Setting Up a Home Network for Print/File Sharing

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souljah420

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I recently jacked a thread regarding this same topic. I was unable to get my 2 computers to communicate, so I am starting my own thread in hopes of resolving this matter. I followed the directions from both m$ and my router (linksys) . The way they explain it, it seems so simple, so of course I run into a brick wall. I have windows xp and I tried using the set up home/small business network wizard. I made a network disk, transferred it to my other computer, but my printer does not show up when I try to make my HP Photosmart 1215 printer accessible through the network . I am getting seriously pissed and have spent most of the day talking to online support who keep referring me to the same article on setting up a home network. If anyone could help me or give me any suggestions as to what the problem could be I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks in advance.
 
[quote name='souljah420']if anybody could help me out tonight or tomorrow - then I am leaving my dad's and going back home...[/QUOTE]

It's kind of hard to tell what your problem is, since we don't really know what you did. I guess the first thing is to ask, did you try installing the printer on the second computer, and how did you do it?
 
went to add a printer wizard, and chose network printer. I browsed for the location of the printer, and the name of my network does not come up (just what seems to be a generic windows network), nor does the name of my printer. I turned on sharing on my printer, but it does not seem to be visible from the wireless computer. About the only thing that works on the wireless computer is internet access.
 
make sure the comptuers are networked in the first place, try trading some files inbetween them. then make sure that your printer has the share option checked. youll have to go into control panel>printers>your printer, to do that. then on the other computer just go to add printer, and it will give you an option to install it from the network, bing bam, youre done. if that doesnt help (probably what ms told you to do) then I cant help anymore.
 
I really don't think that my computers are even networked - though I followed the steps provided by microsoft exactly.... anyone know of an easy way to check this?
 
What is the easiest way to see if the two computers are networked? I highly doubt they are even though I followed the exact directions provided by microsoft. Can I use the command prompt to check or is there an easier way?
 
ok, I'm moving over to this thread I guess...

Some more details might help. I'm going to assume that we are talking about two computers, both running XP Home. Computer 1 is connected by ethernet cable to a wireless router. Computer 2 is connected by WiFi wireless to the router. Please let us know if this is not the case, otherwise I will be making assumptions that are not correct.

If both computers can access the internet through the router, then they are networked.

First thing to do is to determine the IP address of each computer.

On each computer, go to the click on Start, then click on Run.

In the text box, type cmd and then click ok.

A DOS box will open up

Type in the command: ipconfig and hit enter

You will get some information about each network adapter on your PC. Ignore any PPP adaptors. Of the other adapters usually all but one will say media disconnected.

One of them will have a full set of data. Look for the IP address. Usually this will be something like 192.168.1.100

Get the IP address of both PC's in this manner and leave the DOS boxes open.

Tell us what the IP addresses are.

On Computer 1, in the DOS Box type in the following command

ping

(e.g. ping 192.168.1.102)

You should see something like this:

C:\Documents and Settings\user>ping 192.168.0.1

Pinging 192.168.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time
 
Make sure both computers have the same workgroup name. It is WORKGROUP by default, but double check that by going to Start > Setting > Control Panel > (Switch to classic view on left menu) System > Computer Name tab. You can change the workgroup name by clicking on "Change" button.

I'm assuming your network uses DHCP, which by default will give both of your computers and any additional computer with same 192.168.1.X IP (or 192.168.XXX.XXX variations), where X and XXX represent any number from 2 to 255.

Now all you need to do is turn on filesharing. Which is as simple as right clicking on the drive or folders you would like to be shared and selecting "Sharing and Security". If you are sharing a drive, then you'll come to a window with the "Sharing" tab highlighted and says "To protect your computer from unauthorized access, sharing the root of the drive is not recommended". You can just click on "If you understand the risk but...." Then you'll get option boxes to enable by checking on them. One of which is "Share this folder on the network" and another one with "Allow network users to change my files". Once you placed check marks on the boxes, it'll scan all the folders you're sharing (takes about 5 to 30 seconds, depending on number of folders/files).

Using another computer, you can (or should be able to) access the folder by going to "My Network Places" then "Entire Network" and finally "Workgroup". There you should be able to see the drive or folder(s) that you shared on your other computer. For convenient purposes you can map the drive/folder that you just shared on the other computer by right clicking the drive/folder and "Map Network Drive" and give it a letter. So now whenever you go to Window Explorer or My Computer, you'll be able to see the drive/folder on your other computer.
 
moo- You are correct - that is the exact set up I have running. I did what you told me to do, and when I used the ping command on pc2(wireless access) it sent 4 packets successfully to pc1. However when I was on pc1(direct connection to router) and attempted to ping pc2, the request timed out on all 4 packets....
 
Like I asked in my post...what are the IP addresses of pc1 and pc2?

I'm sorry to say this again, but if pc2 can ping pc1 but pc1 can't ping pc2 it REALLY sounds like a software firewall is running on pc2. Please check again.

To check the MS firewall status, go to network connections, then right click on the active network adapter. Then click on the advanced tab. There should be a Settings... button for windows firewall. Click that and you can see if it's active.

Also many security suites like Norton and Mcafee have built in firewalls.
 
sorry but im not about to post my ip address on a bulletin board. I will however see if I have any additional firewalls running. If you had to say - based on pc 1 being able to ping pc2 but pc2 not being able to ping pc1 - which computer should I check for the firewall on?

BTW I really appreciate the help
 
[quote name='souljah420']sorry but im not about to post my ip address on a bulletin board. I will however see if I have any additional firewalls running. If you had to say - based on pc 1 being able to ping pc2 but pc2 not being able to ping pc1 - which computer should I check for the firewall on?[/QUOTE]

Check for the firewall on pc1.

Just so you know, your IP address is no secret. Anyone who really cares to know can figure it out.

That being said, if your PCs are accessing the internet through a router, then the PCs are assigned private IP addresses that are different from your "real" IP address that the router is getting from your ISP. You can't be accessed via those private addresses. Those same IP addresses are used by millions of private networks.

If you're using a common consumer router like a linksys, dlink, or netgear, your router's IP address is probably 192.168.1.1 and it assigns addresses of the form 192.168.1.x to your PCs...mine too...welcome to the club.

Anyway...what's normal is for the first 3 numbers to match between all of the computers on your local network like this:

pc1 : 192.168.1.100
pc2 : 192.168.1.101

If they don't, then you have network configuration issues.

If your PCs get IP addresses of the form:

169.254.x.x

Then your router is not properly assigning IP addresses to your PCs (via DHCP).

Good luck
 
[quote name='m6oo']ok, I'm moving over to this thread I guess...

Some more details might help. I'm going to assume that we are talking about two computers, both running XP Home. Computer 1 is connected by ethernet cable to a wireless router. Computer 2 is connected by WiFi wireless to the router. Please let us know if this is not the case, otherwise I will be making assumptions that are not correct.

If both computers can access the internet through the router, then they are networked.

First thing to do is to determine the IP address of each computer.

On each computer, go to the click on Start, then click on Run.

In the text box, type cmd and then click ok.

A DOS box will open up

Type in the command: ipconfig and hit enter

You will get some information about each network adapter on your PC. Ignore any PPP adaptors. Of the other adapters usually all but one will say media disconnected.

One of them will have a full set of data. Look for the IP address. Usually this will be something like 192.168.1.100

Get the IP address of both PC's in this manner and leave the DOS boxes open.

Tell us what the IP addresses are.

On Computer 1, in the DOS Box type in the following command

ping

(e.g. ping 192.168.1.102)

You should see something like this:

C:\Documents and Settings\user>ping 192.168.0.1

Pinging 192.168.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time
 
The PC that has 192.168.0.1 as it's IP address is most likely the one that has the problem.

First thing you have to do is to make sure that that PC is getting it's IP address automatically assigned from the router via DHCP.

On that PC, go to network connections, right click on your wireless connection and click on properties. Under "This connection uses the following items:" highlight "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" and then click properties.

Under the general tab, you should have "Obtain an IP address automatically" checked and "Obtain DNS server address automatically" checked.

If it's set up that way, and it's getting 192.168.0.1 as it's IP, then that's wierd. In that case, open up a DOS window (Start->run->cmd) and type the following command:

ipconfig /all

You might as well do that on both PCs and post the output here so I can look at it.
 
[quote name='m6oo']

ipconfig /all

You might as well do that on both PCs and post the output here so I can look at it.[/QUOTE]
I still have the problem :(

And forgive me, there are some details I forgot to mention before. My PC is connected to the internet via an ADSL modem, and I'm connected to the router via a network cable (in a port that says "Internet". My brother is connected to the router with a network cable as well (in a normal port), and my mom's PC is connected with a wifi PCI card (but I don't really mind not seeing this one on the network, while it would be very good to see it there).

So I'm still experiencing the problem, I've tried reconfiguring the network, different workgroup names, disabling Windows's firewall and nothing works :(
 
Sorry for my tardiness. I've been on vacation...

[quote name='RockinX']And forgive me, there are some details I forgot to mention before.
[/QUOTE]

And your devil was in those details. Just a lesson. When you're asking for help, be as thorough as possible with the explanation of your situation. Otherwise, we assume that you're doing the simple stuff right...see below...

[quote name='RockinX'] My PC is connected to the internet via an ADSL modem, and I'm connected to the router via a network cable (in a port that says "Internet"[/QUOTE]

That's your problem right there! Your PC should be connected to one of the regular router ports, NOT the internet port. The internet port is intended to connect the router to the internet (hence the name), not another computer in the same local network.

I can see why you might have set it up that way in order to share the internet connection provided by your PC's internal ADSL modem. You said that your brother can get to the internet through your PC. Frankly, I'm kind of amazed that it works the way you have it set up.

The reason that file/printer sharing wasn't working is that the internet port on the router is isolated from the 4 switch ports by the router's internal firewall.

Try putting your PC into one of the switch ports and see if you can get the file sharing to work. Remember to check your IP addresses and do the pings like before.

Do the above and get it working before moving on with the stuff below...

When you do this, however, your brother will probably no longer be able to access the internet through your PC.

Sharing the connection through a PC with an internal modem is not the ideal way to share an internet connection. If you can possibly manage it, I would get an external DSL modem for your service. If you get one, you can connect THAT to the internet port on the router, then both PC's access the internet through the router and out the modem.

When your PC has an internal modem and you want to share the connection, then your PC has to be turned on in order for the other PC to access the internet. You also lose the benefits of being behind the router's internal firewall and use of the routers DHCP configuration.

If you must keep the internal ADSL card, and you want to continue to share the internet connection, you will have to turn on internet connection sharing for that network connection (the ADSL modem) on your PC (since it was working before, I suspect that it is already turned on). Now here's the tricky part. You will have to manually configure the network settings on both your PCs, since you will now be using your nice router as a dumb switch.

On your PC, go the the TCP/IP configuration settings for your LAN connection (NOT the ADSL modem). Set them accordingly:

IP address: 192.168.1.2
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Default gateway: 192.168.1.2

On the other PC set them as follows:

IP address: 192.168.1.3
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Default gateway: 192.168.1.2

I THINK you can leave the DNS server config at automatic... If not, the DNS will be the same as the gateway address 192.168.1.2

That should do it. I used a lot of short-hand jargon. Let me know what you don't understand and I'll try to be more detailed.
 
[quote name='m6oo']I've been on vacation...[/quote]Well, I'm not going to die if I don't fix this quickly, and I'm the one asking for the help, so don't worry about it.
[quote name='m6oo']That's your problem right there! Your PC should be connected to one of the regular router ports, NOT the internet port. The internet port is intended to connect the router to the internet (hence the name), not another computer in the same local network.[/quote]
Well, that's how the instructions said to connect the network cables I think.
[quote name='m6oo']
That should do it. I used a lot of short-hand jargon. Let me know what you don't understand and I'll try to be more detailed.[/QUOTE]
I understood it completely, you can use all the short-hand jargon you desire, as I've worked with computers a lot but I don't study a career related to computers, so I have a long way to go; and dude! I did all you said and I can now see my brother's PC! :applause: Thanks!

The only problem now is that he doesn't have internet access. He does, however see my computer through the network as well and my internet access through Network Connections.

I don't have an internal DSL modem, I have a USB one, sorry I didn't tell you that but I had no idea there was such thing as an internal DSL modem; and the problem is similar as I can't change my modem and I'm not able to connect my USB modem to the router, and my mom's computer (connected to the router via a wireless B card, as oposed to my brother's network cable connection) won't be able to have internet access either now. Does that mean I have to choose between sharing the connection and seeing the computers in the network?

BIG EDIT: I had forgotten to tell my brother that he needed to put the same DNS server thingie as the gateway and now he has internet access so...


THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!
 
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