Networking 98 & XP Home

... Problems

[GTXgp]

I've done some searches and its managed to get me as far as I have, but I've reached a wall and need some more help to finish up the last few configs to get this working.

I have 4 computers in the current network running Win98, a couple with file/printer sharing. They now want to add 4 more computers that have WinXP installed, which need to access the Win98s files & printers inside the network.

I have been working with just two computers (one 98, one XP) to get the configs correct before deploying it to the other 6. I have run the XP Network setup on both, using the same settings & workgroup. That didn't do much for me.

So, I then setup static IPs on both computers (10.0.0.1, 10.0.0.2) as well as setting 255.255.255.0 as the subnet on both. Also, on the 98 machine I changed the login from Windows Logon to Client for Microsoft Networks.

There's the background... here's what it is doing:

On the 98 Machine: It doesn't list the XP machine in the network neighborhood. However, if i do a search it DOES find the XP machine and I can browse through the shared folders.

On the XP Machine: It does list the 98 machine in the work group, however, if I try to access it I get the following error: "\\98computername is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions. The network path was not found"

I have even tried changing my username/password on the XP machine to the exact same as the 98s l/p.... to no avail.

Any help would be MUCH appreciated.

Thanks,
Adam

[Marcia]

We've got a Win98 and and an XP Pro running on a 2wire, and it didn't work with the 98 as the parent. Worked fine with the XP, that's how it's running.

[wruk999]

Adam,

Have you tried (on either machine) pinging the IP address & computer name of the opposite machine?

If you can ping them, and get a response, try issuing the following command through the MS-DOS prompt:

net use t: \\machinename\sharedfoldername

If this is successful, you can browse it in My computer. If it doesn't work, then there is still something fundamentally wrong with the connections.

wruk999

[GTXgp]

If I can see 98 in the workgroup on XP, and i can access XP from 98... what is pinging going to tell me?

[anon1]

Most problems with "browsing" the network are due to not having the NetBEUI protocol loaded. NetBEUI is required if you want to identify the PCs by name and not just IP address.

Also, make sure within the NetBEUI properties that "Use this as the default protocol" is checked.

[added] If you have to add the NetBEUI protocol be sure to unbind it and remove it from any nic's that might connect to an internet access device like cabler/dsl modem.[/added]

[msr986]

Sorry anon1, NetBEUI is not available on XP.

[anon1]

Actually, it is available it just isn't supported.

Look on your XP CD in the valueadd directory.

[support.microsoft.com...]

[msr986]

AFAIK, you need the retail version of the XP disc to access netBEUI. I havn't been able to find netBEUI on my OEM preinstalled OS or the restore disk.

[GTXgp]

Yep, NetBeui was one of the first things I tried. It was on the retail XP CD that came with the computers they bought.

Anyone else have other suggestions?

[anon1]

There are many things it could be.

Firewall?
NetBIOS over TCP/IP enabled?
No invalid characters in the workgroup name?
Other network problems?
Is XP's ICF running? (it shouldn't be)
Unneeded protocols being loaded?
Same protocol bound to File/Printer Sharing on each PC?
Is File/Printer Sharing bound to more than one protocol?

etc, etc.

[GTXgp]

Firewall?
No

NetBIOS over TCP/IP enabled?
Yes

No invalid characters in the workgroup name?
Pretty sure I don't.

Is XP's ICF running? (it shouldn't be)
What is ICF?

Unneeded protocols being loaded?
I loaded quite a few protocols to try and get it working. Which are the only ones I need?

Same protocol bound to File/Printer Sharing on each PC?
Pretty sure

Is File/Printer Sharing bound to more than one protocol?
Don't think so, but I can check.