Home Network

Post by **firemed9** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 5:48 pm

Hello,
I have run into a fairly unusal problem recently. I have a network set up in my house consisting of 2 laptops and two desktops. The main cpu (desktop) in on 24-7 and is hardwired to the router. I also have a 2nd desktop and 1 laptop that are hard wired to the router also. The second laptop taps into the wireless site of the router.
Anyways, I setup the network using the network wizard in XP, and for the most part that worked fine. The main desktop and the two laptops all talk to each other fine, and the 2nd deskop talks to the main desktop and the two laptop fine, but the 2nd desktop doesnt recognize itself as being a computer on the network and the other three computers cannot talk to it.
I shut off windows firewall (didnt realize it was on in the first place), that didnt fix it. I tried running the network wizard again, nothing. I tried changing its name and re-configuring its settings, still to no avail. I don't know what to do next to get it to work.

The problem computer's specs:
Dell Dimension 2400
128mb ram
motherboard mounted 10/100 port
windows xp home (SP2)
AVG Free Anti-virus
Currently no firewall software (sits behind a firewalled router)
Spy-bot w/registry protection
Adaware

The Main CPU is running XP home (SP2) and the 2 laptops are running XP Pro (SP2)

All four computers talked to each other until about a month ago, but I dont know what I did to F$%k it up. The problem pc is mainly used for storage.

Any ideas on whats going on?

Thank you in advance,
Steve

kb0nly · Post by **kb0nly** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 8:37 pm

I've had random problems like this too, why, i don't know. It seems to come and go on all the networks i work on.

What i do is run the network wizard on one computer and then have it create a setup disc, take that disc to the other three and run the setup from it to get them set the same. Then once that's done on all the computers do this, unplug the router and shut off all the computers. Wait a little bit then power up the router and reboot the computers one at a time waiting for each to fully finish booting.

If that doesn't work try again from the start and change the network name on the initial computer used to create the setup disc and go around again. For some reason it screws up and changing the network name usually clears out any settings in the registry by starting over with the new name.

Jim202 · Post by **Jim202** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 3:24 am

One important fact to remember when using a network, is
that all computers must be in the same group. You can
lable the group anything you want, but they must all use
the same group name.

I never use the software with the operating system to set
up the network. I just use the windows explorer to be able
to go to the network icon in the list and click on the
desktop selection, then click on the plus sign of "my
network places", then the plus sign of "entire network",
then "microsoft windows network", and then the network
name you set up. You should see all the computers connected
on the network.

Don't forget that you must set up the share settings on
each computer to be able to read and write to those
computers. If share isn't set on, you won't be able to do
anything and may not even see that computer.

The share settings are accessed by right clicking on the
drive ("C" in most cases) from the windows explorer. Then
click on the "sharing and security", then select the sharing
tab. You should have a selection there to share the
computer (folder) on the network. You should also find a
selection about allowing others to change files. What this
looks like and says will depend on the operating system
you have. As many have migrated wo Windows XP, this
should apply to most.

Hope this helps in clearing up some of the confusion.

Jim

OX · Post by OX » Tue Apr 18, 2006 3:47 am

Yet another Windows "wizard" that doesn't always work (like FAST? ugh!)

Don't get me wrong, I like Windows but they are like my employer: When they suck, they REALLY suck but when they're good, they're REALLY good.

I set up my networks manually too. It takes just the same amount of time as the wizard route and is not difficult.

Put all machines in the same workgroup. Make sure that the IP address is obtained by the router (automatically via DHCP). Make sure the router has it's DHCP server turned on (default condition). From there, go create your shares by right clicking on folders and clicking "sharing". If you want to share a printer, open the printer from the control panel and enable sharing.

kb0nly · Post by **kb0nly** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 7:12 am

I've set up many a network manually, but i sure am glad they made that wizard to create the setup disk. When working on a network of 20+ computers as i had to not too long ago it was nice to go to each one with a disc and wait a few minutes before moving on to the next one.

Also, it's nice to make a copy of the disc for quick repairs down the road, the customer can be instructed over the phone to put the disc in and run the setup, done.

Unfortunately like anything having to do with computers, windows or any other O/S, it's never perfect.

Post by **firemed9** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 2:48 pm

Gentlemen, I went through and tried renaming the network. That didnt work. I tried running the setup disk on the networked computers, that didnt work. I went through everything, unplugged and plugged everything back in, still no avail. Any other ideas?

Thank you in advance,
STeve

kb0nly · Post by **kb0nly** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 3:34 pm

Wow, you must have angered the gods... LOL

Are you running anything different on the computer that is not showing up on the network, a different antivirus, etc?

Post by **firemed9** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 3:48 pm

Nope, everything is similar. Like I said, I can run the wizard unto its blue in the face and the computer doesnt even recognize itself on the network. I open up My Network Places after re-booting the computer after running the wizard, and it shows the other 3 computers, but not the itself. I can open, close and run anything from the other 3 computers on the problem pc, but cant do anything to it. I'm lost!!!!!

Steve

thebigphish · Post by **thebigphish** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 6:53 pm

is guest account access set up? Did you recently change the networked name of this PC?

do you have any working Restore points (:gag: hypocrite-me turns that off as soon as i can on EVERY computer i use) that you can try?

i had a very similar problem like this, and it was down to the other computers not having guest access to this one system, and vice versa... what i did do was map one drive from each system on each computer, and then do the old 'net use' trick (or nowadays "reconnect at logon) to make it show up each time...workedl ike a charm.

nmfire10 · Post by **nmfire10** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 3:48 am

Windows networking. Can't live with it. Can't live without it.

Post by **wavetar** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 3:06 pm

Won't even show itself on the network...wierd. Go to 'run' and type in "services.msc". Have a look through all the running services & see if anything which may affect networking ability might be turned off. In particular, "computer browser", "netlogon", "network connections", "remote access connection manager" and "server" all come to mind as services that you don't want to show as "disabled".

Are you able to ping the suspect computer from the others? Can the suspect computer ping itself? If either answer is "no", then your TCP/IP stack may have corrupted. Instructions to reset it are here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/299357/

Some MS knowledgebase info to read through if you haven't already:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.as ... -us;308007

Also this page, about 2/3 of the way down under "Can't see my computer on the network" might be helpful.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/usin ... l_hni.mspx

Rick Rock · Post by **Rick Rock** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 9:29 pm

I didn't see this covered, but if it was, pardon me.

What router are you running? Is this the only connection between the computers, or is another switch in place? Does te router see all the computers coming in on the routing table?

Post by **firemed9** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 5:37 am

Gentlemen,
I first want to thank everyone for their help. That being said, at 0230am, I finally got so p*$$*d off at the thing that i reformatted the hard drive and fresh installed windows XP Pro. Now it works fine, and faster than it did since I bought the damn thing.

One question though, do I need to run a software firewall on every computer on the network if the router has a built in fire wall and I'm running a software firewall on the Main CPU?

Steve

kb0nly · Post by **kb0nly** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 7:49 am

A fresh install is always a big improvement, windows just get's fubar'd over time. One of the mentioned problems was most likely the cause, but wiping it and starting over is the quick and easy way to fix it most of the time. I make it a point to start over fresh every year or so on the computers i use the most. But i also usually do so by restoring the partition from a backup copy, takes about the same amount of time as a reinstall but then all the software install is done when it reboots.

Depends on how good the firewall is in your router! If you have a good router firewall there isn't a reason to install a firewall on each computer as long as you trust your network.

I happen to run firewall's on all the computers connected to my network because foreign computers get connected on a regular basis for downloading software updates, etc. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, there is network aware virus's and worms out there that can propagate from one computer to another if an infected machine is connected to a network.

If your confident that only your computers which you have direct control over will be on the network then you can just stick with the firewall in your router.