Windows 7 Basic Networking Question

[stlcards]

Hi all,
This is a question that everyone who has been around computers alot should know..however I am having a problem with it. I have never networked two or more computers together. I have a desktop with Win XP and a printer hard wired to it. This pc is also hardwired to my Linksys router. I have a new Dell laptop with Windows 7 on it. I want to be able to print to the printer on the XP machine.
Could someone list the steps I need to do to network these 2.
Here is what I have done so far..however both machines see the router and that is it.
1. Both machines have the same workgroup name (same name as the router)
2. I ran network setup on the XP machine (when it asked to create a disk to install on other computers, I skipped this part since I didn't think I would need it on the Win7 machine.
3. Shared the printer on the XP machine
4. Turned on network discovery and file sharing on the Win 7 machine

I basically followed the steps here. Sharing files and printers with different versions of Windows - Help & How-to - Microsoft Windows

As far as I can tell I have done everything but both machines will see the router but not the other machine

Any help for a newbie would be appreciated
Thanks
Chris

 

[tblount]

Sorry, I don't know the solution but maybe you can use this to figure it out:

Troubleshoot network connection problems

 

[Trouble]

Hi all,
This is a question that everyone who has been around computers alot should know..however I am having a problem with it. I have never networked two or more computers together. I have a desktop with Win XP and a printer hard wired to it. This pc is also hardwired to my Linksys router. I have a new Dell laptop with Windows 7 on it. I want to be able to print to the printer on the XP machine.
Could someone list the steps I need to do to network these 2.
Here is what I have done so far..however both machines see the router and that is it.
1. Both machines have the same workgroup name (same name as the router)
2. I ran network setup on the XP machine (when it asked to create a disk to install on other computers, I skipped this part since I didn't think I would need it on the Win7 machine.
3. Shared the printer on the XP machine
4. Turned on network discovery and file sharing on the Win 7 machine

I basically followed the steps here. Sharing files and printers with different versions of Windows - Help & How-to - Microsoft Windows

As far as I can tell I have done everything but both machines will see the router but not the other machine

Any help for a newbie would be appreciated
Thanks
Chris

Chris:
Start off simple, you say "both machines will see the router but not the other machine" not sure what you mean by "see", maybe "My Network Places" on XP this is a process supported by netbios, make sure in the properties of both network cards on the individual machines you have netbios over tcp/ip enabled. Secondly try opening a command prompt, first ping your local ip address, then the ip address of your router, then the ip address of the other machine do this from and to both machines respectively and keep track of the results, then ping both machines one from the other using their netbios name (whatever you call them, XP-machine, Win7-Computer, etc) keep track of the results, then try to access a share from one machine to the other \\machinename\sharename. Let us know the results

 

[stlcards]

Chris:
Start off simple, you say \"both machines will see the router but not the other machine\" not sure what you mean by \"see\", maybe \"My Network Places\" on XP this is a process supported by netbios, make sure in the properties of both network cards on the individual machines you have netbios over tcp/ip enabled. Secondly try opening a command prompt, first ping your local ip address, then the ip address of your router, then the ip address of the other machine do this from and to both machines respectively and keep track of the results, then ping both machines one from the other using their netbios name (whatever you call them, XP-machine, Win7-Computer, etc) keep track of the results, then try to access a share from one machine to the other \\machinename\sharename. Let us know the results

Thanks for your reply. When I said the machines didn't see each other.. I did mean when I look at My Network Places...sorry I was vague. Anyway...
I can ping to and from each machine and router using the IP address.
From the XP machine I can ping (using computer name) the XP Machine (itself) and the Win7 laptop however,
From the Win 7 machine I can ping (using computer name) the Win7 machine (itself) but not the XP Machine. It tells me that the "ping request could not find the host desktop" (computers name).

lastly, how should I go about trying to acess the share files..cmd prompt?

Sorry I am an idiot when it comes to this stuff
Thank you for all of your help

 

[Trouble]

To answer the last part, not from a command prompt....hold the Windows Logo Key on your keyboard and then strike the R key, that should bring up the run dialog box, in that box type \\ipaddress\NameOfShareOnThatMachine then try \\computername\NameOfShareOnThatMachine the first should work but the second will probably fail until you get your netbios issues fixed. Did you check that Netbios over TCP/IP is turned on. Try this again hold windows logo key and strike the R key in the run dialog box type ncpa.cpl then right click on your network card and choose properties, in the next dialog box select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) then click the properties button, in the next box click the advanced button near the bottom, now select the WINS tab and near the bottom make sure the Enable NetBios over TCP/IP radio button has a dot in it and then OK your way out of there. Next open the run dialog again and type services.msc this will open the services console, scroll down and make sure that TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper service is started and set to automatic do this on both computers the process should be similar if not identical. Reboot both just to be safe. We'll go from there.

 

[stlcards]

Ok, I made sure the NetBios over TCP/IP is now enabled on both machines. From my laptop (Win7) I still cannot ping the desktop (WinXP) using the computer name (desktop). I shared the printer on the XP machine and called it HP.\ and shared documents folder and called it "documents"
From my Win 7 laptop I did Run:
\\desktop\documents and \\IPAddress\documents and got the following - windows can't find "desktop
\\IPAddress\HP and \\desktop\HP and got this error - The remote device or resource won't accept the connection. the device is not set up to accept connections on port"The file and printer sharing(SMB)"

Does this help?

 

[Trouble]

is the xp machine XP pro or XP home, check again in My Network Places on XP and let me know if anything has popped.

 

[stlcards]

The XP machine is XP Home w/Service Pack3. The only thing in Network Places is the Linksys WRT160N Router. All this just so I can print from my laptop. I may be better off buying a new printer (wireless)
Thanks again for all of your help
Chris

 

[Trouble]

Let's try this....first of all if your Win7 machine is in a homegroup leave it (open network and sharing select homegrooup bottom left and then third selection from bottom choose leave the homegroup) as someone pointed out earlier this is basically for Win7 Machines, then go back into the properties of your network card on the Win7 machine (review post above if you need to) uncheck the box next to Internet Protocol Version 6 )TCP/IPv6) I know you mentioned it earlier, but please make sure and confirm for me that both machines have the same workgroup name (workgroup works fine as a name) Don't give up yet....wireless printers are not walk in the park either.

 

[stlcards]

On the Win7 machine I left the homegroup, unchecked the TCP/IPV6, and renamed the workgroup on both machines to workgroup. Still no luck

 

[Trouble]

I'm running out of ideas here....Is it possible that you have any third party software installed on either, but especially the XP machine, such as Firewalls (Comodo, ZoneAlarm, etc.) or third party Internet Security Suites (that often include firewalls) or other AntiVirus products that could be causing this issue. If so we could try to temporarily uninstall them just for testing purposes and reinstall them later. When you open up the Network and Sharing Center on the Win7 machine and click "See full map" in top right corner you're still not see anything else except your Win7 machine check bottom left corner of map.

 

[stlcards]

On the Win7 and XP machine it still shows only the laptop and router. I am going to temporarily disable my antivirus and double-check my firewalls and see what happens.

 

[stlcards]

I've got a laptop at work with Win Vista that I am going to bring home and see if I can get it to work...if it does that will narrow it down to the Win7 machine

 

[Trouble]

On the Win7 and XP machine it still shows only the laptop and router. I am going to temporarily disable my antivirus and double-check my firewalls and see what happens.

OK, but be aware that often turning off and or disabling is not sufficient. You often have to uninstall them completely for a successful diagnosis. From an earlier post
"The remote device or resource won't accept the connection. the device is not set up to accept connections on port"The file and printer sharing(SMB)""
This error is often a product of McAfee or Norton or another AntiVirus that watches for worms and such, and mis-identifies file and printer sharing as an internet intrusion. You say that "On the Win7 and XP machine it still shows only the laptop (Win7) and the router. Since both machines are seeing Win7, I don't suspect Win7 is the problem, but rather something on the XP machine that is preventing the Win7 machine from seeing it at all and preventing the Win7 machine from accessing the shared printer (firewall, internet protection suite, antivirus). On another note, introducing a third machine into the mix at this time, may not be the best of ideas, since it may very well add to your confusion and mine. But it's your network so give it a rip and I'll try to help if possible.

 

[stlcards]

You may be correct on adding another laptop to the mix...I will hold off.

I typed incorrectly before...the XP machine sees the router only and the Win7 machine sees the router only (in my network places). I can ping the Win7 machine from the XP machine using both IP address and computer name but from the Win7 machine I can ping the XP desktop by IP but not by computer name.

I will completely uninstall norton on the XP machine and give it a try.
Thanks
Chris

 

[Trouble]

"I typed incorrectly before" way to get my hopes up..
OK, sometimes the the local uninstall utility in Norton will leave some residual. Try going here Link Removed - Invalid URL this is a very good tool and will pretty much go out and find any residual parts and remove them.

 

[stlcards]

FIXED! I uninstalled Norton and there was my network. I am able to see both computers and print to the printer on the XP machine. I reinstalled Norton (with my fingers crossed) and the network stayed. I can now use it as I wanted.
Trouble - Thank you so much for all of your help, I really appreciate it. If I run into any more problems I will look for you on the forum

Thanks again
Chris

 

[Trouble]

Glad to here you got it fixed. Your experience with reinstalling seems to be consistent with others I've seen, and I would expect your network will be fine. Hope you're going to hang around this forum and contribute by sharing your recent issues and troubleshooting steps with others who will benefit.

 

[stlcards]

I definetly will hang around. My next adventure is setting up a network at work with 2 laptops and a desktop with a printer. The desktop and one laptop have Windows Vista and one laptop has Win7....I at least know what to look for now (and what not to do)!