Internet Fixes Windows XP And More News Letter!

06/23/2006
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Today's Tips!
06/23/2006

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Troubleshooting Basic Connectivity In Your Home Network!

1. Verify the physical connection between computers. The back of each network adapter in a desktop computer has visible lights. These lights indicate a good connection. If you are using a hub or a switch to connect the computers, make sure that the hub or the switch is turned on and that the lights are on for each client connection. This indicates a good link.

2. Make sure that all computers have TCP/IP installed. This is particularly important with Microsoft Windows 95-based computers. By default, Windows 95-based computers do not have TCP/IP installed. If you are using computers that run Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition on the network, you can look for TCP/IP by using the Network tool in Control Panel. If TCP/IP is not installed, you must install it to communicate with Microsoft Windows XP-based computers on your network. TCP/IP is always installed in Windows XP.

3. Gather network configuration information from at least two computers on the network by using the adapter status. The information must include the IP addresses. To do this, follow these steps:

a. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Network and Internet Connections, and then click Network Connections.
b. Locate and right-click the icon that represents this computer's connection to the home network, and then click Status.
c. Click the Support tab, and then note the IP address.

If the assigned IP addresses do not match the topology that this article described in the "Determining how the network is structured" section, the computer that is assigning the addresses may not be available. This is likely to be true if 169.254.x.y addresses are in a configuration where you expect a different address range.

Note The addresses on the home network adapter for each computer must be in the same range. If one computer receives an address in the range 192.168.0.x, and another receives an address in the range 169.254.x.y, determine which address is correct based on the network topology. Troubleshoot the computer that has the incorrect address.

Note For Windows 95-based computers in a network that uses 169.254.x.y addressing, you must configure IP addresses manually. For information about how to do this, go to http://www.internetfixes.com/question.asp and send me your details and I will try and point you in the right direction.

4. Verify that the Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) or Windows Firewall (WF) feature is not enabled on the adapters that you use to connect the computers to the home network. If these features are enabled on these adapters, you cannot connect to shared resources on other computers in the network.

Edgeless networks are a special case. Use ICF with edgeless networks. However, you must take additional measures to enable connectivity in the home network.

5. Use the ping command to test connectivity between two computers on the network. To do this, follow these steps:

a. On one of the computers, click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
b. At the command prompt, type ping x.x.x.x (where x.x.x.x is the IP address of the other computer), and then press ENTER. You receive several replies from the other computer. For example, you may receive the following reply:
Reply from x.x.x.x: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

If you do not receive these replies, or if you receive a "Request timed out" message, there may be an issue on the local computer. Follow the next step to test the local computer. If the ping command is successful, the computers can connect correctly, and you can skip the next step.

c. Test the local computer. To do this, type ping x.x.x.x (where x.x.x.x is the IP address of the local computer), and then press ENTER. If you receive replies, the network adapter is installed correctly, and the TCP/IP protocol stack is likely to be working correctly. If not, troubleshoot the network adapter. It may not be installed correctly, or the TCP/IP protocol stack may be damaged.
d. After you can ping the other computer by using its IP address, ping the computer by using its computer name. To determine a computer's name, right-click My Computer on the desktop, click Properties, and then click the Computer Name tab. To ping a computer by name, type ping computername (where computername is the name of the remote computer), and then press ENTER. If you receive successful replies, you have connectivity and name resolution between the computers.

After you have verified connectivity and name resolution between computers, you can troubleshoot the connectivity for file and printer sharing.

Gary Chambers
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YOU CAN DOWNLOAD HUNDREDS MORE TIPS FROM THE ARCHIVE'S BY GOING TO:
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If You Are Still Having Problems Try Troubleshooting File And Printer Sharing!

Through a home network, you can share files and printers between computers. To test the file-sharing and printer-sharing functionality, follow these steps:

1. Run the Network Setup Wizard on each computer in the network to configure file and printer sharing.

2. Make sure that file sharing is configured correctly on the computer.

Note All network access to either a Windows XP Home Edition-based computer in a workgroup or to a Windows XP Professional-based computer in a workgroup uses the Guest account. Before you continue troubleshooting, make sure that the Guest account is set up for network access. To do this, follow these steps:

a. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
b. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
net user guest
c. If the account is active, a line appears in the output of the command that is similar to the following:
Account active Yes
d. If the account is not active, use the following command to give the Guest account network access:
net user guest /active:yes
e. The following text returns after the command:
The command completed successfully.

If you receive any other response, make sure that you are logged on as an Administrator, and then confirm that you typed the command correctly before you try again.

3. After you have verified the configuration, locate the computer name for each computer, and then make sure that a folder is shared. To do this, follow these steps:

a. Click Start, click Run, type sysdm.cpl, and then click OK.
b. On the Computer Name tab, note the computer name on the "Full computer name" line.
c. To determine if a folder is shared, click Start, click Run, type fsmgmt.msc, and then click OK.
d. In the left pane, click Shares.

A list of shared folders appear in the right pane. Make a note of one share name for each computer.

4. Test a connection from one computer to another. Click Start, click Run, type \\computername (where computername is the name of another computer on the network), and then press ENTER. A window opens that contains an icon for each shared folder on the other computer. Open one of the shares to confirm that the connection is working. If you cannot open a shared folder, test in the opposite direction between the computers or between other computers to make sure that the problem is not with a particular computer on the network.

5. If you still cannot connect to the other computer, test again, but replace the computername with the name of the local computer. This tests the connection locally. A window appears that displays an icon for each shared folder on the computer. Try to open one of the shares to make sure that you have access.

If the window that contains the shares on the computer does not appear, or if you receive an error message, search the Microsoft Knowledge Base for additional information about the specific error message that you received.

6. If you do not receive any error messages, or you do not find related information in the Microsoft Knowledge Base, look in the Network Setup Wizard log file for errors in any steps that are not followed by successful operations. To open the log, click Start, click Run, type %SystemRoot%\nsw.log, and then press ENTER. If you find errors in the log, search the Microsoft Knowledge Base for additional information about how to manually configure the computer to have correct settings.

7. If the Nsw.log file does not give you any information about the problem, look in the system log for errors, and investigate those errors.

APPLIES TO:
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition

Gary Chambers
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