XP Home Network & Printer Sharing Problems?

Question

I have three computers in my home network, one PC and two Compaq Laptops.

Now both the laptops are 64bit and the PC is 32 bit, Im not sure whether this will make a difference to them sharing, as one laptop works fine on the network.

I have two printers attached to the main pc, which is hardwired to the Netgear wireless router, the two laptops are wireless.

I have ran the network setup wizard several times now on each computer, using my USB stick as the setup disc that it creates. I have tried many different settings, but the one that would seem to be most appropriate is the "This computer connects directly to the internet, and other computers on the network also connect directly through a gateway or hub" option.

I have also turned on printer and file sharing on each computer.

Sadly tho the main pc and laptop one dont seem to allow access to each other, while laptop 2 and main pc can see each others shared files and printers.

Each user account is set up as the administrator. HELP?

The search by name and by ip address, and the run option dont work.

I think im going to pull all my hair out now. lol

ok this gets more interesting.

i can ping the main pc from laptop one, by IP address but not by the computers full name.

i can also ping laptop one from itself. so the problem doesnt seem to be at its end.

i then tried to ping laptop 1 from the pc by name and ip and it timed out. when trying to ping itself (ip and name) it also timed out.

i just dont understand what is going on.

any help from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

From the laptop that "doesn't" see the network have you searched for the "main" computer by name?
That sometimes forces XP Home to see what it doesn't think is there. Home is a finicky version and doesn't always network the way it should.
You can also try connecting directly to that machine by IP address in the search or from RUN
Just click Start --> RUN \\192.168.1.xx and enter the IP for the main machine (or its name) Be sure no two computers are named the same!

Based on your additional information I will add a couple of things to check.

Check the FIREWALL settings on the machine that isn't responding to ping to see that LOCAL networking is allowed. Just turn it off to check if it works then you just need to change the settings and turn it back on.

Also check the WORKGROUP name sometimes they just dont change with the disk for some reason. Right Click my computer ----clicn Properties ---- click Computer Name and assure that all machines are in the same workgroup.

Answer 2

Make sure that Workgroup for all the three systems are same, and IP Address is of same class. and then try to ping the main PC and laptop. Or check whether your laptop is supporting 32bit systems on network.

Answer 3

Personally I have a feeling that wireless router is not playing nice with your computers. Try hooking the printer up directly to the laptops (if possible) to make sure that the computers can talk to the printer. If that is the case, check the settings in your printer and faxes from the laptops to make sure the IP's you specified in the laptops match the printer's.