File sharing - how to?

Hello,

I have two laptops that I want to share files between using wireless. One laptop has an ability to set up an ad-hoc network, that the other is able to connect to. They do connect, an IP gets assigned, but there is no way I am able to share files in a simple way by just going to my network places -> etc, etc.

I ran network setup wizards on both computer, and they do seem to recognize each other, although not all the time. Sometimes it takes multiple connection repairs to make that happen. However, even if the computer shows up in the workgroup, I am not able to access it - access denied. File and printer sharing is enabled on both computers, so that is certainly not a problem.

The only way I can share files between the two computers now is by opening a ftp server on one of them. It is simply inconvenient. The simple way of going through my network places does not work.

Any solutions?

Thanks!

 

Can you see both computers in the network browser? Can you right-click on a folder, go to "Sharing and Security" and enable it?

The access denied is most likely because you don't have the same user on the computer you want to connect to as the computer you are connecting from. Make sure you have the same users with the same passwords on both computers, and give those users access to the files you want to share.

 

Sharing and security is enabled on both. Also, on both computers I am logged in with administrator account, there is no passwork for either.

 

Check your firewall settings.

 

What version of XP are you running on each computer?

Here is a sure fire way of getting things to work.

1. Disable the software firewalls, or properly configure them to allow access.
2. Disable simple file sharing.
3. Create identical users on both machines.
4. Share your folders and printers, giving the users whatever access you wish.
5. If one machine is running XP Home, make sure the Guest account is enabled.
6. Remember that you can't share the My Documents folder (or any folder that's under Documents and Settings/username/).

Don't run the wizard - right click on the My Computer icon, and under the Computer Name tab click the Change... button. Make each computer a member of the same workgroup.

Make sure each computer is on the same subnet (ie: 192.168.1.x). From a command prompt, use ipconfig /all and make sure. If you have a router, and each computer is configured to obtain an IP from the router, this should already be set correctly.

I don't think I've forgotten anything. I have a mixture of Pro/Home computers on my workgroup and have no problems sharing files or printers.

 

well thanks kegobeer, looks like problem is solved. I feel quite stupid, actually, that I did not think of it earlier myself. Anyway, as soon as I read it, I realized that both computers had Zone Alarm running on them. The question now is - what settings to put there to make file sharing possible? Thanks!

 

I have ZoneAlarm running on my home network. Configure your Trusted Zone and it should work fine.

 

Assuming you don't know anything to configure your zone alarm and you use a wireless router, follow the steps:

start menu > run > type in "cmd" without the quote, hit enter
command prompt window pop up, type in (without the quote)

"ipconfig /all"

the find on the screen where it says "default gateway"
write down those numbers
it's usually 192.168.1.1, IF you did not change it when you bought it, if you did you would prob know what's coming next.
enter whatever those numbers you got into your internet browser

IF you did not do anything to it out of the box, you will be prompted to enter name and pass
default is
name: admin
pass: <blank> <---don't need a pass, just hit enter
on the menu, find something called: DHCP server and under that is "ip address range"

Now you have obtained the ip range to use for your firewall

open zone alarm
under firewall > zone
down below you will see "add >>" click on it and choose ip range
enter the ip range and give it a name like "home network" or whatever you like, hit apply, your firewall is configured for network access. Repeat that in ever zonealarm on every computer. The ip range is all the same.

hope this helped and sorry if I was being redundant if you know most of the stuff already.