Home networking

[Josh-2552]

i want to set up a wireless network between my desktop and laptop, and possibly my other pc, although that is not important. anyway, i ran the wizard on both my laptop and desktop, and created a workgroup. However, i cannot access the workgroup from either of the machines.

i have created one before, between my 2 desktops, and i just don't know why i cant get it to work. please help me as i am having to use msn between them both, and as i need to be at both machines, it totally gets rid of the whole wireless idea!

any help would be greatly appreciated.

one thing that may be the cause is that my laptop has sp2, and my desktop has sp1 (it is not verified serial key)

thanks, Josh

[Blencogo]

Hi Josh,

Are you connecting through an ASDL wireless router (infrastructure) or peer-to-peer? Are you using Windows or the software that came with your wireless card?

Two things to check first:

Try it with your firewall off - you may have to configure it to allow access by another PC.

Have you 'Shared' the folders you wish to share on each machine?

It can be a lot of things!!

[Josh-2552]

we connect to the internet by an adsl router (both the laptop and desktop are wireless).

the router is BT, and so is the adapter for the desktop. i am using the built in WLAN on my laptop. I followed the instructions, when using the bt adapter, and it says to install the drivers, then follow window's wizard.

i have shared the folders, and i have allowed it the desktop using norton. assuming it is not the firewall (which i will check again), ehat could be the problem? is the difference between sp1 and sp2 an issue?

thanks, Josh

[Blencogo]

Have you tried without any security set (WEP/WPA).

When I have had problems in the past, I have found it often helps to try and establish the network with both machines WIRED to the router to eliminate any wireless problems.

Are both machines using XP Home or is one using XP Pro?
Do you use the same login/password on both?
Do you have to 'enable' a new PC in the router's settings?

I wouldn't have thought SP1/SP2 would cause a problem - but maybe someone knows differently!

[Josh-2552]

one is xp pro, i forgot about that, sorry. my laptop is xp home edition.

so far as i know, i dont have to do anything to the router.

the router has a password, if that's what you mean, but i enter that without a problem.

[Blencogo]

I vaguely remember there being some permissions problems between XP Pro and XP Home - I'll see if I can find it!

I assume you are using the router as a DHCP server. Has the router allocated an IP address to both PCs? Run 'cmd' from the Start menu to open the DOS screen. Type ipconfig/all and check they both have an IP address in the network range.

Can you 'Ping' the other computer both ways? Ping the loopback first on 127.0.0.1 to check your TCP/IP configuration is OK. Then try Pinging the other PCs IP address.

I'll see what I can find on the PRO/Home issue.

[Josh-2552]

ok, thanks for the trouble. Yes, i have found IP addresses for both computers, but as to the other things, u may have to be more explanatory; i'm ok with pcs, but not brilliant, and as you can see, home networking isnt my strongpoint.

Thanks, Josh

[tonybeard]

Grab a twisted pair cable and do an ethernet connection. Home Edition does not have the Xp networking functionality of pro. Use Spoon proxy to connect the two platforms together assigning .001 and .002 respectively to each computer and activate the share computer in the my computer properties and voila. Forget using the firewire it just won't respond...ethernet is the go.:smileygrin:

[Josh-2552]

ok, but do i put the ethernet directly between the desktop and the laptop; or from the desktop to the router, and from the router to the laptop?

whats "spoon proxy"?

Josh

[Thalamus.]

Connect your laptop and PC to the the router with an ethernet cable.

It may be advisable to update your SP1 system to Sp2 as well.

whats "spoon proxy"?

Here is a link to information on Spoon proxy, but maybe see if connecting your systems via ethernet allows for file sharing.