Creating web site shortcuts in My Network Places

[HWoodard]

I run XP Pro Sp1. After I first set up my network (about a year ago) there was a shortcut that showed up in My Network Places for the BEFW11S4. I could click on it and it would bring up the admin login box and let me access the web-based admin tool. If you're familiar with this Linksys device then you know that it doesn't require a user id, just the password "admin".

Somewhere along the line the shortcut disappeared -- I have no idea when or why.

Now, when I try to add a shortcut back using the Add Network Place wizard it does the following:

Start the wizard. When given the choice of (1) adding MSN communities or (2) Choose another network location, I choose #2. I then get a dialog box giving me a field for entering the address of the web site. I type in

http://192.168.1.1.

It then pops up the normal login box with the device name "Linksys BEFW11S4 V2/V3". I skip the user id and enter "admin" into the password field. After a short delay it comes back with the error "The folder you entered does not appear to be valid. Please choose another".

Since it [apparently] thought I was trying to open a folder, I tried again, using

http://192.168.1.1/index.htm".

This time it popped up a login box titled the same ("Connect to 192.168.1.1&quot but where the Linksys device name ("Linksys BEFW11S4 V2/V3&quot had been before, it had "Connecting to 192.168.1.1" which would imply to me that it had not found the actual device. This time it would not allow me to attempt a login without a user name. Of course no user name would work.

I looked at the properties for this [automatically created] shortcut on my son's XP laptop and it was "

http://192.168.1.1:5678/index.htm".

I don't know what the ":5678" is but his shortcut is there in his My Network Places" and it works. I even tried typing that exact string in but got the "invalid folder" message immediately -- no login box.

Anyone know what I'm doing wrong here and what I need to do to add this shortcut?

Tia,

Howard
Bellevue, WA

 

[comtec17]

The :5678 is the port that the linksys operates its internal web server on. You cannot ping the port only the IP address. Just add the string "

http://192.168.1.1:5678/index.htm"

to your shortcut and it should work out for you.

 

[HWoodard]

Thanks for the quick reply and the info on the port address. However, take a look at the next-to-last paragraph in my original note. I tried that and got the invalid folder message immediately.

Is 5678 a fixed address for the Linksys device or might mine be something different?

 

[bcastner]

http:// :admin@192.168.1.1/

Now you do not need to even type the password. Note that there are no quotation marks.
The %20 is required for a null character as the username.

 

[bcastner]

I should note that you do this on the desktop. Just right-click a blank area of the desktop, New, shortcut. It is created as a web page shortcut automaticly.

 

[HWoodard]

Thanks again. It still gave the error "The folder you specified does not appear to be valid. Please try another".

Is it possible that I've got to enable that port somewhere on my PC?

 

[HWoodard]

Putting it on the desktop worked but how do I get it into My Network Places?

 

[bcastner]

Drag and drop.

 

[HWoodard]

It give me the little "international no circle when I pull it over the open My Network Places and won't drop it.

 

[bcastner]

In My Network Places the default address bar is My Network Places. Hit the scroll arrow and change to My Web Pages.
Create the shortcut there as a new web page.

http://192.168.1.1/index.htm

If you succeed, change the address bar back to My Network Places, as all defined web pages appear there.

 

[bcastner]

I guess it will not move it. It treats it as a Web Document shortcut.

 

[HWoodard]

I have My Documents, My Computer, and My Network Places but no My Web Pages.

 

[bcastner]

I am sorry, I do not know how to do it other than a shortcut on the desktop or in any other folder.

 

[HWoodard]

Thanks for helping me.

Happy New year!

 

[bcastner]

And Happy New Year to you.

If it helps any, I know that it can be done in non-XP Windows versions as I described above.

Network Places is an "odd" folder, in that there are dynamic aspects to its maintanance, and special qualities to its shortcuts.

MS Technote notes: "To add a shortcut in My Network Places to a folder on a Web server, the Web server must support network places. Network places requires the Web Extender Client (WEC) protocol and FrontPage extensions, or the WebDAV protocol and Internet Information Services (IIS) You must also have read and write access to the Web server. If you are on a network, contact your network administrator for information about available Web servers and how to access them."

And as you and I discovered, a "Web Document" shortcut is apparantly illegal in this situation.

I suspect you can make the entry through the registry; although I do not encourage it. I suspect even this back door approach would "disappear" under XP after a short period of time.

You would have to suspend all of XP's built-in features for updating and scanning remote resources. It is precisely these features that make me pessimistic about the persistance of a registry hack. I am reluctant to suggest such an approach if the issue is simply the incovenience of the shortcut appearing on the Desktop or another folder rather than in Network Places. There is a law of unintended consequences, and small LANs seem to suffer them more than Domain settings where registry tricks are fairly effectively denied you.

Best wishes,
(The no-password desktop shortcut trick I gave much earlier is what I personally use)

Bill Castner

 

[HWoodard]

Thanks Bill. I just got this from one of the MSN forums and it worked. Fyi...

You must have UPnP Enable on the router UPnP Enable/Disable radio button in on the password tab in the router setting,

You must a have universal plug and play installed as well internet gateway device discovery and control client, go to control panel, add or remove programs, windows
components, networking services, click on details and install if they are already installed in control panel go to, administrative tools, services, and look for universal plug and play device, and see if it started if it is set to start automatic change to manual right click on it go properties startup type and from drop down box select manual and do the same for SSDP Discovery service you may have to reboot after reboot you should see your router in my network places and in view network connections you will see internet gateway if this fails to work try uninstalling and reinstalling universal plug and play and internet gateway device discovery

 

[bcastner]

Did you in fact try this?

 

[HWoodard]

Yes and it worked. I already had all of the services installed but they were set to start automatically. I changed them to manual and, wa la, the Linsys WAP magically appeared all on its on in My Network Places. I don't understand the manual/automatic thing though. It seems to me that the automatic setting would always be preferable.

 

[bcastner]

Good.

The uPnP (and related SSDP Discovery Service) are often mysterious.

I have several sites where the "Internet Gateway" appears without issue always; several sites where it eventually appears; several sites where it appears if DHCP is used, but not static IPs; and several sites where no matter what you do you cannot bring it up in Network Connections.

I asked the question immediately above as I am on a WRT54G when I tested, and instead of HTML it uses ASP pages, so I was unclear as to how it would react in a completely different router.

I will offer two notes and we can call this thread completed:

1. Do not enable the "show icon on task bar" feature for the "Internet Gateway" of Network Connections. It not only has known problems with other notification tray icons, it is a big CPU user.

2. No one using Linksys products should not miss the incredible discoveries, tinkering, and general mayhem created on the best Linksys site on the Web:

http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/equip,16

You will laugh, you will cry, you will learn a lot, and occasionally even really mess things up. But it is worth a read for anyone using Linksys routers.

Best,
Bill