3rd machine can't see MSHOME

Have 2 desktops (XPSP2) and a laptop (XP MediaCenter).One desktop wired to a
Linksys router, the other desktop and laptop connected thru wireless. All
can see each other and talk to each other except: the laptop only sees
MSHOME (and subsequent network places) in safe mode. In normal mode, it
looks for MSHOME, then error message: "MSHOME is not available. You might
not have permissions for this network resource. Check with your network
administrator". All firewalls are off. What should I check?

Many thanx,

Rip

RipperT wrote:

> Have 2 desktops (XPSP2) and a laptop (XP MediaCenter).One desktop wired to
> a Linksys router, the other desktop and laptop connected thru wireless.
> All can see each other and talk to each other except: the laptop only sees
> MSHOME (and subsequent network places) in safe mode. In normal mode, it
> looks for MSHOME, then error message: "MSHOME is not available. You might
> not have permissions for this network resource. Check with your network
> administrator". All firewalls are off. What should I check?

You must be using Safe Mode with Networking because the network adapter
drivers aren't loaded in regular Safe Mode.

I'm sorry, but this does sound like a firewall issue. Perhaps the problem
machine has a firewall of which you are unaware such as the Nvidia firewall
included in drivers for some of the nForce motherboards:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/security.html

If the above isn't applicable, then look more carefully for a second
firewall, perhaps a firewall function included with the antivirus/security
software installed on that machine.

If there really are no extra firewalls and/or the firewall is correctly
configured to allow lan traffic, because you mention that the laptop is
running Media Center (and didn't mention what versions of XP are on the
desktops), the following may also be applicable:

If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center:

a. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab) and create identical user
accounts/passwords on all computers.

b. If you don't care about using Pro's advanced features, leave the Simple
File Sharing enabled.

Simple File Sharing means that Guest (network) is enabled. This means that
anyone without a user account on the target system can use its resources.
This is a security hole but only you can decide if it matters in your
situation.

Then create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users'
home directories (My Documents) or Program Files, but you can share folders
inside those directories. A better choice is to simply use the Shared
Documents folder.

If that doesn't work for you, here is an excellent network troubleshooter by
MVP Hans-Georg Michna. Take the time to go through it and it will usually
pinpoint the problem area(s) - http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

It turned out to be Norton Internet Security, which I "turned off", but it
continued to run something in the background (there were too many processes
for me to run it down by process of elimination); when I restarted NIS,
everything worked.

Many thanx for the comprehensive response.

Rip


"Malke" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> RipperT wrote:
>
>> Have 2 desktops (XPSP2) and a laptop (XP MediaCenter).One desktop wired
>> to
>> a Linksys router, the other desktop and laptop connected thru wireless.
>> All can see each other and talk to each other except: the laptop only
>> sees
>> MSHOME (and subsequent network places) in safe mode. In normal mode, it
>> looks for MSHOME, then error message: "MSHOME is not available. You might
>> not have permissions for this network resource. Check with your network
>> administrator". All firewalls are off. What should I check?
>
> You must be using Safe Mode with Networking because the network adapter
> drivers aren't loaded in regular Safe Mode.
>
> I'm sorry, but this does sound like a firewall issue. Perhaps the problem
> machine has a firewall of which you are unaware such as the Nvidia
> firewall
> included in drivers for some of the nForce motherboards:
>
> http://www.nvidia.com/object/security.html
>
> If the above isn't applicable, then look more carefully for a second
> firewall, perhaps a firewall function included with the antivirus/security
> software installed on that machine.
>
> If there really are no extra firewalls and/or the firewall is correctly
> configured to allow lan traffic, because you mention that the laptop is
> running Media Center (and didn't mention what versions of XP are on the
> desktops), the following may also be applicable:
>
> If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center:
>
> a. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
> Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab) and create identical user
> accounts/passwords on all computers.
>
> b. If you don't care about using Pro's advanced features, leave the Simple
> File Sharing enabled.
>
> Simple File Sharing means that Guest (network) is enabled. This means that
> anyone without a user account on the target system can use its resources.
> This is a security hole but only you can decide if it matters in your
> situation.
>
> Then create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users'
> home directories (My Documents) or Program Files, but you can share
> folders
> inside those directories. A better choice is to simply use the Shared
> Documents folder.
>
> If that doesn't work for you, here is an excellent network troubleshooter
> by
> MVP Hans-Georg Michna. Take the time to go through it and it will usually
> pinpoint the problem area(s) - http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm
>
> Malke
> --
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> "Don't Panic!"
> MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

RipperT wrote:

> It turned out to be Norton Internet Security, which I "turned off", but it
> continued to run something in the background (there were too many
> processes for me to run it down by process of elimination); when I
> restarted NIS, everything worked.
>
> Many thanx for the comprehensive response.

You're very welcome. Norton strikes again. I'm glad you got it sorted.
Thanks for taking the time to post back.

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User