Network setup software...?

[pmccarthy002]

Hello all,

I just got Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, and finally I have a a 64-bit operating system on this 4-5 year HP Pavilion(!) Actually, lots of questions, but I want to start off with one which isn't exclusively a Windows 7 issue...

I, like I think with many people, have had a lot of trouble trying to access files, folders, and drives on other computers on my home network for years now. Right now, the current frustration is trying to access a new WD 3TB USB drive one of my the computers on my home network... Before you say it, yes, if I had more money, having a network capable drive would be better, as would be buying a new router which had a USB port... however, I just don't have a lot of money right now.

I'm not a newbie to computers... I've had similar problems trying to access files, folders on a Windows ME computer on the home network... Instead of asking anyone to go through this, that, or what not, much of which I've probably already tried(!), I'm wondering if anyone knows of some software (preferably free!) that can help make all the resources I want accessible on the network accessible. It seems this would be a great idea as this seems to have become a real pain in the neck in the last several years(!)

Thanks,

Paul McCarthy
pmccarthy002@nc.rr.com
pmccarthy002@gmail.com

 

[JackNaylorPE]

All the software you need is part of windows.

Why would you put a new OS on an old system ? The "new" setup will be waaaaayyyyyy slower than it was under the old OS.

Accessing HD's greater than 2.19 TB is a problem. Read this:

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2373702,00.asp

To solve it, well if you have an Asus MoBo, read this:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Disk-Unlocker-GUID-Partition-Table-Extensive-Firmware-Interface-HDD,11553.html
http://event.asus.com/mb/2010/Disk_Unlocker/

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

http://www.purenetworks.com/download/

try the trial it is good software!

 

[pmccarthy002]

All the software you need is part of windows.

Why would you put a new OS on an old system ? The "new" setup will be waaaaayyyyyy slower than it was under the old OS.

Accessing HD's greater than 2.19 TB is a problem. Read this:

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2373702,00.asp

To solve it, well if you have an Asus MoBo, read this:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Disk-Unlocker-GUID-Partition-Table-Extensive-Firmware-Interface-HDD,11553.html
http://event.asus.com/mb/2010/Disk_Unlocker/

Hello Jack,

Thanks for your response.

I wasn't even aware of this issue... well, I think perhaps I have heard something about it... The Windows XP machine that the new WD 3TB drive is connected to doesn't have any problem accessing it. The drive came already formatted with NTFS.

Whether or not the XP machine can actually access the whole 3TB drive... I guess I don't really know. As I said, however, I haven't had any issue so far. The current issue is accessing the WD drive over the network. In fact, in particular, accessing it from the computer which I just installed Windows 7 on.

As far as the performance of the computer which has just been upgraded to Windows 7... actually, its performance is much better than it's ever been. In general, there's probably much truth to what you're saying... However, in this case, this HP Pavilion m7470n had 32-bit Windows Media Center installed on it, although it is a 64-bit machine. Perhaps because I now have a 64-bit operating system it seems to run a lot faster.

My sister gave me Windows 7 Ultimate for Christmas. I agree that buying a new machine would be the best thing... again, under otherwise nominal circumstances. However, I don't have a lot of money right now, and of my 3 desktop systems, the m7470n is the best candidate for upgrading to Windows 7. My other two desktops are also HP Pavilions... one has Windows ME on it and I don't think I could install Windows 7 on that, and with the other one, an a230n, its graphics card couldn't even run Aero according to the upgrade advisor... so,...

I agree that getting a new machine to host Windows 7 would ideally be the way to go, but I just don't have the money for that right now, and I do have Windows 7, which I got as a Christmas gift...

The problem hasn't, at least as yet, involved accessing the 3TB drive over the 2.2. limit... it's just all getting the permissions set correctly, perhaps making registry changes, etc. that'll reliably allow the other computers on the network, particularly the Windows 7 machine, to access the WD drive. And it's definitely a Windows problem... I used a bootable Acronis True Image CD to get my important files off of a corrupted main partition on the m7470n and sent them to the a230n over the network in preparation for wiping the corrupted main partition and installing Windows 7.

It's a Windows networking headache. I've had all kinds of problems reliably accessing the Windows ME machine over the network too(!) Actually, I have a BS in computer science, an A+, an MCP, and other certs... so, I have some idea of what I'm supposed to doing, and perhaps it's largely that I just don't have the patience for this sort of thing, but, at least to me, changes in the last several years seem to have made this an annoyingly complicated task.

Take care,

Paul

 

[pmccarthy002]

Hello all,

I just got Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, and finally I have a a 64-bit operating system on this 4-5 year HP Pavilion(!) Actually, lots of questions, but I want to start off with one which isn't exclusively a Windows 7 issue...

I, like I think with many people, have had a lot of trouble trying to access files, folders, and drives on other computers on my home network for years now. Right now, the current frustration is trying to access a new WD 3TB USB drive one of my the computers on my home network... Before you say it, yes, if I had more money, having a network capable drive would be better, as would be buying a new router which had a USB port... however, I just don't have a lot of money right now.

I'm not a newbie to computers... I've had similar problems trying to access files, folders on a Windows ME computer on the home network... Instead of asking anyone to go through this, that, or what not, much of which I've probably already tried(!), I'm wondering if anyone knows of some software (preferably free!) that can help make all the resources I want accessible on the network accessible. It seems this would be a great idea as this seems to have become a real pain in the neck in the last several years(!)

Thanks,

Paul McCarthy
pmccarthy002@nc.rr.com
pmccarthy002@gmail.com

Hello again all,

It appears the problem may now be solved...

I had read about the IRPStackSize thing in the registry, but the first thread I read about it online just said to set it to 15 (decimal) and things should work... but, it didn't work for me, so I just moved on to try other things.

However, I just found a thread which suggested that setting the IRPStackSize higher might make it work when having IRPStackSize set to 15 would still not make things work. I set IRPStackSize to 18 (decimal) and now the host computer allows access to the external hard drive.

Again, I appreciate your replies.

Take care,

Paul

 

[Snipergod87]

Some programs like Acronis True Image home has been known to change the IRPStackSize breaking network shares. I believe it has to be set to higher than 15 for it to work, as you mentioned. I dont know why programs do this but it is a PITA.