Why won't my home network work?

Question

I'm trying to share a printer between my two computers at home. Both are running XP, and both are connected to a router, which in turn connects to my cable modem. I've run the wizard on both computers. One one computer (the one with the printer), I can ping the other, but I can't access it. On the other computer (the one without the printer), I can't ping it or access it. On both when I try to access the other I get the " this computer is not accessible, you might not have permission, blah, blah" error. I've setup the printer for sharing. On the computer without the printer, when I go to add a printer, I tell it to search for one, and the other computer shows up, but no the printer connected to it. I feel like there must be some trick to what I'm doing wrong. Both use the same workgroup name, have the compatible IP addresses, etc. Please help.

On the computer with the printer, I tried disabling the firewall and it still was unaccessible by the other computer. Should it be disabled on both to work?

Looks like a lot of great suggestions, I'm going to try them tonight and vote on the best answer, thanks everyone.

Answer 1

It has to be an access/permission problem. What type of antivirus or firewall programs are you running?

If Windows Firewall is turned off on BOTH PCs, and File and Printer Sharing is enabled, then the two PCs should be able to see each other. By the way, you'll want some sort of firewall running, especially if you're on a high speed Internet connection. So only disable Windows firewall if you have another firewall program running.

Whether you're running Norton, McAfee, or another program, check it for some sort of Network Wizard. Chances are, your program is still blocking access. It sounds like a typical McAfee or Norton problem where, even though you've done the necessary steps to allow sharing, the programs still arent trusting your network. There should be some place where you can specify to trust your network.

Just a review, probably repeating others' suggestions, but still worth it:

1.) Turn on File and Printer Sharing on the PC whose resource you want to share.

2.) Make sure the Workgroup name is identical on both PCs.

3.) Ping the router from both PCs (ping 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.x.x, depending on your router) to make sure the PCs are talking to the router.

4.) Disable Windows Firewall IF you have another firewall installed.

5.) Run Network Wizard on your AV/Firewall program to trust your network.

6.) Restart both PCs.

7.) Try pinging each PC from the other.

If after trying all these steps, you still can't connect, it might be an account problem. Are you using a password-protected account on one computer, but not using one, or using a different one, on the other computer? If so, this might be the root cause. If you require a password to log into computer X, you'll also need a password when trying to connect to computer X from computer Y.

If you're not sure, but know that you don't want to enter a password on either computer, you can try opening a command prompt and typing "control userpasswords2" (of course, minus the quotes). In the User Accounts window that appears, clear the "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer." check box. Click once to select the name of your account, and then click Apply. A window will appear prompting you for a password for your primary account. Keep the password fields empty and click OK.

NOTE: Only try this last suggestion if you have just one account on the computer(s). If you have multiple accounts on a computer and clear the checkbox above, whichever account was highlighted when you clicked the Apply button will be the account that is automatically logged in when you start the computer. If you want to log into a different account, you'll then have to log out or switch users.

Hopefully, one of these steps will cure the problem.

Answer 2

Yes.

I will expand on the other reply.
When you run the network setup wizard, it automatically turns on the windows firewall. The default setting for the firewall is set high to keep out hackers, which also keeps you from using the network you just setup.......
Turn off the firewall, go to Start, Control Panel, Security Center, scroll down to bottom of page, under manage security settings for: select Firewall, you can turn it off, or uncheck file and printer sharing.... I would just turn it off, especially if you have another firewall running.
After running the network setup wizard on the first computer, you will need to restart it before running setup on the 2nd computer. After the restart is when the changes take place.

Restart the process, before proceeding, make sure all firewalls are off on both computers.......

So, computer 1, network setup, restart, turn off firewall....

computer 2, network setup, restart, turn off firewall.....

This should work for you, good luck
If you still have problems.......
If you have another firewall your using you will probably have to set it up to allow the other networked computer to gain access....setup firewall would take place on both pc's.

Answer 3

set up a on the spot router in the abode as long as you're subscribed to DSL or Cable information superhighway. Then set up a on the spot pc card into the pc or use a on the spot USB gadget. Linksys makes a solid product for such purposes. basically verify you setup the WPA protection beneficial properties. there is not any might desire to furnish away your information superhighway connection for unfastened. substitute the generating facility defaults too for the admin password adn router call.

Answer 4

U should enable ur pc to share files and printers. so we can obtain the settings go through my nt places, right click on there and right click on connection and advanced. u can see there on the window. where a option will appear as windows setup wizard. that is the option to enable the settings. u can click and followup that. u could make it.

thanks

Answer 5

Is XP firewall disabled on both systems?