Network not accessible?

iadom · 01-04-2010, 20:18

I have two PC's, main desktop and laptop, both running Win XP, fully patched and updated.

I have had them wireless networked perfectly for a couple of years or more. Setting it up at the time must have been easy because i can't even remember just how I did it. File & printer sharing worked fine.

A couple of weeks ago my wireless router ( D-Link ) died on me and I replaced it with a Netgear WNR2000.

The setup was simple and in no time at all I had both PC's connected to the internet, e-mail etc.

Until today I had not needed to use the file sharing and when I tried it was not working.

I went through several attempts to rebuild the wireless network and eventually seem to have completed most of it but I am still having problems.

If I go to Start/My Networks Places/View Workgroup Computers I can see both PC's on my desktop but not on the laptop.

If I attempt to access the laptop from the desktop I get a warning message.

********network is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions.

The Network path was not found.

I stumped now, help needed.

Jim.

Dai · 01-04-2010, 22:22

Changing from D-Link to Netgear routers. I'm wondering if the IP group and gateway addresses could have changed. If that's the case then your firewalls could be blocking access.

This sort of thing is almost always a firewall issue.

iadom · 02-04-2010, 11:15

Hmmm, I am running ZoneAlarm Pro, I disabled it completely but the problem still persists.

I'm guessing that it could be the router firewall getting in the way then.

Jon T · 02-04-2010, 11:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by iadom

Hmmm, I am running ZoneAlarm Pro, I disabled it completely but the problem still persists.

I'm guessing that it could be the router firewall getting in the way then.

Not convinced by that, your router firewall will only work on traffic between the WAN and LAN ports, not LAN-LAN.

iadom · 02-04-2010, 13:31

Could some other router settings be causing this? It worked pefectly with the D-Link router.

I have set up a new workgroup with a new name and both PC's report that set up was OK. The desktop can 'see' the laptop but the desktop does not appear in the 'View Workgroup Computers' screen on the laptop.

ZrByte · 02-04-2010, 14:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by iadom

Hmmm, I am running ZoneAlarm Pro, I disabled it completely but the problem still persists.

I'm guessing that it could be the router firewall getting in the way then.

zone alarm needs to be uninstalled rather than disabled. In my experience. I would also try temporarily disabling the windows firewall if it is enabled.
Have tried pinging the desktop from the laptop?

iadom · 02-04-2010, 15:15

I think I have sussed the problem, asked a question on the Netgear forums and someone there suggested pinging between the two PC's.

I was able to ping the Desktop from the laptop but not the other way round.

I only have the free, bog standard Zone Alarm on the laptop and it seems that that is on the blink, when I try to open the GUI it is blank. I will either ditch it or reinstall it. Possibly not really needed behind the router anyway, don't have the Windows firewall enabled on either.

I shutdown Zone Alarm on the laptop and I was then able to ping it and lo and behold could view the folders on it.

Thanks for all the suggestions folks.

Jim.

Mick Fisher · 02-04-2010, 18:52

I have the free outpost firewall running on a laptop that is part of a network and is also behind the routers firewall. I installed it after the network was established and was pleased to note it auto-detected the network and auto-configured itself accordingly.

My desktop runs an old kerio PFW and needed to have a rule to allow "system" manually configured in order to work on the network. I can't remember the exact wording as I am using the laptop to write this.

Whatever you are wise to dump Zone Alarm IMO.

iadom · 02-04-2010, 22:23

TBH I have had very few problems with Zone Alarm Pro, I have used it for many years and although it does help to spend a bit of time configuring it to your needs, once you have done this it chugs away in the background most of the time without causing any problems.

It was the freebie version that seems to have gone t**s up.

Lord Nikon · 02-04-2010, 23:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by iadom

TBH I have had very few problems with Zone Alarm Pro, I have used it for many years and although it does help to spend a bit of time configuring it to your needs, once you have done this it chugs away in the background most of the time without causing any problems.

It was the freebie version that seems to have gone t**s up.

Spoken with the Lips of a Moose.

another worthwhile thing to try is to reset winsock and the TCP/IP system