Networking with XP

[cyberprof]

I am having problems connecting two pc's on a small home lan.

I have two machines, both with XP pro. One machine has two network cards, one card hosts a broadband connection and this works fine. The other connects to a small hub.

The second machine also has a network card in it, this is also connected to the hub.

I have used the networking wizard to try and make the two machines talk but it doesn't work.

Both machines have TCP/IP installed and are both in the same WORKGROUP.

Please help.

J

 

[bcastner]

Checklist:

. Both machines logon with a username and password
. Netbios over TCP/IP enabled in TCP/IP properties sheet, Advanced, WINS tab. LMHOSTS disabled. File and Printer Sharing and Client for Microsoft Networks installed on both machines.
. Both machines set to "Obtain an IP address automaticly."
. Something, folder or drive or printer shared on both machines.
. Entry for user of Machine A made as user on Machine B; and vice-versa.

Troubleshooting:

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/support/troubleshoot_network.htm

Step-by-Step Guide:

http://www.wown.com/j_helmig/guide.htmww.dessent.net/btfaq/#freeze

 

[cyberprof]

Tried everthing in your check list, still doesn't work

 

[bcastner]

Do an IPCONFIG /all on the second machine, and post the results here.

Also, do you have firewalls enabled on either machine? Turn them off and try again.

 

[cyberprof]

I've just tried pinging 127.0.0.1 (localhost) and it is not returning anything. TCP/IP is installed and the NIC is installed correctly

 

[smah]

Please define 'doesn't work'

Can each machine ping the other? Are there any firewalls enabled on the LAN connections? (Remember, many antivirus software installs a firewall by default these days).

 

[cyberprof]

Thanks for the replies. I'm at work at present, will post details later

Cheers

J

 

[cyberprof]

SERVER Machine IPCONFIG results


Ethernet adapter LAN:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

Ethernet adapter Cable Modem:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 80.x.xxx.162
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 80.x.xxx.254

PC1 IpConfig Results

Ethernet adapter LAN:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.10
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

IP addresses on SERVER & PC1 have been manually set.

 

[smah]

The problem is because you have manually set the IP addresses. Follow the links bcastner gave above or this one

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp_ics/

 

[cyberprof]

I set my I.P. address back to automatic on PC1 and XP gave the card the address 169..... which is outside the range set on the SERVER (192.168.0.1)


For a test, I have connected PC1 into another similar network. The only differene is that machine hosting the internet and LAN is running XP Home. I connected my machine to the network, I was assigned a suitable I.P. automatically, (192.168.0.30) the Internet Gateway appeared and I could browse the new network without a problem. I did not change any settings on PC1.

So, can we conclude that the problem now lies with my own SERVER machine. Is it something to do with DHCP? on the SERVER machine.

 

[bcastner]

You may have the native XP firewall enabled on the LAN adapter and not on the WAN adapter (the one connected to the modem).

Check both adapters under their Advanced Tab. The LAN adapter should be firewall free.

 

[bcastner]

You should also know you can assign Static IPs to ICS client computers. What was missing from your assignment above was that the Gateway address on PC1 should be 192.168.0.1; i.e. the ICS host adapter. Your settings for the Host machine are correct.

 

[cyberprof]

The firewall is not enabled on either LAN card.

On the SERVER I can now ping localhost

ping localhost

Pinging server [127.0.0.1] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 127.0.0.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

However, there is still nothing appearing in Network Places and I still cannot ping to/from either machine

 

[bcastner]

If PC1 is still pulling a private IP (169.x.x.x) you are not going to see it.

See my earlier note. Set it to static at 192.168.0.2, subnet 255.255.255.0, Gateway 192.168.0.1 and leave the DNS field empty.