Re: XP File and printer sharing SOLVED!! A HIDDEN FIREWALL!!


"Steve Winograd [MVP]" <bcmaven@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:cr62q2pavfhmmk2sujip5fspr1da20rsp1@xxxxxxxxxx
In article <OQ0pzSnMHHA.4848@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "KenV"
<kvatz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Then click a shared folder to open it. If that gives an error, the
problem is probably caused by share permissions or NTFS file system
permissions.

Chuck and Steve,

I am going to cross post this in two threads, because I think it is so important, and it may help a lot of other people here.

After going through everything in all the various posts, links, etc., multiple times, I decided that it /had/ to be a firewall problem. This is after changing NICs and cables, updating drivers, setting up permissions, fixing Winsock, TCPIP, etc., disabling the Windows and OneCare firewalls, everything. It was obviously a problem with the one computer A, and it had to be a firewall.

I noticed that when I used the Live Update feature in Symantec's Norton Ghost it was still trying to update--unsuccessfully--some sort of security software. I hadn't used any Symantec security software for over a year (!), and had gone through all their uninstalls, and, in fact, the network was working fine until early December, 2006.

So I went into the Registry looking for keys with Symantec files that were unrelated to Ghost. They were all under HKLM, System, CurrentControlSet, Services. I found all the files referred to in the Registry located under \Windows\system32\* and I tried to delete them. I couldn't delete them, which meant they were in use, even though I couldn't find them in Task Manager. I then deleted the Registry keys, rebooted, and deleted the files (which I didn't have to do, once the registry keys were gone). These files were: symtdi.sys, symfw.sys (likely the real culprit here), symndis.sys, symids.sys, symredrv.sys, symdns.sys, and symRedir.inf.

Like magic, both Computer B and the Mac immediately saw Computer A and all its folders and files! No browser problems, nothing.

Two frustrating weeks for me and everyone else on a problem that wouldn't even exist--a completely hidden firewall--if software companies made it easy to completely uninstall their security programs. This company in particular is notorious for such behavior, and it is very costly to the end users in terms of time wasted. It does not go unnoticed, for whatever that is worth.

It wouldn't surprise me if this were a common problem. I see similar posts to mine here every day--can't see one computer on the network--and the firewall is always given as one likely cause. But what if you can't find the firewall?

Anyway, thank you both for all the time, energy and expertise you put into this for me. I learned a huge amount about networking along the way, and got an incidentally (?) broken Winsock fixed in the bargain.

Ken

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Comodo Free Firewall any good?
    ... up until you disable their firewall whereupon you can ping, telnet, web ... in advertising their commercial products. ... they won't let you search their forums until you register. ... negative posts have a way ...
    (comp.security.firewalls)
  • Re: Terrifying results from online test
    ... which simulates an unknown Trojan attack on a windoze ... The program successfully bypasses my beloved (and well ... > configured) Kerio firewall. ... nor even permissions of a standard user but only with restricted ...
    (alt.computer.security)
  • Re: Terrifying results from online test
    ... The program successfully bypasses my beloved (and well ... >> configured) Kerio firewall. ... nor even permissions of a standard user but only with restricted ... su to root when needed then exit (translated for Windoze ...
    (alt.computer.security)
  • Re: Setup Error 0x80070005 Access is Denied
    ... BTW firewalls don't control the registry or permissions. ... > whatever firewall is controlling those layers needs to be adjusted or you ... >> Notice that the files for the Windows installer 3.1 update are downloaded ... >> into the software distribution folder in the windows directory. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsupdate)
  • Re: Password Protect Folders?
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