Sharing Files over my Wireless Router....

[BlueDevilTide]

GOAL
To share the contents of my hard drive over my wireless network. It's secured, and has a MAC filter...it should be very safe. I want the shared folders to be accessible in My Network Places.

EXPOSITORY
It seems easy enough. Tons of people do it. And for all my skills, many that this site has taught me, I've never been good at this.

I got it to work for a while but sadly a firewall problem led to startup problems and thus an Arconis restore when I hadn't set it up. And now I can't figure out what to change to get it working.

THE SETUP
T23 wired to a Linksys WRT54G with ddwrt micro firmware. X30 on wireless network running from it. Windows XP Pro on both machines.

WHAT'S SET IN PLACE
I have set the folders I want to be shared, as such. But nothing shows up in My Network Places but the domestic folders. I figure I need to make Windows recognize the network, maybe as a workgroup, so I can access the files on both computers.

Do I need to have a certain service (in Services.msc) running? I remember enabling Server. But both computers have it running.

What should I do? What are the basics to making this work, and what's going wrong here? I would love some help with this. Thanks so much!

[rkawakami]

This is what I believe works for me. Hopefully I haven't left something important out; networking's not Ray's strong suit .

First, verify that both systems have been set to the same workgroup name. Right-click the "My Computer" icon on the desktop, select the "Properties" option, then click the "Computer Name" tab. There you should be able to click on the "Change" button to setup your workgroup name. Also, make sure that each computer has a distinctive and unique name assigned to it. You probably have to re-boot the systems for your changes to take effect.

For each folder you want to share, in Windows Explorer, in the "File and Folder Tasks" section, click on the "Share this folder" link. In the "Sharing" tab, under "Network Sharing and Security", click the "Share this folder on the network" option and make sure that the share name is 12 characters or less. Even though you are using XP systems and the names can be longer, it doesn't hurt to keep them short so other system can also access the folders. You can also specify that the network users are allowed to change the files in the shared folder.

In the My Network folder, in the left side under the "Network Tasks" section, there should be a "View workgroup computers" link. Click on that and it should go out a look for all of the computers registered to your workgroup name. You can then double-click the name of the computer you want to access and the shared folder(s) should be accessible.

If you want, there's also a way to assign a "drive letter" (i.e., F: ) to a remote folder on the network so that it automatically appears as a disk drive.

If this doesn't work, you can come back here and slap my wrist and/or wait for somebody else with better networking skills than moi .

edit: Just remembered something... Check your network properties and make sure that the File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks is enabled. Right-click the "My Network" icon on the desktop and select "Properties". This should show your LAN connections. Right-click the wireless or LAN connection and select "Properties" again. In the "General" tab make sure that the aforementioned "File and Printer Sharing" option is checked.

[BlueDevilTide]

Hi Ray,

Thanks for the suggestions. For better or worse, I've tried all your suggestions beforehand. I went through them again, but everything looks right.

I've turned off my firewalls to see if those had an effect...the X30 uses Comodo Pro and the T23 Look'N'Stop (only because I can't reinstall Comodo because it thinks it's already installed from before....weird.)

Any other tips? I'd really like to get this to work. GMail drive is my tool now but its slow and only for tiny files.

[jdhurst]

rkawakami's suggestions are correct, so I wonder if somehow, firewalls are still in the way.

Try the following:

1. In Windows Explorer, in both machines, Tools -> Folder Options -> View -> Uncheck "Use Simple File Sharing".

2. Restart both machines just to be sure (although it isn't strictly necessary here)

3. In one machine, in Windows Explorer, Tools -> Map Network Drive.

a. Use the Drive letter assigned.
b. Enter the name of the other computer \\othername\c$
c. Click on Different User.
d. Enter the user id and password of the other computer.
e. Click OK.

If that fails, there is a problem with File and Printer Sharing in your Network Card properties or in your Firewall settings.
... JDH

[BlueDevilTide]

JD....that did it! Thanks SO much.

[carbon_unit]

I have also found that sometimes to get simple file sharing to work properly you need to add the SPX/IPX protocol to the network properties.
Go to My Network places, click "View Network Connections", right click on the network adapter, select "Properties", click "add", in the next box select "Protocol" and choose SPX/IPX.
I know this is not supposed to be necessary but it seems to work.

[steveg47]

I have also found that sometimes to get simple file sharing to work properly you need to add the SPX/IPX protocol to the network properties.
Go to My Network places, click "View Network Connections", right click on the network adapter, select "Properties", click "add", in the next box select "Protocol" and choose SPX/IPX.
I know this is not supposed to be necessary but it seems to work.

Good Lord! you don't dont want to recommend using ipx/spx protocol. That is a now obsolete Novel protocol and there should never be a reason for using it unless you are running an old version of Novel Netware on a server. Unchecking "Use Simple File Sharing" as jdhurst suggested is the correct approach. Getting all your network to run properly using TCP/IP should be your goal.
Also, do not rely on mac filtering alone as anyone with wireless sniffer software can crack it in 2 seconds by simply viewing the mac address in the unencrypted packets. Use wpa or wpa2 encryption security. Wep is a poor 2nd choice but better then nothing or using mac filtering alone.

And BlueDevilTide....Expository??? I know what the word means but have never seen it used relating to networking

[Kyocera]

Steve, while I agree with you, there are some environments (mixed) and when I say mixed I mean old and new not MAC and XP and they may still have a Novell Server as a print server or something, with 98 machines, NT workstations and so forth I run in to these places now and then. And lets not forget that binding one or the other i.e tcp or IPX to different workgroups can aid in security on network segments two different protocols, one can't see the other unless one is bound with both.

[steveg47]

Though I don't wish to get into a long discussion on this, spx/ipx is obsolete and not supported by Novell any longer for good reasons. There may be situations where a client is still using it and you may be forced to work with it but I still remain firm that it should never be recommended as a solution for networking issues or security, especially to the uninitiated.

[BlueDevilTide]

And BlueDevilTide....Expository??? I know what the word means but have never seen it used relating to networking

Hah yeah...I was just using to say, "explaining my situation." In a more general sense. I like to break down my computer problems tp male it easy to read and understand, not a huge wall of text.