jht129 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Hello everyone, sorry I haven't had the time to be on here in a while. Today I am having a problem with my Windows workgroup, and I was wondering if you could help me. I have 1 laptop and 2 desktops on the workgroup. laptop can see desktop 1 when i try to access desktop 1 from laptop, it asks me for a password, but I haven't set one, the username is unchangeable "*compname*\Guest" desktop 2 is the only computer with internet access. desktop 2 is connected to a voip box which connects to the cable modem. desktop 2 also has a wireless adapter that is being used to connect to the existing network. Apparently desktop 2 is connected to both connections, but when both connections are connected, the laptop and desktop 1 can't access it. when the ethernet connection is not being used, all workgroup computers show up in the workgroup. Sorry if this was a little confusing, but I've tried everything I could think of... Thanks for any help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparda Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Windows file sharing is a pain on all platforms. A good starting point would be disabling simple file sharing because that makes it not work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digip Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 If simple file sharing is turned off on any of the machines, it will prompt you for a password. Also, make sure that the services for tcp/ip netbios helper, computer browser, server, workstation, windows firewall/internet connection sharing is turned on for all machines on your lan that are sharing files. Password prompts are only if a machine has simple file sharing turned off and the machine itself has a password set for that user acocunt. Also, you can right click on a share and add permissions for other users, or just change it to "everyone" since its on your home lan. If set permissions are set to everyone and simple file sharing is on, they should all be able to see each other at that point. The password to logon to any mahcine that prompts for it is the logon and password for that remote machine you want to connect to, not the one you are sitting at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jht129 Posted July 18, 2008 Author Share Posted July 18, 2008 Whoa conflicting opinions. I guess I'll try it both ways and see what happens. About the password problem, I am definitely entering the password for the user account of the comptuer I am trying to connect to. But the username field says *computername*\Guest so does this mean that I need to enter a password to access the computer using the guest account? Thanks again. PS Ill try this stuff tomorrow because I'm really tired from just mowing the lawn and I need some sleep :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digip Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Whoa conflicting opinions. I guess I'll try it both ways and see what happens. About the password problem, I am definitely entering the password for the user account of the comptuer I am trying to connect to. But the username field says *computername*\Guest so does this mean that I need to enter a password to access the computer using the guest account? Thanks again. PS Ill try this stuff tomorrow because I'm really tired from just mowing the lawn and I need some sleep :) The user name is your pc's signon or just type administrator and then the admin pass. Sometimes if you type Owner as the user name and then the your password it also works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jht129 Posted July 18, 2008 Author Share Posted July 18, 2008 The user name is your pc's signon or just type administrator and then the admin pass. Sometimes if you type Owner as the user name and then the your password it also works. Can't quite do that because the username field has text in it AND is grayed out if you know what I mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparda Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 What version of Windows are you using? XP Home is a nightmare to get file sharing working on (because it doesn't 'understand' the concept of 'users' properly). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jht129 Posted July 19, 2008 Author Share Posted July 19, 2008 All computers on the network are running a fresh install of Windows XP Professional except for the internet computer, which is running Windows XP Media Center Edition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparda Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 All computers on the network are running a fresh install of Windows XP Professional except for the internet computer, which is running Windows XP Media Center Edition. Is that XP Home + Media Center or is it XP Pro + Media Center? I would assume that the latter is not available officially as Microsoft expects the Pro version to be used in business (but it's actually used because Home can't do any thing). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonlit Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Is that XP Home + Media Center or is it XP Pro + Media Center? I would assume that the latter is not available officially as Microsoft expects the Pro version to be used in business (but it's actually used because Home can't do any thing). MCE is Pro with some limitations. I don't believe MCE can join domains, much like Home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digip Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 MCE is Pro with some limitations. I don't believe MCE can join domains, much like Home. I have MCE on 3 machines and have never had the kind of problem he describes with a greyed out login box. 1 machine is MCE 2002, and the other two are MCE 2005(Don't know what the difference is, but they are all patched, with two of them being SP3, the other has all but SP3 final update that adds black hole detection) I'd say that one machine has some other configuration that needs to be looked into, or even just back up, reinstall windows, and then restore files needed in the event that something other than normal is happening. He never said he was setting up a domain, just using the ICS Workgroup feature. What he did say that was interesting is that he was setting up connections based on wireless(if I read that right) when the ethernet connection is not being used, all workgroup computers show up in the workgroup. @jht129 - Can you draw a simple diagram of yoru network, how the devices, computers are conencted? I'm jsut curious how te devices see each other and over what hardware they see each other. You say each machine has wireless? Or is that incorrect. If so, why can't you create an Ad-hoc network between the three? http://www.home-network-help.com/ad-hoc-wi...ss-network.html http://www.google.com/search?num=50&hl...amp;btnG=Search Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jht129 Posted July 19, 2008 Author Share Posted July 19, 2008 Yes I am only trying to set up a workgroup, I don't have a domain controller on the network. I have attached a diagram of my network setup, I hope this helps us do some more headscratching and finally resolve the matter. @digip: Restoring the MCE computer is a little out of the question as I am not the primary user. Yes I am setting things up through wireless but as you may be able to see in the diagram, an ad hoc network may not be possible. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shido Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Thats one cool diagram you got there, nice drawing skills u got,lol. Ok just a thought, did you try to connect the computers without the internet connections? like just connecting your mce and two pro's to the wireless router. What was the outcome if you did? Oh and just another thought, y dont u just start afresh, use a whole new workgroup??im sure u did that,lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jht129 Posted July 21, 2008 Author Share Posted July 21, 2008 thanks but it took me a while... As I said before, when I unplug the internet connection from the MCE computer and the 3 computers are connected wirelessly to the wireless router (except the one with the router connected to it), they all show up in the workgroup, but not all are accessible to each other. Im really confused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shido Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 thanks but it took me a while... As I said before, when I unplug the internet connection from the MCE computer and the 3 computers are connected wirelessly to the wireless router (except the one with the router connected to it), they all show up in the workgroup, but not all are accessible to each other. Im really confused. well then i can only think of setting new static ip addresses and setting a whole new work group... obviously it will need restarting of the computers.... again i must state this all i can think of, lol not because there arnt other options but because its like 12:33 and i need to be up early tomorow haha so my brain kinda sleepin alrdy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparda Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Did you turn off the DHCP server on the router? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digip Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Are the following settings enabled on all nic's? Client for Microsoft Networks and File and Printer Sharing enabled? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jht129 Posted July 23, 2008 Author Share Posted July 23, 2008 Um... ok. Now where did my other thread go? I kind of needed that. But anyway I set up a ad hoc network between the internet comp (xp mce) and my laptop (xp pro). They can both share files between each other perfectly. I configured internet connection sharing on the internet computer's ethernet connection, and followed many guides, but still nothing. I can't understand how they can share files but can't get on the internet. Anybody have any ideas? Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparda Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 To simplify things you should make the router the thing that connects all the other computers to the Internet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xarf Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 I've had the same problem when trying to share a 3G connection between a network via Ad-hoc wireless sharing. Check to ensure the internet host (ad-hoc host) is set to share the interent with the correct network component. Go to Network connections and right click -> Properties on the network component recieving the net connection -on the MCE (In this case my T-mobile 3G modem). Go to the sharing tab and you should have a setup like this: Make sure that the correct component is getting access to the net. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jht129 Posted July 23, 2008 Author Share Posted July 23, 2008 @Sparda: Can't quite do that because I don't want to mess with the ethernet connections, they aren't quite mine. @Xarf: Yeah that is the configuration on the Local Area Connection on MCE computer. Although every tutorial told me to not check the box that lets the other users control the connection. I had that checked initially, but it doesnt work either way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xarf Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Have you considered ethernet over mains to allow for the connection of a router without the need for moving ethernet cabling? Basically you use your mains electricity as a counduit for ethernet traffic. http://www.lordpercy.com/solwise_homeplug_..._over_mains.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jht129 Posted July 23, 2008 Author Share Posted July 23, 2008 No I haven't considered that. I didn't even know that existed. Anyway we're straying from the point. There must be something I'm doing wrong because I can't share internet. hmm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xarf Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Often the solution to a problem is to solve it by removing the problem itself. If you remove the need to share with Ethernet over mains you remove the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jht129 Posted July 24, 2008 Author Share Posted July 24, 2008 The whole point of me doing this excercise wirelessly would be to not disturb anything (devices or wiring) in place. That was my objective when I started this project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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