My Network Places not in Start menu

[BillyL]

I have two XP home edition PCs. Computer#1 is connected to a Linksys DSL router which is connected to the DSL modem. Computer#2 has a Cisco wireless card and is accessing the Cisco Access Point which is also connected to the DSL router.
Here is the problem. Computer#2 does not have "My Network Places" listed on the Start menu. It also cannot ping Computer#1 (both are in the workgroup named HOME). Computer#2 is able to ping the router (and get an IP address) and also the Cisco access point. Computer#1 can ping and see Computer#2. There is a Win95 PC on the network and it is able to see both Computer#1 and Computer#2, although when I connected a Win98 PC, it was not able to see Computer#1 but was able to see Compter#2. On Computer#2, I ran the Network Wizard several times but always got the same results.
This is driving me nuts! I must be missing something but I do't know what. I cannot recreate the problem in my tech lab with other computers, they all access the network fine. Any ideas???

 

[rjkrash]

See my post "WinXP, LinkSys Router, 2 NIC cards, Network Bridge" this forum. While not exactly the same setup you are facing the same issues.

To start turn off DHCP from the linksys and set up the addresses yourself. Make sure all the IP addresses are part of the same subnet. I just know this is an addressing issue.

Good luck. The two rules for success are:
1. Never tell them everything you know.

 

[BillyL]

That sound exactly like my setup! I will try it and let you know. Thanks for your generous help and knowledge.

 

[BillyL]

After thinking about your resonse, I have a question. How can I manually create a network bridge with only one NIC? On another home network I setup with no DSL connection (they wanted to share a printer), I ran the network connection wizard and said there was no DSL or DHCP server. In the Network Connections window there was the Ethernet card and also another network connection device that was labled with numbers (virtual?). After running the wizard a network bridge was created which I could then configure.
In my problem system, there is only one device listed, the Ethernet addapter. Do I use the wizard to create a bogus network connection that will end up being a bridge and then modify it? If so, which option should be used to create this bridge?

 

[rjkrash]

I'm not really clear about your setup but you may not need a bridge. I think the most important thing is to get all the ip stuff on the same "page" (read subnet).

Make sure every computer is in the same workgroup (I think caps and spaces in the name may be important not sure. "HOME" should work fine), uses the same gateway 192.168.1.1 (linksys router) and that DHCP is turned off.

No network places probably means the OS didn't find any network devices. Check by right clicking My Computer and then properties, then hardware tab then device manager button. If no devices then go back to hardware tab and add hardware.

Go to the control panel and see if network connections is there. If so use it to configure the connections.

BTW if you add/change something/anything ALWAYS reboot. Sometimes XP doesn't ask but the safest is to restart to get the registry set correctly.

The second network device is probably your parallel port or USB port which can somehow be recognized as a "direct connection" device.

Anyway these are a few ideas. Keep at it. I'd be happy to work off line with you if need be. leave e-mail and we'll chat or land line if need be.

LUCK! The two rules for success are:
1. Never tell them everything you know.