wireless home network sharing problem 1

[danielwu23]

i m trying to setup a home network for file and printer sharing.

PC = pc1 and pc2
OS = Windows xp pro sp2 and sp3
Simple file sharing = disabled
router = linksys wireless router wrt54g
firewall = zonealarm free
disabled guest account

user account:
pc1 | pc2
---------------------------
a1(admin) b1(admin)
b1(limit) a1(limit)
a2(limit) a2(limit)
---------------------------
all account has been set the same password

When i m logged in as a1 in pc1 and b1 in pc2, i cannot access the shared folder or default shares..this is what i am trying to resolve..

When i m logged in as a1 in pc1 and a1 in pc2, can access share
or
when i m logged as a1 in pc1 and a2 in pc2, can access share
then
i changed a1 in pc2 to admin and logged in as a1 in pc2 and a1 in pc1..can access share also

only when two admin of different username is logged on in both the pc, do i find a problem in access shares..the error message varied from "server service is not started", "remote procedure call failed and did not execute" to "the specified network name is no longer available".

maybe i have failed to rake note of some simple settings..
please tell me and guide me as to what is the problem in my case..

 

[wolluf]

Your setup should work - the only thing you've mentioned that I can see causing a problem is zone alarm (which you don't really need - xp's firewall is perfectly ok especially behind a router). It shouldn't matter which user is logged on - you've got mirrored username/passwords - second thoughts, are the permissions on both the share and the underlying filestore set so all your users have the right level of access - and there's not any restrictive permissions set on the 'users' or 'everyone' group (I'm thinking that your admin users are mirrored to limited users on the remote machine - and if those limited users don't have the requisite access level on the remote machine, you won't be able to access the share from the admin user. Would be best if users were completely mirrored - in access level as well - but would still need to check all the permissions are correct).

 

[stduc]

If you still have problems - enable simple file sharing temporarily.

With a new network it is easiest to set it up with simple file sharing & no firewall. Then if you need to or want to turn off simple fileshare - then once that is working re-enable the firewall.

Most windows sharing issues come down to firewall or permissions issues once you have the cabling and TCP/IP and subnets sorted.

[navy]When I married "Miss Right" I didn't realise her first name was 'always'. LOL[/navy]

 

[danielwu23]

thanks for the reply..

i shutdown zonealarm firewall without enabling windows firewall also
when i tried, cannot access
when i say cannot access means i can see all the computers in my network place but cannot access the remote one..

then according to your suggestions..i set b1 in pc1 to admin which is equivalent to b1 in pc2
and same with a1 also
but still cannot access...

i have rebooted the computers after setting the change in account types..

by the way..the pc can ping each other either using IP or the pc name...


so now what could be causing this to happen?

 

[BadBigBen]

That they are not in the same WORKGROUP, could cause that...

right click MY COMPUTER >> properties >> tab computername

and check the workgroup settings for each PC...


Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[danielwu23]

workgroup has been set to the same across all computers in the network

 

[linney]

By way of a test have you tried changing the actual Share permission to access for Everyone to have full control, and also the separate file permissions of the shared folder to the same, access for Everyone, full control?

Besides being equivalent??? are your users using the same usernames and passwords on each computer, doing so makes life easier?

Have you tried "Safe Mode with Networking"?

 

[danielwu23]

@linney
i have tried giving "Everyone" the full control access to all the shares..but still cannot access the shares..

all the user names in both the computer has the same passwords..

so now it looks like this

user account:
pc1 | pc2
---------------------------
a1(admin) b1(admin)
b1(admin) a1(admin)
a2(limit) a2(limit)

just to repeat my case, when i am logged as admin in both the PC but the two admin are different user names then only i have a problem in accessing the shares
however if the logged in user are admin in both the PC but with the same user name then i can access the share..

wonder how windows xp pro check the credentials for network shares..does it do it differently when both are admins?

 

[cdogg]

Daniel,
It should not matter at all who is logged into PC2. It has NO impact whatsoever on the ability for PC1 to access PC2's share, which is controlled by the permissions set on the folder. This is demonstrated by the fact that you had a2 logged in on PC2, and a1 on the PC1 was able to access the share. In addition, PC1 should be able to access the share even when "no one" is logged in on PC2.

In the situation you have described, I'm convinced that problem is something within b1's startup configuration that is not the same as a1 or a2. There might be an additional service or program starting up when b1 logs in which is blocking access to the share (i.e. 3rd-party firewall software, setting within XP's firewall, etc).

I know you said you tried "disabling" ZoneAlarm, but I think you should take it a step further and uninstall Zonealarm completely from both computers as a test. The "free" version of ZoneAlarm doesn't allow you to dig into the software and tweak individual settings that would impact sharing on a LAN.

Another suggestion would be to delete b1's account entirely on PC2. Go into C:\Documents and Settings and make sure b1's folder is no longer there. Then go back into User Accounts and recreate b1 the same way you made a2. That will eliminate the possibility that b1 is using a service/program that a2 wasn't.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[danielwu23]

i went to pc1 and delete a1(admin) including the files however the folder remains..
then i recreate the same user account a1 with admin rights and same password...saw a folder got created in document and settings called a1.pc1(where pc1 is the computer name)

didnt uninstall or disable zonealarm firewall

it works! the share is working fine now..

@cdogg what u suggested about recreation of account work in my case..thanks a lot..

thanks to all who spare the time to contribute to the resolution of the problem...

another time guys