Can't get 2 computers in same workgroup

Hi,

I have a laptop with wireless capability and a PC with a USB wi-fi adapter
both hooked up to a wireless router for Net access. The laptop is XP Pro and
the PC is XP Home Japan OS.

Using the wireless network setup wizard has given me the laptop in a
workgroup called 'workgroup' and the PC in a workgroup called 'Mshome'. Both
the workgroups are in Microsoft Windows Network.

I can see the list of available wireless network connections in the laptop
but not in the PC.

The network connection is 'security-enabled shared' but using the wizard
also changes that to 'open'.

I just want to share files/folders. I had no problem sharing files/folders
between English OS XP Pro and Japan OS XP Home using a wired LAN on the same
Level One router before.

Can anyone see where I'm going wrong?

Cheers.

On Sun, 23 Sep 2007 20:52:01 -0700, Terry <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I have a laptop with wireless capability and a PC with a USB wi-fi adapter
>both hooked up to a wireless router for Net access. The laptop is XP Pro and
>the PC is XP Home Japan OS.
>
>Using the wireless network setup wizard has given me the laptop in a
>workgroup called 'workgroup' and the PC in a workgroup called 'Mshome'. Both
>the workgroups are in Microsoft Windows Network.
>
>I can see the list of available wireless network connections in the laptop
>but not in the PC.
>
>The network connection is 'security-enabled shared' but using the wizard
>also changes that to 'open'.
>
>I just want to share files/folders. I had no problem sharing files/folders
>between English OS XP Pro and Japan OS XP Home using a wired LAN on the same
>Level One router before.
>
>Can anyone see where I'm going wrong?
>
>Cheers.

Terry,

Have you tried changing the workgroup on one of the computers? The workgroup
isn't an essential value, you can still see other computers - just look under
Entire Network - Microsoft Windows Network for other workgroups.

If you put both computers in the same workgroup, make sure that the browser
service runs on one and only one (and either one will work equally well).
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/1...isibility.html

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP 2005-2007 [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.

Hi Chuck,

Thanks for your response.

When you say "changing the workgroup on one of the computers", do you mean
cut and paste the computer's icon into the same workgroup where the other
computer is located?

"Terry" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:0CCFC3EB-4724-4819-BA49-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi Chuck,
>
> Thanks for your response.
>
> When you say "changing the workgroup on one of the computers", do you mean
> cut and paste the computer's icon into the same workgroup where the other
> computer is located?


No - you need to change the Workgroup that one of the computers is a member
of.
Right-Click on My Computer, choose properties, click on Computer Name Tab,
and click on the Change button at the bottom. then change the workgroup to
match the workgroup that the other computer belongs to....

HTH

I'll give it a shot.

Thanks for that.

Limited success to report.

I have the network set up with the computers in the same workgroup, and we
can both see the folders to be shared.

However, trying to access these folders ends in the error:
"\\COMPUTERNAME\SharedDocs is not accessible. You might not have permission
to access this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to
find out if you have access permissions.

The network path was not found."

I have narrowed the problem down to a firewall issue. Both computers are
running Sygate Personal Firewall and these are both telling us that "The
application NT Kernel & System has been blocked from accessing the network".

Both firewalls are set to "Allow" for this application, so I'm not sure why
it is being blocked.

Switching off the firewalls allows us to access the shared folders, but this
obviously is not a permanent solution.

Does anyone have an idea what the problem is and a way to solve it?

Cheers.

Just one more thing: You mentioned making sure that the browser
service runs on only one computer in a workgroup.

I'm not clear on what this entails. How do I check and make necessary
amendments?

Thanks again.

"Terry" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:CB68542F-09F0-493F-8103-(E-Mail Removed)...
> However, trying to access these folders ends in the error:
> "\\COMPUTERNAME\SharedDocs is not accessible. You might not have
> permission
> to access this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server
> to
> find out if you have access permissions.
>
> The network path was not found."
>
> I have narrowed the problem down to a firewall issue. Both computers are
> running Sygate Personal Firewall and these are both telling us that "The
> application NT Kernel & System has been blocked from accessing the
> network".
>

Try adding the network IP range (ie something like 192.168.1.1 -
192.168.1.255) to the allowed values in the firewall. Not sure where that
would be in Sygate - in ZoneAlarm it's under Firewall Settings-Zones

That cracked it. Under options, there is a menu that permits users to select
the network adapter and some file-sharing settings. The IP address selection
was automated.

File sharing works not but access is a little slow. Could that be because of
the browser service settings mentioned earlier? How can I check these?

Thanks for your help. We're getting there.

On Sat, 29 Sep 2007 01:41:00 -0700, Terry <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>Just one more thing: You mentioned making sure that the browser
>service runs on only one computer in a workgroup.
>
>I'm not clear on what this entails. How do I check and make necessary
>amendments?
>
>Thanks again.

The easiest solution is to Stop and Disable the browser service. Tune the
browser infrastructure carefully though - if you can't identify any single
computer that will be online whenever any computer is online, you'll have to
have multiple browsers.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/04/nt-browser-or-why-cant-i-always-see.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/0...lways-see.html

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP 2005-2007 [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.