Re: Problem setting up a home network

From: Hans-Georg Michna (hans-georgNoEmailPlease_at_michna.com)
Date: 09/29/04 

Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2004 09:55:30 +0200

On Tue, 28 Sep 2004 21:45:28 -0700, "Nick"
<nickoyenik@yahoo.com> wrote:

>I recently got dsl thru earthlink at home. I have
>installed it on 2 computers. One computer, running
>Windows XP, is connected to the internet directly to the
>wireless router which is connected to the modem. The
>other computer, running Windows 2000, is connected to a
>wireless adapter which allows me to access the wireless
>router which allows me to access the internet. I'm trying
>to set up a home network, but I having a problem with the
>computer that is connected to the wireless router. On the
>computer with the wireless adapter, I can see the other
>computer and the computer I'm using, but when I try to
>access the other computer it says "Not accessible. The
>network path was not found." When I try to access the
>workgroup on the computer that is connected directly to
>the wireless router, it says "The Workgroup is not
>accessible. You might not have permission to use this
>network resource. Contact the administrator of this
>server to find out if you have acces permission. The list
>of servers for this workgroup is not currently
>available." One both computers I have tried setting up
>the home network under the administrators. Any
>suggestions? I would appreciate any help. Thanks.

Nick,

perform the following procedures, which could perhaps cause this
problem, and read also the chapter, "Network path not found".
Retest after each procedure. Reboot after making nontrivial
changes.

* If you have Service Pack 2 or higher installed, make sure the
File and Printer Sharing exception is enabled in the firewall.
Reboot to allow the browser service to start or start it
manually (see below).

* Make sure the Computer Browser service is running. To have the
Computer Browser start automatically, select Administrative
tools, Services, and change the Start setting for Computer
Browsing to Automatic. You can then reboot the computer or start
the service manually by clicking on the Start button. If this
doesn't get the browser service to start, check all of its
dependencies and make sure that all services on which the
browser service depends are also running. For more details see
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=318030.

* Make sure you have only one transport protocol installed,
namely TCP/IP. Remove, disable, or at least unbind (remove all
bindings from) other transport protocols like IPX (NWLink) and
NetBEUI.

* Check whether NetBIOS over TCP/IP is enabled. It should be for
most networks. After you have solved the problem and if you have
only Windows XP and 2000 or newer operatings systems in the
network, you can try disabling it again to check whether it is
not actually needed.

* Uninstall third party client software that can interfere with
the networking settings. Such software could have come with
network adapters or with a router.

* If you had other networking clients installed, like certain
Netware clients, you may be in for a long, bumpy ride. Some do
damage that is almost impossible to repair. You may want to try
a repair installation of Windows XP, followed by applying
Service Pack 2 again, or, better, a repair installation with a
slipstream version of Windows XP with Service Pack 2 already
integrated. See General above for details.

* Rid the computer of adware and spyware. For example, run
Spybot Search & Destroy.

* Repair the Winsock with the command: netsh winsock reset
catalog (Warning: This removes all third party Layered Service
Providers—LSPs. Please see the subchapter on Winsock corruption
above.)

* Repair the IP stack with the Repair command or with the
command: netsh int ip reset

* If the loopback feature is enabled in a connected router,
disable it. You may even need a firmware upgrade.

* Change the workgroup name in all computers to a new, simple,
short, perhaps even all upper case one, to make sure there
aren't any problems there. You can later change it back.

* Check all NetBIOS names for possible duplicates. For example,
if the workgroup name coincides with a user or computer name,
this could cause the problem. Try opening a command line window
and issuing the command: net view

* Issue the command: net view \\computername, where computername
should be replaced with one of the names displayed with the
simple net view command. Check all names for possible
duplication.

* Check your router's diagnostic and information pages for NAT
information, like which computer has which IP address. Any
duplication here could point to the problem.

* Disable, better uninstall or upgrade, all antivirus software
and third party firewalls.

If all this doesn't help, remove all networking components,
reboot, then set them up again and work through this checklist
once more.

Two of these points are also explained in the following
Microsoft Knowledge Base article.

You cannot access shared files and folders or browse computers
in the workgroup
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=318030

And, most importantly, if you find that one of these points or
any other procedure solved your problem, please report back with
the details of the solution for the benefit of others following
you along the same way.

Hans-Georg 

-- 
No mail, please.