Unable to see networked devices with XP Home

[Neal]

Hi,

I have three PC's networked. I have XP Home on #1, XP
Home on #2, & XP Prof on #3. All are in the same
workgroup. #2 & #3 are working fine. If I go to My
Network Places and then View workgroup computers, #2 & #3
work perfectly, I can see and share files. From both #2
& #3, I can see the files on #1. However, from #1, I
can't see or share any files on the other two PC's.

Looking at My Network Places on #1 and selecting, View
Workgroup Computers results in an empty screen & clunk
sound. I don't even see the icon for #1.

ICF was disabled on all computers. Sharing of the C:
drive is enabled on all computers. I have all
computers connected through a router.

My file sharing used to work with all computers.
Recently though, I changed my XP Home file system to NTFS
from FAT32. I haven't tried sharing files since then.
Maybe it is related to that?

If I try the network troubleshooter, it says, "Are you
using a computer name that already exists on the network?
The troubleshooter detected that you might be using a
computer name that already exists on the network. This
might be the cause of the problem." However, the
computer names are very different.

Any ideas on how to fix PC #1, running XP Home?

Thanks Agustin E. Beci for the initial advice. I added
another PC to try to figure out which one was causing the
problem. Definitly narrowed it down to PC#1.

neal

[Edwin Smith]

Probably because you setup NTFS is reset all your permissions and sharing.
You now have to setup users on the box with NTFS and login from the other
boxes with passwords.


"Neal" > wrote in message
...
> Hi,
>
> I have three PC's networked. I have XP Home on #1, XP
> Home on #2, & XP Prof on #3. All are in the same
> workgroup. #2 & #3 are working fine. If I go to My
> Network Places and then View workgroup computers, #2 & #3
> work perfectly, I can see and share files. From both #2
> & #3, I can see the files on #1. However, from #1, I
> can't see or share any files on the other two PC's.
>
> Looking at My Network Places on #1 and selecting, View
> Workgroup Computers results in an empty screen & clunk
> sound. I don't even see the icon for #1.
>
> ICF was disabled on all computers. Sharing of the C:
> drive is enabled on all computers. I have all
> computers connected through a router.
>
> My file sharing used to work with all computers.
> Recently though, I changed my XP Home file system to NTFS
> from FAT32. I haven't tried sharing files since then.
> Maybe it is related to that?
>
> If I try the network troubleshooter, it says, "Are you
> using a computer name that already exists on the network?
> The troubleshooter detected that you might be using a
> computer name that already exists on the network. This
> might be the cause of the problem." However, the
> computer names are very different.
>
> Any ideas on how to fix PC #1, running XP Home?
>
> Thanks Agustin E. Beci for the initial advice. I added
> another PC to try to figure out which one was causing the
> problem. Definitly narrowed it down to PC#1.
>
> neal
>

[Steve Winograd]

In article >, "Neal"
> wrote:
>Hi,
>
>I have three PC's networked. I have XP Home on #1, XP
>Home on #2, & XP Prof on #3. All are in the same
>workgroup. #2 & #3 are working fine. If I go to My
>Network Places and then View workgroup computers, #2 & #3
>work perfectly, I can see and share files. From both #2
>& #3, I can see the files on #1. However, from #1, I
>can't see or share any files on the other two PC's.
>
>Looking at My Network Places on #1 and selecting, View
>Workgroup Computers results in an empty screen & clunk
>sound. I don't even see the icon for #1.
>
>ICF was disabled on all computers. Sharing of the C:
>drive is enabled on all computers. I have all
>computers connected through a router.
>
>My file sharing used to work with all computers.
>Recently though, I changed my XP Home file system to NTFS
>from FAT32. I haven't tried sharing files since then.
>Maybe it is related to that?
>
>If I try the network troubleshooter, it says, "Are you
>using a computer name that already exists on the network?
>The troubleshooter detected that you might be using a
>computer name that already exists on the network. This
>might be the cause of the problem." However, the
>computer names are very different.
>
>Any ideas on how to fix PC #1, running XP Home?
>
>Thanks Agustin E. Beci for the initial advice. I added
>another PC to try to figure out which one was causing the
>problem. Definitly narrowed it down to PC#1.
>
>neal

Changing file systems on PC #1 shouldn't have any effect on its
ability to access the other computers.

The troubleshooter's message about a duplicate name is probably
spurious. I've seen the same thing when I've run it.

There should be no reason to be concerned with user names and
passwords on any of the computers. XP Home doesn't use user names or
passwords to validate access to its shared resources. XP Pro only
does so if you've disabled simple file sharing.

Make sure that NetBIOS over TCP/IP is enabled on PC #1:

1. Open the Network Connections folder.
2. Right click the local area network connection and click Properties.
3. Double click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
4. Click Advanced.
5. Click WINS.
6. Click the Enable NetBIOS Over TCP/IP button.

Look in Event Viewer on PC #1 for any relevant error messages:

1. Click Start | Control Panel | Performance and Maintenance |
Administrative Tools | Event Viewer.

2. Click System in the left pane.

3. Double click an error message in the right pane. Pay particular
attention to errors from NetBT and Service Control Manager.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

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