Home networking, workgroup... (W2K)

[joey0904]

Hi all,
Ok, I bought a new Pc with W2K professional in the hopes of establishing a wireless home network.

I have both "Home Networking for Dummies" and "Windows 2000 Professional for Dummies".

I followed the instructions (which were a bit confusing considering that the books are for DUMMIES, mainly because they discuss all the options for each type of OS within each setup section.)

I have one Pc on the second floor, One on the first and one in the basement (Where the router and cable modem are). It can't be a signal problem because they all get great internet access but something is wrong.

What I mean is this;
- I can use any password (One I dream up at the moment), on any Pc I wish, without getting an error message stating that my password was incorrect?!?!?! (I setup user profiles on the W2K but that doesn't seem to matter.)
- I cannot see other Pc's in my network places nor can I access other printers, drives or folders.

Here is some info:
1- My new Pc is W2K Professional.
2- The other Pc's are all W98SE.
3- I setup user profiles, with passwords, with local paths on the W2K.
4- I selected Client fo Microsoft Networks on all the other pc's.
5- I adjusted the TCP/IP to obtain IP address automatically.
6- I have a cable modem connected to my wireless router. (AP)
7- I have wireless trancievers connected to all the Pc's.
8- I have setup the W2K to use a workgroup as well as the other Pc's
9- I have shared each C drive on each Pc as well as Printers and CDRW's.

What the heck is wrong here....?
What did I miss?
Am I such a Dummie that a book for Dummies is to deep for me?
Please help...

PS: I have Zonealarm Pro installed and I'm using Netgear MA111 wireless adapters with a Netgear MR814 wireless router.

<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by joey0904 on 10/10/03 18:34.</FONT></P>

[Brf]

I havent used Win2K, but on Win98 you have to enable the File-and-Print-Sharing Service on the network page.

[danman72]

You might try shutting down ZoneAlarm on all the PC's to see if that isn't the problem, if it is then you will have to read your manual to figure out the correct settings. -D

[selice]

I had the same problem with network sharing and seeing another computer on network and i fixed this up with netbeui protocol, install it on all pcs you want to share with.

and acces to the pc to w2k from win98... you must set up on win2k users with exactly same name (login name) as are on win98. :)

example: on win98 will be login: "oem" so on win2k have to be user with login name "oem"

[joey0904]

Ok Selice, I will try that as soon as I get home tonight and let you know. Thank you for the tip.

[hammerjammer]

my next book is going to be called: "making money selling -For Dummies books, for dummies"

using the same password on all machines is easy: just set the password the same on all machines!

if you can't see other machines or printers, etc... you probably don't have them on the same workgroup. if your router uses DHCP (which i'm guessing it does) you can http to it (read it's manual) and check it's 'current connections' page to see if each computer is contacting the router. if they're contacting the router correctly, then goto your DOS prompt and type ipconfig /release, ipconfig /renew. if all computers are on the right workgroup, this should make all computers show up in the My Network Places folder. as for printing, unless you have a print server, you'll need to enable file and print sharing on the computer the printer is attached to. if you DO have a print server, you'll need to manually create a new TCP/IP port for the IP address that your router has given to the printer (this is also found on the router's DHCP connections page).

HJ

PS. Zonealarm is crap. uninstall and delete it. i can't imagine it being the problem here, because your network shouldn't be using TCP ports...but wireless is usually stupid, so you never know. best to just get rid of Zonealarm altogether.

[joey0904]

HJ,
This is what is setup:

- Every machine has evey user setup with the same password. (I tried Roaming profiles but counldn't get them to work correctly... yet)

- All Pc's are on the same WorkGroup.

- I have enabled File and Print Sharing on all the Pc's.

- From the W2K machine; I can see everything that is shared on the other Pc's. (As long as they are up and running)

- From any W98 machine; I can see everything on the W2K machine REGARDLESS of share status or permissions for any user.

- I know all the W98 machines are accessing the wireless router (AP) because the Cable modem is connected to the router and we all have internet access. (The router is hardwired to the W2K machine.)

The original issue was that I could type anything into the password box on any W98 Pc and it would let me in and none of the policies on the W2K would apply to the user. (No password validation)
Since that point in time I followed the advise to install NETBUI which has me at a new fork in the road... now, when I start up a W98 pc, I get a network logon screen asking for User, Password and DOMAIN??? (By the way, the domain name displayed is my workgroup name!!! Go figure...)
And when I suppply the appropiate information, I get a message that states that my id could not be validated by the network and I can't get in, to any of them ?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Any ideas?