WinXP-Win98 network issues

I'm setting up a small business network and have three
desktops running XP Home, two laptops running XP Pro, and
one desktop running 98. They all run through the same hub
and access the internet through a router that that hub is
attached to. The internet is working fine on all these
computers with a DHCP set up. I used the Internet
Connection Wizard and the network wizard to get them all
together. All of the XP machines can see eachother and
access each other's shared file folder fine. All of the XP
machines can see the 98 machine but any attempt to access
it and it come up with a message stating: Access could not
be granted... the path could not be found. However, in the
network neighborhood on the 98 mahcine nothing shows up.
The 98 machine contains a vast majority of the business'
files that need to be accessable (desirably) from the
other computers on the network rather than running down
stair everytime they need information from it. The boss
doesn't want to upgrade to XP on that box yet. Any
suggestions? It would be much appreciated. Thank you.

nick,

You should use the same username and password on OS XP
and w98SE. I had a same kind of communication problem at
my home network and now I am running 3 98SE deskmachines,
one 98SE laptop (Wireless), one XP Home edition (all
Dutch) and one XP Pro (US), with simple file sharing. If
nothing helps make a so called "adminstrator" account on
your W98 desktop and use the same passwords defined at
the administator account of the XP systems (I hope that
they are identical).
Good luck

>-----Original Message-----
>I'm setting up a small business network and have three
>desktops running XP Home, two laptops running XP Pro,
and
>one desktop running 98. They all run through the same
hub
>and access the internet through a router that that hub
is
>attached to. The internet is working fine on all these
>computers with a DHCP set up. I used the Internet
>Connection Wizard and the network wizard to get them all
>together. All of the XP machines can see eachother and
>access each other's shared file folder fine. All of the
XP
>machines can see the 98 machine but any attempt to
access
>it and it come up with a message stating: Access could
not
>be granted... the path could not be found. However, in
the
>network neighborhood on the 98 mahcine nothing shows up.
>The 98 machine contains a vast majority of the business'
>files that need to be accessable (desirably) from the
>other computers on the network rather than running down
>stair everytime they need information from it. The boss
>doesn't want to upgrade to XP on that box yet. Any
>suggestions? It would be much appreciated. Thank you.
>.
>

www.careyholzman.com/netfixes.htm

Tip #1

Carey

"nick" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:136f401c3f744$76f06a50$(E-Mail Removed)...
> I'm setting up a small business network and have three
> desktops running XP Home, two laptops running XP Pro, and
> one desktop running 98. They all run through the same hub
> and access the internet through a router that that hub is
> attached to. The internet is working fine on all these
> computers with a DHCP set up. I used the Internet
> Connection Wizard and the network wizard to get them all
> together. All of the XP machines can see eachother and
> access each other's shared file folder fine. All of the XP
> machines can see the 98 machine but any attempt to access
> it and it come up with a message stating: Access could not
> be granted... the path could not be found. However, in the
> network neighborhood on the 98 mahcine nothing shows up.
> The 98 machine contains a vast majority of the business'
> files that need to be accessable (desirably) from the
> other computers on the network rather than running down
> stair everytime they need information from it. The boss
> doesn't want to upgrade to XP on that box yet. Any
> suggestions? It would be much appreciated. Thank you.

First and most importantly you should 'not' (underlined) share a drive on a
win98 machine that is connected directly to the internet. This creates
security issues for that machine, and through it, your entire network. Dont
'share' your win98 drive with the network configuration that you describe.

This means that you should either move the files to an XP machine (using
the more secure NTFS partitions), or the boss should go ahead and spend the
money to upgrade. You really have no other practical choices.

Using win98 to provide those kinds of services on a network attached to the
internet is a 'giant' (underlined) step in the wrong direction from a
security standpoint - and (italics) it undermines the usefulness of the user
security model provided by XP (NT Security).

"nick" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:136f401c3f744$76f06a50$(E-Mail Removed)...
> I'm setting up a small business network and have three
> desktops running XP Home, two laptops running XP Pro, and
> one desktop running 98. They all run through the same hub
> and access the internet through a router that that hub is
> attached to. The internet is working fine on all these
> computers with a DHCP set up. I used the Internet
> Connection Wizard and the network wizard to get them all
> together. All of the XP machines can see eachother and
> access each other's shared file folder fine. All of the XP
> machines can see the 98 machine but any attempt to access
> it and it come up with a message stating: Access could not
> be granted... the path could not be found. However, in the
> network neighborhood on the 98 mahcine nothing shows up.
> The 98 machine contains a vast majority of the business'
> files that need to be accessable (desirably) from the
> other computers on the network rather than running down
> stair everytime they need information from it. The boss
> doesn't want to upgrade to XP on that box yet. Any
> suggestions? It would be much appreciated. Thank you.

In article <gQsZb.3877$(E-Mail Removed)>, "mark summers"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>"nick" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:136f401c3f744$76f06a50$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> I'm setting up a small business network and have three
>> desktops running XP Home, two laptops running XP Pro, and
>> one desktop running 98. They all run through the same hub
>> and access the internet through a router that that hub is
>> attached to. The internet is working fine on all these
>> computers with a DHCP set up. I used the Internet
>> Connection Wizard and the network wizard to get them all
>> together. All of the XP machines can see eachother and
>> access each other's shared file folder fine. All of the XP
>> machines can see the 98 machine but any attempt to access
>> it and it come up with a message stating: Access could not
>> be granted... the path could not be found. However, in the
>> network neighborhood on the 98 mahcine nothing shows up.
>> The 98 machine contains a vast majority of the business'
>> files that need to be accessable (desirably) from the
>> other computers on the network rather than running down
>> stair everytime they need information from it. The boss
>> doesn't want to upgrade to XP on that box yet. Any
>> suggestions? It would be much appreciated. Thank you.
>
>First and most importantly you should 'not' (underlined) share a drive on a
>win98 machine that is connected directly to the internet. This creates
>security issues for that machine, and through it, your entire network. Dont
>'share' your win98 drive with the network configuration that you describe.

Mark, I think it's great that you're concerned about security on
Nick's network, but I don't think that Nick's network is vulnerable.

As I understand Nick's message, the computers connect to a hub, and
the hub connects to a broadband router for Internet access. In that
case, it's OK to share any and all drives and folders on all of the
computers, because the router acts as a firewall, blocking undesired
incoming access from the Internet. It assigns private, non-routable
IP addresses to the computers.

If I've misunderstood, I apologize, and I hope that Nick will explain
the network setup in more detail.

>This means that you should either move the files to an XP machine (using
>the more secure NTFS partitions), or the boss should go ahead and spend the
>money to upgrade. You really have no other practical choices.

XP isn't automatically more secure. XP Home Edition has no security
features at all for networked access, because Microsoft disabled all
the NT permissions in Home Edition. I think that this "simple file
sharing" was a misguided attempt to protect home users from improperly
setting permissions and locking themselves out of their own files.

In addition, XP Professional uses simple file sharing by default in a
workgroup, and you have to explicitly disable simple file sharing to
be able to set NTFS permissions.

>Using win98 to provide those kinds of services on a network attached to the
>internet is a 'giant' (underlined) step in the wrong direction from a
>security standpoint - and (italics) it undermines the usefulness of the user
>security model provided by XP (NT Security).
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional - Windows Networking
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

Steve Winograd's Networking FAQ
http://www.bcmaven.com/networking/faq.htm

In article <136f401c3f744$76f06a50$(E-Mail Removed)>, "nick"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>I'm setting up a small business network and have three
>desktops running XP Home, two laptops running XP Pro, and
>one desktop running 98. They all run through the same hub
>and access the internet through a router that that hub is
>attached to. The internet is working fine on all these
>computers with a DHCP set up. I used the Internet
>Connection Wizard and the network wizard to get them all
>together. All of the XP machines can see eachother and
>access each other's shared file folder fine. All of the XP
>machines can see the 98 machine but any attempt to access
>it and it come up with a message stating: Access could not
>be granted... the path could not be found. However, in the
>network neighborhood on the 98 mahcine nothing shows up.
>The 98 machine contains a vast majority of the business'
>files that need to be accessable (desirably) from the
>other computers on the network rather than running down
>stair everytime they need information from it. The boss
>doesn't want to upgrade to XP on that box yet. Any
>suggestions? It would be much appreciated. Thank you.

These tips should help you get everything working:

1. Permanently disable XP's built-in Internet Connection Firewall on
local area network connections -- it's for use only on a direct modem
connection to the Internet. Disable and un-install all other
firewalls while troubleshooting. Details here:

Windows XP Internet Connection Firewall
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/...c_firewall.htm

2. Use only one protocol for File and Printer Sharing. If the network
needs more than one protocol, unbind File and Printer Sharing from all
but one of them. Details here:

Windows XP Network Protocols
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/..._protocols.htm

3. Make sure that NetBIOS over TCP/IP is enabled on all computers.
Details here:

Enable NetBIOS Over TCP/IP (NetBT)
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/...hoot/netbt.htm

4. Run "ipconfig /all" on XP and look at the "Node Type" at the
beginning of the output. If it says "Peer-to-Peer" (which should
actually be "Point-to-Point") that's the problem. It means that the
computer only uses a WINS server, which isn't available on a
peer-to-peer network for NetBIOS name resolution.

If that's the case, run the registry editor, open this key:

HLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Netbt\Parame ters

and delete these values if they're present:

NodeType
DhcpNodeType

Reboot, then try network access again.

If that doesn't fix it, open that registry key again, create a DWORD
value called "NodeType", and set it to 1 for "Broadcast" or 4 for
"Mixed".

For details, see these Microsoft Knowledge Base articles:

Default Node Type for Microsoft Clients
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;160177

TCP/IP and NBT Configuration Parameters for Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;314053
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional - Windows Networking
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

Steve Winograd's Networking FAQ
http://www.bcmaven.com/networking/faq.htm