# Problem creating workgroup/file sharing between 2 systems



## zain910128 (Jan 12, 2009)

Hi TSF

I'v got a lil problem when i try to connect 2 of my sytems by ethernet cable to transfer files.
I didn't have any sort of probs Before formatting. But now that iv formatted and reinstalled the drivers, i simply can't create/access shared folders from one system to another.

I Do get the "Lcoal Area Network Connected" icon on my taskbar but i tried pinging from one system to another, and didnt get any returns. They timed out.

Both the sytems are in the same workgroup and yet when i go to the workgroup window, i dont see the other system.

Any help ?


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

Failure to ping is almost always a firewall configuration issue.


Turn off any firewalls for debugging. If the firewall is the problem, you'll have to configure it to allow access to "trusted zone" addresses. Note that some firewalls must be completely uninstalled to stop them from affecting your networking.

Hold the *Windows* key and press *R*, then type *CMD* to open a command prompt.

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands:

PING each remote computer by IP address, and if successful, PING by name. Open a command prompt as described above and type.

PING _<ip address>_ 
or
PING _<computer name>_

Where: 
_<ip address>_ - is the x.x.x.x IP address
_<computer name>_ - is the computer name

*A failure to PING is almost always a firewall configuration issue. Any failure to PING needs to be corrected before you go any farther.*

_*Note:* You can obtain the IP address and computer name of a computer by opening a command prompt (DOS window) and typing *IPCONFIG /ALL*. This should work for any Windows version. The IPCONFIG /ALL display will provide a wealth of useful information for debugging your network connection._

Check your Services are Started on all PCs: 

COM+ Event System (for WZC issues)
Computer Browser
DHCP Client
DNS Client
Network Connections
Network Location Awareness
Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
Server
TCP/IP Netbios helper
Wireless Zero Configuration (XP wireless configurations)
WLAN AutoConfig (Vista wireless configurations)
Workstation

_*Note:* You can check the services in Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services._

All of these services should be started, and their startup type should be automatic.

If a service is not running, open it's properties and check the dependencies. Check each of the dependencies and see which one is preventing the service from running. Checking the event log is also a good idea here, there may be clues to what is failing.


All computers should be in the same workgroup for computer browsing to function properly. File & Print Sharing has to be enabled on any computer you wish to share files or printers from. You also need to actually share the resource in question from My Computer, right click on the drive/printer/folder, and select sharing.

If you encounter difficulties accessing computers that are visible in Network Places (_Network and Sharing Center in Vista_), make sure the computer being accessed has an account with the same name/password as the system connecting to it uses to login.

While the default NetBIOS setting is correct for normal network configurations, it's possible for it to be altered, and it costs nothing to make sure it's correct. NETBIOS over TCP/IP must be enabled for normal network browsing.


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## zain910128 (Jan 12, 2009)

> A failure to PING is almost always a firewall configuration issue. Any failure to PING needs to be corrected before you go any farther.


I'v turned off windows firewall on both systems. The only other protection installed is avast (which i think has no firewall)



> Check your Services are Started on all PCs


The services are started. except the vista and wireless ones, as i have neither.



> All computers should be in the same workgroup for computer browsing to function properly. File & Print Sharing has to be enabled on any computer you wish to share files or printers from. You also need to actually share the resource in question from My Computer, right click on the drive/printer/folder, and select sharing.


The computers have the same workgroup name.
And i did check the option for file&printer sharing in the create small network wizard.
On right clicking and going to the apropriate window, i can see that "Shared" folder is indeed sharing with other systems in the network.



> If you encounter difficulties accessing computers that are visible in Network Places


That is the problem, i cant see the other computer in network places or workgroup.



> While the default NetBIOS setting is correct for normal network configurations, it's possible for it to be altered, and it costs nothing to make sure it's correct. NETBIOS over TCP/IP must be enabled for normal network browsing.


Can u elaborate and give steps for this one ?


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

Let's see this for each of the systems.


Hold the *Windows* key and press *R*, then type *CMD* to open a command prompt:

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands, one at a time, followed by the _*Enter*_ key:

_Note that there is a space before the -n or the /ALL, but there is *NOT* a space after the - or / in the following commands._

NBTSTAT -n

IPCONFIG /ALL

Right click in the command window and choose *Select All*, then hit *Enter* to copy the contents to the clipboard.
Paste the results in a message here.

If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here.


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## zain910128 (Jan 12, 2009)

System 1:



___________

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\User>nbtstat -n

Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.0.2] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
DESKTOP <00> UNIQUE Registered
DESKTOP <20> UNIQUE Registered
123 <00> GROUP Registered
123 <1E> GROUP Registered
123 <1D> UNIQUE Registered
..__MSBROWSE__.<01> GROUP Registered

BSNL:
Node IpAddress: [117.197.52.147] Scope Id: []

No names in cache

C:\Documents and Settings\User>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : desktop
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0F-FE-09-D4-4E
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

PPP adapter BSNL:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-53-45-00-00-00
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 117.197.52.147
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 117.197.52.147
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 218.248.255.194
218.248.255.146
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

C:\Documents and Settings\User>


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## zain910128 (Jan 12, 2009)

System 2


____________


Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\asif1>nbtstat -n

Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [192.160.0.1] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
LAPTOP <00> UNIQUE Registered
LAPTOP <20> UNIQUE Registered
123 <00> GROUP Registered
123 <1E> GROUP Registered
123 <1D> UNIQUE Registered
..__MSBROWSE__.<01> GROUP Registered

BSNL:
Node IpAddress: [117.197.52.101] Scope Id: []

No names in cache

C:\Documents and Settings\asif1>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Laptop
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethe
rnet NIC
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0A-E4-EC-54-4F
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.160.0.1
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.160.0.2

PPP adapter BSNL:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-53-45-00-00-00
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 117.197.52.101
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 117.197.52.101
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 218.248.255.194
218.248.255.146
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

C:\Documents and Settings\asif1>


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

Remove the default gateway specification on those two manually configured connections, leave it blank. You also want to leave the DNS Server specification blank on those connections.


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## zain910128 (Jan 12, 2009)

I blanked the Default gateway Specs field and the DNS Preference was already blank.
Still no good.

You said something about Enabling Netbios over TCpip.
How do i do that ? Will that help ?


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## zain910128 (Jan 12, 2009)

Never mind, i googled it and enabled netbios, and checked workgroup again. It still doesnt show the other system


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

Let's see the following from both systems when they're connected again.

Hold the *Windows* key and press *R*, then type *CMD* to open a command prompt:

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands, one at a time, followed by the _*Enter*_ key:

_Note that there is a space before the -n or the /ALL, but there is *NOT* a space after the - or / in the following commands._

NBTSTAT -n

IPCONFIG /ALL

Right click in the command window and choose *Select All*, then hit *Enter* to copy the contents to the clipboard.
Paste the results in a message here.

If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here.


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## zain910128 (Jan 12, 2009)

Laptop:

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\asif1>nbtstat -n

Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [192.160.0.1] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
LAPTOP <00> UNIQUE Registered
LAPTOP <20> UNIQUE Registered
MSHOME <00> GROUP Registered
MSHOME <1E> GROUP Registered
MSHOME <1D> UNIQUE Registered
..__MSBROWSE__.<01> GROUP Registered

BSNL:
Node IpAddress: [117.197.56.45] Scope Id: []

No names in cache

C:\Documents and Settings\asif1>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Laptop
 Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethe
rnet NIC
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0A-E4-EC-54-4F
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.160.0.1
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

PPP adapter BSNL:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-53-45-00-00-00
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 117.197.56.45
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 117.197.56.45
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 218.248.255.194
218.248.255.146
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

C:\Documents and Settings\asif1>


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## zain910128 (Jan 12, 2009)

Desktop:

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\User>nbtstat -n

Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.0.2] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
DESKTOP <00> UNIQUE Registered
MSHOME <00> GROUP Registered
DESKTOP <20> UNIQUE Registered
MSHOME <1E> GROUP Registered
MSHOME <1D> UNIQUE Registered
..__MSBROWSE__.<01> GROUP Registered

BSNL:
Node IpAddress: [117.197.55.45] Scope Id: []

No names in cache

C:\Documents and Settings\User>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : desktop
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0F-FE-09-D4-4E
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

PPP adapter BSNL:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-53-45-00-00-00
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 117.197.55.45
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 117.197.55.45
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 218.248.255.194
218.248.255.146
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

C:\Documents and Settings\User


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

What is the WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface on each of these machines? Is something actually connected to that?


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## zain910128 (Jan 12, 2009)

I'm not really sure what a WAN, but ill try to answer anyway.

I've got a dsl modem (i think that's the WAN) . To connect to the internet i have to connect the system and the modem by an ethernet cable. So..I connect to the internet (dial up BSNL) through WAN. But when i connect the ends of the ethernet cable with laptop and desktop. WAN has nothing to do with it (I think).

In the copy-pastes that i posted above, the "PPP adapter BSNL:" (and everything under it) shows up because while executing the ipconfig /all command, i was connected to internet (BSNL) and also LAN.

And i just noticed that in "My Network Places" i can now see SharedDocs folder. But this folder is just a shortcut for the "...\allUsers\Documents" folder of the sam computer.

And the pings from one system to other keep failing.

I'v rechecked the firewall settings and the exceptions include:
File and Printer Sharing


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## p3ngu (Aug 4, 2008)

From your first post it seems like your taking two computers and just connecting them to one another with a single cable. This will not work if it's the cable you use from your modem to your PC. In other words for a PC to PC connection you would need a Crossover cable. If you can, it would probably work if you just connected your modem into a router and connected Computer A to port 1 and Computer B to port 2 and let the laptop connect to wireless.


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## zain910128 (Jan 12, 2009)

Ahem.
It was working fine before i formatted my desktop.


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

Disable all the firewalls, first step. See if you can ping them by name. Also, you might consider putting entries in the HOSTS file for each of the machines to see if that helps resolve the addresses.


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## zain910128 (Jan 12, 2009)

how do i insert names in the host files ?


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

*S*tart, *R*un, *NOTEPAD c:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc\HOSTS.*

You can edit the HOSTS file right here, and there are samples to show you the format.

Note that the fact that both of the machines still think they're the master browser in the last *nbtstat -n* posted, that I still think a firewall is in the way.


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## zain910128 (Jan 12, 2009)

Iv rechecked the firewalls, and they're off.
Also added "192.168.0.2 Desktop" to both the system's "hosts" files.

Still no good.
Another thing i noticed is that on my desktop the taskbar icon (beside the time) Shows the normal connected LAN icon while in the laptop, the icon on mouse hover says "Status: Limited or no connectivity"

What's going on man, why is it so hard to fix ? 

Will it help if i provided screen shots ?


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

That sounds like a cable issue, are you using a crossover Ethernet cable? Screen shots won't help yet, I'll ask if I think I need them.


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