Setting up hybrid (?) network

[SCSIraidGURU]

Go into its setup on the laptop. What is supported. Usually most do WPA2. You need to match security protocol for wireless. It does not matter for the wired connection. WPA is wireless security only.

 

[H2SO4]

running \\desktopIP from the desktop does pull up the desktop's shared files/printers. running \\laptopIP from the desktop gives 'network path not found error'.
running \\laptopIP from laptop does bring up laptop's shared files
*running \\desktopIP from laptop does bring up desktop's shared files/printers
...

Connecting by name does not work from XP to Vista, nor does it work from Vista to XP.

I'm sure there is an indication of where the problem is somewhere in this new info, but I'm not sure what it is.

I think it's likely that you still have at least one active (and misconfigured) firewall in the mix, because one of your current problems is failing name resolution. That should not be happening on a local LAN.

Since \\<IP> works from the laptop to the desktop, and ping-by-IP works in both directions, you can be absolutely sure it's got nothing to do with WPA/AES or the physical network in general.

Both machines can access their own shares by IP and by name, so file & printer sharing is obviously enabled.

I'd personally suggest focusing on getting UNC access by \\IP and \\Name to work in both directions first, before worrying about anything more fancy. Since it currently only works in one direction, and only by IP, the most likely reason is interference from an active firewall. F-Secure, Zone Alarm, Comodo... you might need to uninstall anything like that temporarily.

 

[SCSIraidGURU]

\\ip\c$ is accessible. The administrative shares are working.

 

[H2SO4]

\\ip\c$ is accessible. The administrative shares are working.

Are you sure? I don't recall seeing the OP say that.

 

[CaseyH]

Ok, firewall info:

Desktop has Zonealarm, which I have shut down totally. I've made sure windows firewall is off as well. Laptop has only windows firewall, which I have turned off completely (in advanced settings).

\\LaptopIP works from desktop
\\DesktopIP works from laptop

(both of these also work when all firewalls are on)

however, when I try \\LaptopName or \\Desktopname it's a no-go. No firewalls running at all.


While playing around, I added a new network place using "add network place feature", and I added \\LaptopIP onto my desktop network places. Well when I try to access the added laptop files from my desktop network places, it asks for a username/password. Not sure what the username is, but I tried all my feasible possibilities and none worked. It does not require a username/password when using the run command, only after having added the laptopIP to network places.

So, what would make the computers reject the other's name, but not IP?

Would uninstalling Zonealarm from my desktop make a difference?

recap: \\ip works in both directions \\computername works in neither direction (except for \\desktopname from desktop and \\laptopname from laptop)

As an aside, do you guys think Zonealarm is necessary on my PC? I've got the Netgear router and I've heard it does a good job itself and that Zonealarm isn't necessary. Plus the windows firewall is supposed to be pretty good, right?

Opinions?



Thanks for all the help guys, hoping to get this figured out soon.

Casey

 

[SCSIraidGURU]

Find the hosts file and put in the

192.168.0.1 computer1name
192.168.0.2 computer2name

This is the format for the hosts. file.

c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc

 

[CaseyH]

Ok, so I added the entries to the host files of each computer.

Now \\laptopname works from desktop and
\\desktopname works from laptop

However, the computers still don't show up in my network places, nor does printer sharing work. And when I add \\laptopname\c$ to my desktop network places it prompts me for a username and password that I don't know.

However, I can add individual folders, say, \\laptopname\public to my desktop network places and they are perfectly accessible.

Any ideas on how to get the computers to see each other in network places?

Thanks,

Casey

 

[SCSIraidGURU]

Do you have the same username and password on both computers? Did you setup your new shares on each drive and give the same user full control over the share.

 

[CaseyH]

When you say username and password, are you referring to the windows login user account name and password? I don't remember being prompted for any username or password for my file/printer sharing. The only password I set is the wireless router password.

Also not sure what you mean by 'give the same user full control over the share.' Do you mean the permissions settings in the sharing and security tab of my shared folders?

Thanks,
Casey

 

[CaseyH]

Another idea:

Do you guys think that running the router's Setup Wizard again will help?

 

[H2SO4]

The router has nothing to do with it anymore - this is all between those two machines now.

I'd suggest you uninstall the ZA firewall, at least temporarily as a test. You shouldn't have to use "helper" name resolution mechanisms like hosts files on a local LAN segment, because broadcasts should be able to resolve those names for you. The most likely reason why that's not working is a firewall, and if it's active in that regard it may also be causing other issues.

As SCSIraidGURU said, one way to work through your authentication issues is to create identical user accounts on both machines - same username, same password - so that when you're attempting to access the other box it always accepts the request as coming from one of its own, so to speak.

Once the user's identity and credentials have been verified, access to a particular resource will depend on two layers of checks:

Share-level: Has the user been granted access to that particular share? By default, shares are created with a wide-open "Everyone - full control" access control mask, but some shares are more restrictive, for example the C$, D$, E$ so-called "administrative" shares that only admins can access.

NTFS: Just because a user has access to a share, that doesn't automatically ensure they will be granted access by security control lists at the file system (NTFS) level. If you right-click any folder and choose security, its effective NTFS permissions will be displayed.

 

[CaseyH]

Hi again,

Somehow, the problem is fixed...halfway. Here's how it went down.

I uninstalled Zonealarm, still no change. I also created identical user accounts on both boxes...no change.

So I got to messing around with the TCP/IP settings on the laptop. I did two things in the advanced Internet Protocol Version 4 settings: I added a default gateway, the IP of the router. And I enabled NetBios over TCP/IP.

Bam, the computers are seeing each other again. Both machines' network places clearly show the other computer's name and shared folders/printers etc.

Thinking I had fixed the problem, I went ahead and reenabled firewalls, and reinstalled zonealarm on my desktop. Still working fine. So I wanted to see which of the two settings fixed the problem.

I went back into the IP settings on the laptop, and the gateway address I added had disappeared. Not sure what happened to it, but it's gone. I deduced that the enabling of NetBios over TCP/IP must have been the fix. So I changed it back to default, where it was before. Restarted both computers. But the network still works! Both computers still see each other. So now I have no idea what fixed the problem. I'm baffled.

However, 3 things are still bugging me:

1. My laptop still can't access the shared printer that is attached to my desktop via USB. The laptop sees the printer fine, but when I try to communicate with it it's says 'can't communicate with printer...' When run the add printer wizard, it searches for and finds the printer, but still can't communicate with it. The printer is definitely shared on the desktop settings. Do I have to share the USB port or something?

2. On the desktop pc, in 'view workgroup computers', only the desktop shows up, not the laptop. Not sure if this is a big deal, but the laptop is connected to the workgroup. So shouldn't they both be there?

3. Running \\laptopname\c$ from the desktop still prompts for a username/password. I've tried the username/password of the account name, which is the same on both computers, but it gives an error '...is not accessible. You might not have permission....' However, running \\desktopname\c$ from the laptop works just fine. So how do I give the desktop permission to access the laptop's administrator stuff?

Thanks for all help,


Casey

 

[H2SO4]

NetBIOS over TCPIP (NBT) is required for "Network Places" (aka The Browse List) to work. It's an ancient mechanism that really hasn't changed any in the past 15 years, but if you disable NBT the browse list disappears with it. NBT is enabled by default.

Your machines are presumably DHCP clients so their gateway settings arrive in the form of one of the options in their DHCP lease from their DHCP server - the router. You shouldn't have to manually fiddle with gateways, and if the machines can ping each other by IP and access the internet, you can be sure their gateway settings are fine.

Re:

1) You don't have to share the port but you might need to feed a specific printer driver to the laptop. If on the desktop you create another printer definition for the same printer, and use the "generic / text-only" driver, then try to connect from the laptop and that works, you can be confident that the problem is the (lack of) real printer driver on the laptop.

2) Probably another firewall effect. If you disable the firewalls (no, really!) and leave them off for 15 min at least, the browse list should fully populate on both machines, assumbing NBT is also enabled, their Server services are both running, and at least one of them has the Computer Browser service active and running.

3) Try doing this first from an elevated CMD prompt on the desktop (run CMD as admin):

net use \\laptopName\IPC$ /u:laptopName\accountName accountPassword

It should say "command completed successfully". What happens when you try connect to the laptop's admin shares after that?

 

[CaseyH]

Hi again,

Thanks for all the great info guys. I'll try the printer test soon and see how that goes. If I continue to have problems I may just have to get a pro here to look at the situation.

Finals are coming up soon for us college folk, and I've got papers due so I'll be busy for a few weeks and without time to tinker on the puters.

Anyway, thanks again for all the input. I've got a lot of good info.

Casey