cannot browse other computer over home network?

Question

I have a desktop running Win XP and a laptop running Win 2K. They are both connected through my home network. The problem is that they can see each other on My Network Places (same workgroup, etc.) but I get an "unaccessible" error message whenever I try to browse the other computer's files. I tried turning on guest account on XP, assigning the same password to both computers, turning the firewall off, and enabling file sharing, but the problem persists. I would appreciate help on this.

Answer 1

It has been a while since I used win2000, but I remeber
something about adding a new authorized guest in 2000,
for it and xp,s to share.

Answer 2

Do they both have the same Workgroup name in each computer? If they do not have the exact same workgroup name then they won't be able to connect, but will be able to "see" each other as they are on the same connection. To check to this simple proceedure:

Click Start, place mouse over My Computer and right click, on the shortcut menu which appears select Properties and System properties will open in a dialog box. On the Computer Name Tab you will see both the computer name and the Workgroup Name. If they are not the same, exactly the same, with both caps and lower case the same, etc. If one is misspelled or one is in caps and one in lower case, etc, they will not be able to communicate with each other. If this is the case, choose one of them and change the other one to match. To do so just click the "Change" button on the Computer Name Tab and then at the bottom of the next window type in the name you want for the Workgroup and then try to connect again.

If this is not the problem try these websites:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/maintain/troubleshoot.mspx

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1427&page=1

Both of these will give you a good start on finding and fixing your issue. The Microsoft one has several links you can follow to additional assistance and I think the other one does as well. If these are not enough, just put "Networking" into a browser search box, such as Google, or MSN, or Lycos or Live Search, etc and search for additional resources. There is a ton of informaton, just make sure it is as current as possible, as many sites have information which has not been updated in a while, and these protocols are changing quickly. Old information is worse than no information!

Good luck and have a great day!

Answer 3

i get that sometimes,,,

i have to 'manually' bore down, in other words
My Network places > View Workgroup computers > Entire Network > "Workgroup Name" > "Computer Name" > then sign in on the log in box.