they are in the sasme workgroup...and make sure each computer has a different name...and poof it should work

I know you're frustrated but he was just trying to help.. don't get snippy dude.

--JR

ok do this:

rightclick on the "my network places icon"
go to properties
right click on the connection that you USE
go to properties
click on the "advanced" tab
uncheck the box that says "Protect my computer and network by limiting or preventing access to this computer from the internet.


i have had problems in the past and unchecking that box on all computers makes it work and faster. tell me if it helps you at all...

i said what i said becuase you didn't mention doing that...all you said was the you plugged everythig into the router and i guess hoped it worked...see windows xp pro netowrks everything for you so unless there is some sort of software firewall or other peice of software stopping any type of connection then that hsould work...you must have done something wrong

I would assign static ip addresses for both computers and subnet mask (eg 192.168.0.1/2 and 255.255.255.0)

Assign them the same workgroup and different name.

Share at least one folder on each.

Make sure that they can ping each other. If they cannot ping then smth must be wrong in either settings or hardware.

a hub will not matter really. Cross-over is all you need between two computers. A hub simply forwards and is not intelligent.

I know the pain when networking does not work (I networked a chinese MAC to my XP pro machine in only THREE days! with file sharing and ICS....).

So good luck. and keep us posted =]

i'm not too familiar with xp (i run win2k) but have you activated the 'file and printer sharing' option in the local area connection settings? also, you will have to make the printers and files sharable by selecting each one, right click and select 'sharing,' and then choose the sharing option.

These should be DIFFERENT on each comptuer:

IP address
Computer Name

These should be the SAME on each computer:

Subnet mask
Workgroup name
DHCP Disabled
TCP/IP Protocol
Client for MS Networks Protocol
File and Printer Sharing for MS Networks Protocol


Since you don't have a router, and a HUB or SWITCH is NOT a router (as it was referenced below), you must use static IP addresses, you will not have a domain, gateway IP, or DNS IPs.

If possible I would suggest you get a third machine and set it up for your network. Then see if you can ping either of the existing machines. This may allow you to focus on the machine that has the problem (if it is a problem with one of the PC's, configuration or hardware, it's harder to diagnose with only two PC's). Let us know how you go.

easiest fix: enable netbios over tcp/ip

it is a little checkbox under advanced tcp/ip properties WINS tab. If the hardware is setup properly, both machines are using same workgroup, this should do the trick.




Additionally, many people 'tune' WinXP by turning off or turning to manual some services, services you may need for this. If you ever did that type of tuning on your PC, go back and review the changes.

I just love networking threads. There are just so many things to go wrong in so many ways. As with the Chinese Mac etal in just three days. Nothing has caused me as many problems as networking. Sometimes I think it just doesn't work to get some cyborg thrill out of so much emotional energy nearby. I've set it up four or five times by the book, exactly, went through it with two different techs, stymied both of them and then next day, did the exact same routine, step for step, and it worked.

I think Forsaken's suggestion is good, to determine with the problem with a known quantity. I'd go further and say if you are going to set up a LAN for yourself as it seems you are, start with one machine, a router and the internet. Then you have a known quantity on the other end. You're going to have to set up the router anyway eventually.

I also found I couldn't keep the XP firewall disabled unless I enabled WEP, but that was with XP Home, I think XP Pro isn't quite as paranoid about things like that but it could be something to try. I'd keep disabling the firewall and XP would just re-enable it automatically without even letting me know. Drove me nuts.

In any case, when you get it figured out, let us know what worked for you. I can assure you someone in the near future will really appreciate not having to duplicate your learning curve. That's a major purpose in these forums, to be a repository of knowledge we can all benefit from.

I hope no one wants to know how I networked that chinese mac os 9.2 (I do NOT speak/write/understand Chinese; I had my gf translate, who is quite a computer illiterate) with my xp machine :j

But, I would really like to know as well if you got it working what you changed. I recently put up a networkin my apartment to share adsl between 3 laptops (xp pro, win98 and winme).

So any experience for the future would be great

you don't want to be in a domain. you would need a windows nt or 2000 server to authenticate you. you want workgroup. both machines must be in the same one.
try pinging the ip address of the other machine and see what happens. are they connected to the internet? only one may be getting a public IP the other may be getting an automatic private ip by default. could be a bad tcp/ip stack but doubtful. you can install netbeui on xp if its needed but you will need your windows xp cd.
let us know how it goes