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Is it possible to network 4 computers that are all running different versions of Windows?
I have been trying to get our home network set up and I'm totally stumped as to why it's not working. We have 2 desktops running Windows 7 and Vista, and 2 laptops running 2 different versions of XP. Is this my problem? If not, I will just continue to bang my head on my desk and see if that magically fixes my problem. :)
Are you trying to share folders/files?
That is the ultimate goal, yes. Right now I can't even get the computers to see each other.
I take it you have a router and that all devices are connected to the same router? And that you have DHCP turned on (all the computers are getting IP addresses from the router?
To check the 2nd question:
On each computer, open a DOS window (START / RUN / 'CMD' [ok], then enter 'IPCONFIG' [enter] and be sure that they all have the same IP range (192.168.1.xxx or something similar)
If they are all connected to the router correctly, try a simple ping from one computer to another "ping x.x.x.x" and see if they are at least talking to eachother.
Yup, 1 router that they are all connected to. I will try your suggestion now, thanks. I've set up networks before with no problems - I'm not sure what the issue is here.
All four computers need to be in the same workgroup. They also need to have the 'Computer Browser' service running. On top of that for file sharing and network folder mapping, I would strongly urge you to have a common account across all machines with the same password for ease of access. Give that account full rights to read/write as needed.
Workgroup isn't required for sharing. But username, password, and permissions are important.
Didn't some versions of Windows Vista turn off default file sharing and you had to enable it?
Also, sometimes drive mappings by name may cause a problem (worked for a while, then it would stop working). If this is the case, map by IP address
Somewhat related to this, would there be a reason why a wireless box (Win 7 Home Premium) works fine when connecting to the Wireless N network router - but when a wired box is turned on (Win 7 ultimate) and connects via ethernet to the router, then the wireless box loses connection to the wireless router?
Make sure both computers are either using DHCP or have unique IP addresses. Identical names on a network can also cause some problems.
Workgroup is required for account auth. Plus I don't know if she has any Windows 2000 or 98 boxes, so I'm playing it safe with the Workgroup information.
You sure? I bring my work laptop (member of work domain) and I have numerous shared drives that I connect to while at home on my home network. You don't have to join a workgroup to share. Just when you share you'll have to provide the right computer/user + password.
I just was puttering around with a few VM's. I changed workgroups around and for those that did not have Computer Browser running, did not see each other with a scan. When I fired it up, it showed them.Quote:
Originally Posted by [AK]Nuts
Let me add one footnote to my earlier comment. It would be 'Best Practice' to have all of the computers in the same workgroup, but it is not a requirement 'Unless you are on WindowsME' :-P
http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/62047
You Windows guys are so precious. Gives me the warm fuzzies. :D
By the way, I never did get this to work. I was able to 'see' all the computers from my system, but couldn't actually access any of them. None of our systems are password protected, the IPs all matched up, and they are all set to access the same workgroup. Not sure what the issue is, and I gave up from frustration. I may seek more advice from you guys another day.
Like Swae, I too am still having issues here - and this is one of the strangest networking issues I've run into. It's also very repeatable, so at least that makes things easier to test.Quote:
Originally Posted by [AK]Nuts
The wireless box is 100% reliable. But when I turn on the wired box, in about 30 seconds the wireless loses connection to the router. At first I thought maybe it was electrical noise from the wired box. So I unplugged the wired box from the network and turned it on. Problem went away. So there's some sort of network incompatability that's causing the wired box to bump the wireless box. I've never seen this before. The thing is, it's only that one wireless box that fails. All the other wireless machines work fine.
So I checked DHCP. I set the router to assign a static IP address to each machine now, based on MAC address, to see if maybe it was assigning the same number or something. No change in reliability. (though I do like the tidy aspect of having assigned LAN IP address for each machine now).
I can tell the wireless box to disconnect from my wireless router. And then reconnect. I get great connection again - for about 30 seconds. Then, out. It won't even connect to the wireless router (192.168.1.1), BUT it see's the wired box on Homegroup. That's weird. So I disconnected it from Homegroup. But that didn't help.
Any thoughts on this? It almost smells like a Win 7 bug of some kind.
Edit - took the wired box off of Homegroup, and now it's looking like the wireless is working again. Weird.
Very odd. Another idea (if you still want to play with it) is to try another router. If it works, keep it. If not, return it.
Dang, I thought I had fixed it, but now i'm still having big reliability issues with the wireless desktop. The part that is confusing is all the other wireless devices are working just fine. The Netbook is wireless B, G, N, and so too is the router. So too is the desktop. I suspect it's a setting issue or a driver issue, but for the life of me can't figure out what it is. I'm thinking of just doing a wipe and restore for starters. Failing that, I may try another network card.Quote:
Originally Posted by [AK]Nuts
At least you didn't say you need a new wife since the problem stems from her computer.
Clay, just curious if you have tried two things.
1) a hard reset of the router
2) if that doesn't work, possibly updating the router firmware.
3) Does the same thing happen if both boxes are plugged in via wire? I know that won't necessarily solve the problem, but may help in identifying the source of the issue.