local network pc connection problem

[WilliamT]

I have a WinXP machine trying to connect to a Win2k machine. Both are configured to obtain a dynamic IP and DNS.

Both are linked through a Linksys router with DHCP enabled.

Win2k has no problems connecting to WinXP . It can see the Win XP's shared folders and can access them.

WinXP machine is unable to see the Win2k machine. I tried to ping from WinXP to Win2k and it times out.

Looking at the DHCP table, both machines have been assigned an IP address and I confirmed the IP address using ipconfig on each machine.

I am running the network as a workgroup and confirmed that both have the same workgroup name and the same subnet mask.

Win2k machine runs ZoneAlarm Free Edition (ZA). I looked at the logs and it looked like ZoneAlarm was blocking calls from the router and WinXP machine. I updated ZA to include a Trusted IP range from ( 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.255 ) to see if that would fix it. It didn't. In the end, I ended up uninstalling ZA so the Win2k machine no longer has a firewall. I rebooted the Win2k machine.

The problem still exists. WinXP can't see Win2k machine but Win2k machine can see and access the WinXP machine.

I then installed VMWare Workstation running Win2k The VM System ethernet is setup as a bridge so the VM Win2k gets its own IP from the DHCP server. The VM Win2k has no problems accessing WinXP AND WinXP has no problems accessing the VM Win2k.

I thought it was the router so I removed the router and gave each machine a static IP address and connected them through a switch. I still have the same problem.

I swapped out the ethernet cables and still have the same problem.

Any ideas on why the WinXP machine can't see my Win2k machine? I've been working on this for a few days and I'm running out of ideas.

thanks,
William

 

[evongugg]

Like you say, disable the firewalls on both machines temporarily.
Make sure folders or hard drives are shared on both machines and permissions are set for a user to access.
See if you can ping both ways.
Windows XP has a built-in firewall. Is that on?

 

[WilliamT]

I also need to mention that my WinXP machine has 2 local connection entries but the machine has 1 network card.

The first connection holds the dynamic IP obtained through my router.

The other local connection was created to connect to work through a VPN connection and is disabled by default.

Before upgrading to XP, both Win2k machines had no problems communicating to one another.

I turned off the XP firewall, rebooted and the problem is still there.

I tried running the XP Network Setup Wizard and that ran through fine. It said that I need to run the same setup on all my other machines. When I tried to run it on my Win2k machine, it say that the setup is only for WinME or other WinXP machine. I'm guessing this may be part of the problem since I don't know what the Wizard did on this box.

I also read that XP automatically setups a bridge network if it detects two or more devices. There is suppose to be a patch to fix this problem. Would that cause the problem that I'm seeing. (i.e. not being able to see other machines).

NOTE: The WinXP machine has no problem pinging the router.

I also thought that maybe the DNS didn't recognize my local IP addresses so I updated the hosts file in Winnt\system32\drivers\etc\hosts since that is accessed before going to the DNS. That did allow me to see the Win2k machine from my WinXP but nothing else.

 

[evongugg]

Check in Device Manager if there is a problem with network interface card driver.
Can we see the line you added to the hosts file?
When you setup the network, did you set it up to connect through a home gateway?
Make sure both computers have a network ID. Right click on my computer. They also must be both in the same Workgroup.

 

[WilliamT]

I think I remember checking the NIC under Device manager and there didn't seem to be any conflicts.

The host file entries I removed because it didn't fix the problem. It basically had an entry to map my Win2k machine

Win2k 192.168.1.101

When I did this, I made sure the DHCP server always mapped xxx.xxx.xxx.101 to the Win2k box using its MAC address as identification.

On the router, I have it setup work as a router and not as a gateway. Its the only router on a network of 2 machines.

I believe the router also has a firewall, but I haven't turned that off yet. I suspect that may not be the problem otherwise my Win2k machine wouldn't be able to see my WinXP machine.

I suspect it a problem with my WinXP setup somewhere.

 

[evongugg]

Rerun the setup of the network in Windows XP, make sure you select to connect through a home internet gateway.

 

[WilliamT]

I'll check that.

I also found this...

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/823305/en-us

I'm going to try that tonight too.

Update:

I decided to shutdown both machines and reset the router.

I found out that my router has a diagnostics tool to ping a machine so I pinged the Win2k machine and that failed. If the Win2k was able to obtain an IP address from the router, then the Win2k must be blocking my ping.

I pull the Win2k off the network and added another Win2k machine on the network. That one had the same problem with the router ping request. I turned off ZoneAlarm on this second Win2k machine and the router ping was working now. The WinXP ping was now working against the second machine.

I hoping that the first Win2k machine will be accessible once I reconnect it to the network with my resetted router without Zone Alarm.

Thanks for the help.
William