Re: Compatability with XP Pro and Home Networking

Hi Doug,

I just found this site and this thread. At this point I'm REALLY, REALLY
FRUSTRATED!

I just bought a Toshiba A105 laptop with XP MCE installed. I want to set up
a simple LAN at home consisting of a desktop system with XP Pro installed,
the laptop both connected to the internet through a Linksys BEFSX41 Broadband
Firewall Router.

Here's what I did:
1. I'm able to connect to the internet from both systemsafter configuring
the router.
2. I disabled the antivirus software and Zone Alarm Pro firewall on each
system.
3. I used the Network Setup Wizard on each system to assign them both to
the same workgroup.
4. I disabled Windows Firewall and on TCP/IP under WINS I selected "Enable
NetBIOS over TCP/IP".
5. I enabled print and file sharing and setup a "Share" folder on each
system.

When I go to "Other Places" under Network Connections and select My Network
Places on each computer and select "View Workgroup Computers" under Network
Tasks I can see each system on the XP Pro desktop system and nothing on the
MCE laptop only a message that says:
"<workgroup> not accessable. You might not have permission to use this
network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if
you have access permissions.

I thought about doing an "upgrade" from MCE to Pro but Toshiba tells me if I
do this, I will probably disable several of the drivers that the laptop needs
to work, so that's out.

If I can't make this work it looks like my only solution is to take the
laptop back and buy one (for about $1K more!!!!) with XP Pro loaded.

I don't get this. I consider myself to be very computer and networking
savvy, but this blows! I hope that someone has some thoughts and/or ideas.

The funny thing is that I bought a Mac the day before I bought the laptop
because I wanted to get away from these type of problems associated with
Windows,but had "buyers remorse" and returned it and got the laptop instead.
As I tell my friends, "First thought... Best Thought."

TIA for any help.

Kind regards.

The list of servers for this workgroup is not currently available."

"Doug Knox MS-MVP" wrote:

Not that I'm aware of. I've got 3 MCE 2005 machines running here, with a mixture of XP Pro and Vista machines and I'm not seeing any problems, and all machines are fully up to date.

Have you tried accessing the Administrative Shares? \\<machinename>\c$ and etc? By default, these are turned on, and you'll be prompted for an Administrator level username/password, unless you already have a matching username and password on the destination computer.

--
Doug Knox, MS-MVP Windows Media Center\Windows Powered Smart Display\Security
Win 95/98/Me/XP Tweaks and Fixes
http://www.dougknox.com
--------------------------------
Per user Group Policy Restrictions for XP Home and XP Pro
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_securityconsole.htm
--------------------------------
Please reply only to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
Unsolicited e-mail is not answered.

"frankll" <frankll@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:5B37A23C-F326-404D-8B31-264DA217E14B@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Doug, I've turned off all firewall's--Windows and third party. When I set my
laptop up using "Network Connections" I did specify print and file sharing
was to be allowed; however, I checked "Programs Access and Defauts" and found
a MSWXPMCE component called "Printer and File Sharing" which was unchecked.
I assumed this might have been the problem so I checked it, went throught the
network connection setup again with all computers on, etc. and it did not
resolve the problem. There appears to be a lot of discussion in other
postings where others are having networking problems with Media Center. I am
puzzled. As I mentioned I was able to share files without any problems. I
wondering if there might be a problem with a recent MCE update!?

Thanks for your continuing help!

"Doug Knox MS-MVP" wrote:

If you can ping the other computers you need to check any installed firewall (on all computers), including the Windows Firewall and ensure that File and Print sharing is allowed. Additionally, as I mentioned, having duplicate username/passwords on all machines facilitates access. You do need to actually log into the accounts, at least once.

--
Doug Knox, MS-MVP Windows Media Center\Windows Powered Smart Display\Security
Win 95/98/Me/XP Tweaks and Fixes
http://www.dougknox.com
--------------------------------
Per user Group Policy Restrictions for XP Home and XP Pro
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_securityconsole.htm
--------------------------------
Please reply only to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
Unsolicited e-mail is not answered.

"frankll" <frankll@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:525142E9-32F4-446C-9095-67304745A9F6@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Doug, strange reading your reply. I'm having this very problem today. I
believe your answer since when I first got my laptop (WXPMCE) about a week
ago I successfully set it up on my existing wireless home network and was
able to get files moved/shared. However, today I can't get access to MSHome
computers over this same network. I've done some research and was able to
ping all the computer ip addresses from each other; however, I still get the
message Mshome not accessible ... Network path was not found. Any ideas
about what might have happened? Thanks!

"Doug Knox MS-MVP" wrote:

Yes, no problems at all. Especially if you create matching accounts (username and passwords) on each machine.

--
Doug Knox, MS-MVP Windows Media Center\Windows Powered Smart Display\Security
Win 95/98/Me/XP Tweaks and Fixes
http://www.dougknox.com
--------------------------------
Per user Group Policy Restrictions for XP Home and XP Pro
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_securityconsole.htm
--------------------------------
Please reply only to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
Unsolicited e-mail is not answered.

"MN_Wild_1" <MN_Wild_1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:A43CCA75-9C62-435F-AD0F-71275F63AD7A@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
My home computer currently has XP Pro on it and I'm looking at purchasing a
laptop that has Media Center Edition on it. If I purchase this, and I hook
it up to a router, will my XP Pro computer be able to link (network) with the
Media Center laptop? This is important for file sharing from one computer to
the other without having to burn a CD and then switch the data manually to my
home PC. Please let me know if this is possible. I will be purchasing the
laptop within the week.



.

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