Cannot access one computer over a home network

[Kirbster]

Hi,

This is my situation, I have 2 PC's and a laptop all running XP Home, they are all connected through a DSL modem router thingy!! All three can see each other and ping each other. All three have internet access, One computer can see and access files on the other two, however, the other two cannot access files on the other one!!! (hope this is making sense) If I try to Map Network drive, I can see the computer in the list, but when I click on it, none of the shared folders come up! If I go to "cmd" and typ ein either the IP address or the computer name I get the error message "You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions.

Logon Failure: the user has not been granted the requested logon type at this computer"

The big problem is that I want to share the printer around the network but this is attached to the computer that won't allow itself to be accessed!!!! and no, I don't want to move the printer onto one of the other two computers!!!

What should I be looking for to resolve this issue?

[Agent Smith]

First, there are a couple of easy things to check. Make sure that it is not XP's built in firewall which is blocking access to the computer with the printer. The next thing to check, is that you have actually got something to share on the machine which cannot be "seen" by the others. Best thing to do, would be to create a folder, give it a suitable name, and make sure you share it to everybody (check the security permissions) as a test.

Post back if no joy.

Mr. M.

[Kirbster]

HI Mr.M

Firstly, XP's Internet Firewall is off, The "My Documents" Folder is shared, it has the "hand symbol underneath it".

Secondly if I view "My workgroup computers, from any of the three machines, all three machines show up, but if I click on "The computer I'm trying to access", that's when I get the above error message

[Agent Smith]

Ok, the my documents folder is a "secure" directory, so the issue may be to do with that. Are you logged into all computers as the same user and with the same password? Perhaps just for a test, you should try creating a new folder in the root of the affected pc, call it someting like "test" and share that just to see what happens.

[Kirbster]

No, not logged into all computers with same username, there are no passwords with the user accounts, although on each ocmputer, there are accounts set up with the other computers usernames, also the guest account is turned on on each computer as I read elsewhere that this might help!!!

The two computers that can see each other have different usernames and they don't seem affected

I have set up a folder called test and shared it, however, as I cannot access the computer from any of the other computers, it can't be seen.

Also the "My Documents" folder on the other two is shared, and I can access those from any computer without any problem!

[Agent Smith]

Right, the fact that you can see the other computers (plus shares) and the internet from your affected computer should pretty much rule out any hardware issues. So the problem has to be (well 99.99%) with the way the protocols are set up on the dodgy machine.

Does the dodgy computer show up in "network neighbourhood" on the other two computers? Can you "ping" the machine from one of the others? If not, I would definitely check your firewall settings. Are they all in the same workgroup, and do they all have different computer names? That can have an impact. How is your network addressing assigned? By DHCP from the router, or by manual settings. Please check that all addresses, subnet masks, gateway addresses and DNS server settings are correct.

There seems to be no reason for this, but sometimes simply uninstalling all the networking components and resetting them up again after a reboot, will cure this type of problem on a Windows based machine. Perhaps that is worth a try.

[Kirbster]

OK, If I click on View workgroup computers, then all 3 computers show up on all 3 computers (if you see what I mean)

I can ping all machines from all machines!

All computers have unique names and are all in "Home" Workgroup". The network addressing is done by the router by DCHP

This is the result of ipconfig on the afftected machine

Windows IP Configuration

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Belkin

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.2

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1

The others are identical with the exception of the final digit of the IP address, one of them is 4 and the other is 5

Where to next, I'm not sure about unisntalling the network components, how do I go about doing this?

[Agent Smith]

Just before we go any further, I just had a thought. Is Microsoft "File and Print Sharing" installed for your ethernet adaptor?

Failing that, it should simply be a case of removing the ethernet adapter from device manager, and then rebooting the pc. On restart, it should then find a new device, install it, and also reinstall the required protocols.

[Kirbster]

Is that in the properties of the connection??

If so then yes, it is ticked along with client formicrosoft networks and TCP/IP

[Agent Smith]

Yes thats the one. It may be worth simply removing this first from here, and then adding it again (preferably after a reboot) to see if it makes a difference.

[Kirbster]

OK, I've done that and rebooted, noticed that all my shared folders are now unshared, have shared them again and still no change!

[Agent Smith]

I'm going to have to think about this a bit more. It has to be something really stupid, although it still sounds like the firewall is the culprit to me.

Just for the sheer hell of it, can you recreate the user who is logged in to the dodgy pc on one of the others (Same name, password and security level) and then log in as that user and see what happens.

Thanks.

[Kirbster]

OK, Ive created an account called "Owner" the same as the other computer, with administrative rights and no password, just the same as the dodgy PC.

No luck, still get the error message as before!

[homecomputeraid]

Kirbster,

It definitely sounds like a rights issue, or a workgroup issue. Right click My Computer, go to Manage, then Users. Make sure the same user you want to share the resource is defined on all computers. For example, Kirbster. The username and password should be the same on all PC's! To reset the password, right click the username and select Set Password. Uncheck User must change Password at Next Logon.

Next double click on Groups in the same Computer Management window. Double click on Administrators, and make sure the user (in our example, Kirbster) shows up as an Administrator. If not, you'll want to cllick Add, then find the user on that PC and add it.

Also, make sure the workgroup names match (I think they do, or you probably wouldn't even see the computer in question, but let's check). Right click on my computer and select Properties. Click on the Computer Name tab and make sure the workgroup names match.

Let me know how it works!

Sincerely,

[Kirbster]

I don't know if it's Windows XP but I don't seem to get a user option in computer management. However both PC's have an administrator set up called "Owner" and also one called "Richard Kirby" There is no password set for any of the accounts.

They are all in the same workgroup, I can ping all 3 computers from each of them

[Agent Smith]

I guess this is one reason why I hate XP, and why we do not use it at work.

Anyway, let's try a few more things please Kirbster. From one of the pc's you are trying to access the dodgy pc from, can you go to start, then run, and in the box which pops up enter the following

\\name of pc you are trying to see (eg \\kirbster3)

and also when that is done

\\ip address of pc you are tring to see (eg \\192.168.1.100)

Let's see what happens when you try these please.

Mr. M.

[homecomputeraid]

Kirbster,

One of those differences between XP Home and XP Pro. I think you'll have a Users icon in Control Panel? Please double check the about users and privileges.

To determine whether it's a rights issue, you can try enabling the Guest account on the problem PC then trying to attach to it.

Also try removing File and Print Sharing, rebooting, then re-installing File and Print Sharing.

To do this, go to Start, Control Panel. In Control Panel, click Network and Internet Connections, then Network Connections. Right click Local Area Connection and select Properties. Select File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks, and select Uninstall. You may need the CD for this if you don't know where your cab files are. They're usually in either C:\windows\options\cabs, or an i386 Directory somewhere on your hard drive, if you have a factory install. Finish the process then reboot.

Reinstall File and Print Sharing by going to Local Area Connection properties as above, and clicking Install, Service, File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks. Again reboot and see if it works after that.

If that doesn't work, I found a Microsoft Knowlege Base Article that appears to describe your problem, and it seems to be related to XP Service Pack 2. There's a Hotfix available for the issue, but you'll have to contact Microsoft Support to get permission to download it! (I hate it when Microsoft does that!)

Sorry it's taking us so long to help you resolve your issue. Not an easy one, I guess. A lot of us are trying! :huh:

Sincerely,

[homecomputeraid]

Kirbster,

If you call Microsoft support, make sure you reference that specific Microsoft Knowledge Base Article! Then they'll waive the usual support fee, and unlock the download for you.

Sincerely,

[Kirbster]

Mr.M I've done both of the things you ask and for both I get the same error message as originally.

Ted, I've already removed file and printer sharing, rebooted and re-installed it, that made no difference.

The dodgy PC does not have SP2 installed, however, the laptop I'm trying to connect to it does, although the 3rd computer doesn't and can't connect either to the dodgy PC.

I have to say I don't really understand a word of that microsoft article!!

[Agent Smith]

One more thought Kirbster, I know you are sure that the XP built in firewall is turned off, but is there any chance you have another firewall on the system? I know that some AntiVirus software is now coming with some form of port blocking/filtering. McAfee is an example of this, so it's worth checking that all this is turned off.

Also as homecomputeraid has just resuggested removing file and printer sharing, which I know we did yesterday, I would suggest going a stage further and removing all the protocols. Do this from the same place you removed file and print sharing, but this time remove everything associated with the network card. When all have been removed, go to device manager and remove the network card as well, then reboot and add it all back.

[Kirbster]

I have a Mcafee firewall, but it is disabled, that shoud be enough shouldn't it?

[Agent Smith]

Yep, if both firewalls are turned off, then it should allow access. Only thing I can really think of trying now, is to do as I suggest and remove it all and start again. M$ software can be a PITA, and sometimes simply restarting the job cures the problem.

[Kirbster]

excuse my ignorance, the network card is already pre-installed, it's not a card as such, so therefore if i remove it from device manager, will it automatically pick it up when I restart the computer and do what ever it needs to do to install it again?

[homecomputeraid]

Kirbster,

I strongly recommend having all PC's concerned on the same Service Pack level. Run all available Windows Updates on all of them.

Sorry about asking you to uninstall and reinstall File and Printer sharing again. I missed that.

Sincerely,

[Kirbster]

ok, I've done all that and still no difference!!!