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"... is not accessible. You might not have permissions" yadda yad

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NCYankee1

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Mar 27, 2001
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Hi. Yesterday I added a new Win XP SP2 pc to my home network (3 W2K Professional pc's). The initial connection to my network (peer-to-peer workgroup) went fine. But then the connection goofed up on the XP machine. I cannot access the workgroup. It gives me the message in the subject line. But I can access the XP machine from the W2K machines. And I can ping (via ip address and computer name) from the xp machine to the W2K machines with no problem. I somehow got the connection restored this morning, but after installing more software (unrelated desktop publishing stuff) the connection is broken again. I have tried disabling the firewalls (there is a McAfee firewall on the XP pc that came with it) and I have made sure file sharing is on and I have tried numerous times to re-setup using that Network wizard and also mucked around with that windows firewall as well (turning it off). And nothing seems to help anymore. I am still at the stage where everyone can see the XP machine but the XP machine cannot access the network. I have scoured the internet but nothing has seemed to help. Any suggestions? Thanks.
 
. make sure both the native XP SP2 firewall and the McAfee firewall are not both active. Pick one and disable the other.

. In either case, you need to make an exception for Netbios traffic over your LAN, and an expection for ICMP traffic on your LAN subnet. The SP2 firewall is only a matter of a radio button click to allow File and Printer sharing traffic under your local Subnet, and to allow ICMP echo requests (or all ICMP traffic) for your subnet. McAfee has a similar configuration section dealing with local network traffic.
 
By the way, the "permissions" issue can be due to:

. Netbios over TCP/IP not explicitly enabled under the Network Connection, Properties, Internet connection TCP/IP, Properties, Advanced, WINS tab.

. The Workgroup name is different than the rest of the member computers.

. a firewall blocking Netbios traffic
 
If the above advice seems not to help, download on one machine the utility NTRIGHTS.EXE (or set the correct policies on each machine with Start, Run, secpol.msc if all XP Pro boxes).

NTRIGHTS.EXE is part of the Windows 2003 resource kit:
or as a direct download:
Copy ntrights.exe to a floppy, along with a notepad created copy/paste of the below as fix_sharing.cmd :

********** start copy/paste below this line
net user guest /active:yes
ntrights +r SeNetworkLogonRight -u Guest
ntrights -r SeDenyNetworkLogonRight -u Guest

********** end copy/paste above this line
 
Still can't get the problem resolved. I disabled the Windows Firewall. I changed the McAfee firewall to allow Windows File sharing. Still no good. So I disabled McAfee as well. That didn't help. I re-ran the Network Setup Wizard (which turns the Windows firewall back on). I installed the Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit and made that fix_sharing.cmd file as you instructed. I can't write to a diskette because I do not have a diskette drive. But I copied the .exe and the .cmd into the root directory on the XP machine and one W2K machine (the other 2 pc's are turned off for now). I assume I was supposed to run the .exe on all pc's? And the .cmd as well? I did run them on the these 2 pc's. I looked at secpol.msc on the XP box and the "All ICMP Traffic" is set to "Permit" for "IP Securities on Local Computer". I've even rebooted and tried to access the network (didn't work), rerun that Network Setup Wizard (didn't help). The only info I think I left out of my original post is that I am using a Lincsys router to connect the computers. On the XP box I can even access the internet. And when I go to My Network Places and click on Microsoft Windows Network, I can see "Home" (my network). But when I click on it I get the error message that is in the subject line. What am I dong wrong/forgetting to do? Thanks. -Mike
 
Your pings show basic tcp/ip connectivity, and your internet access suggests that DHCP is working properly through the Linksys router.

So, a checklist of the basics:

. HOME is the workgroup name on all computers
. HOME is not the Computer Name
. HOME is not the user name
. You are not using blank or empty passwords
. Under Folder Options, View, 'use simple file sharing - recommended' is unchecked
. Under Network Connections, Lan Connection, Properties, that Client for Microsoft Networking and File and Printer Sharing are both enabled. Under Internet Protocol TCP/IP, Properties, Advanced, WINS tab, that 'enable Netbios over TCP/IP' is checked.
. That you are sharing something: drive, folder, printer -- but something
. That all usernames and passwords are synchronized: all the usernames and passwords of Computer A and B are made users of Computer C with passwords; all the usernames and Passwords of Computer B and C are made users on Computer A with passwords; etc.

 
First, thanks for your assistance. I really appreciate it. Unfortunately, I am still getting that error message saying my workgroup is not accessible and all of that. The changes I made this time were:
- I unchecked 'use simple file sharing - recommended';
- Under Internet Protocol TCP/IP, Properties, Advanced, WINS tab, I checked 'enable Netbios over TCP/IP'.
I also added each user to each of the computers on the network. But still getting the same error message.
I noticed when I run the Network Setup wizard it turns the Windows firewall back on. So I keep going in and turning it off. Also, when the Network Setup Wizard is run, the last step says "you need to run the setup wizard once on each of the computers on your network..." and it has options to create a startup disk, use the windows XP CD or skip this step. I have been skipping this because the network already exists and works fine on the W2K machines. Should I create a disk and run this on the W2K boxes?<p>Thanks again for your help with this.
 
You have to stop running the Network Setup Wizard. Everytime you do you revert the settings carefully done previously to make simple files sharing - disabled innefective.

Please, do the steps as outlined and do not then run the Wizard. We will go in circles forever if you run the Wizard.

 
Rrrrrr. I verified everything in your checklist and I am still getting the same error message. Is here something I should be looking at/changing on he W2K boxes?
 
Have you made the XP box username with password local user accounts on all Win2k boxes?

Assuming you have, do a repair reinstallation of the XP box, as the source of the issue is there.
 
Yuck. I sure don't like the sound of that. The XP machine is the one machine on the network that is used for business purposes. So a repair reinstall sounds risky - especially if I am not guaranteed it will fix the problem. I am going to upgrade one of the W2K pc's to XP Professional and see if those 2 get along ok. If they do then I will try to figure something out with the other 2 machines. Maybe someone has any other suggestions?
 
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