I cant access my home network workgroup... Please help!?

Question

I've been trying to share files between two computers that I have connected together through a router. However, when I try to access the workgroup on one of the computers I keep getting the error "Mshome is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions. The list of servers for this workgroup is not currently available."

I have run the network setup wizard on both computers. Each computer has a different name, and the same workgroup. Only one gives me the error message but the other one shows a blank screen when I try to access the workgroup.

I've also gone into TCP/IP settings and set IP addresses that correspond to the router I have. i.e. the router is 156.167.0.1, the first pc is 156.167.0.2, and the second is 156.167.0.3. When I ping using run/cmd I get responses from the router and the other computer.

I don't know what else to try, but I appreciate any help.

Answer 1

Windows file sharing can be a bit temperamental at times. What helped me to sort out this issue in the past was to have an account on the computer you are trying to access, with the same name as the one on the computer you are trying to access it from.



Ie. If you are working as Bob on computer A and want to login to computer B over the network so as to access files there, then you also need an account on computer B called Bob, with the same password and permissions as the account on computer B.



Other than that, try powering down the computers and switching them on in the order in which you want to use them. The first computer online will then consider itself the so-called master browser.



Woiuld be glad to know if this works. Good luck.



P.S. As RAS D says, the first thing to check is any third party firewall you have running on either computer.

Answer 2

First, I am a bit puzzeld about the IP addresses. LAN IP addresses should be non-routeable ones and you are using static routeable ones. I suspect this has a lot to do with your problems.



The router WAN port should be set for a dyanmic public IP address if you have a dynanamic IP address from your ISP. If you have a static IP address (and subnet mask, default gateway, and DNS addresses as well) provided by your ISP, then you configure the WAN port of the router for a static public IP address and enter these addresses in their respective places.



The router LAN or Private IP addresses are different. Usually for home grade routers, they are defaulted to a 192.168.0.0 /24 or 192.168.1.1 / 24 subnet. Most of the time the router address will be 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 as your router manual directs. These are non-routeable IP addresses which you want on the LAN side. You can allow the router to assign LAN IP addresses via Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) as well which means you do not need to assign static IP addresses to LAN pcs. I suggest you do this. I recommend that you reset your router as directed by your router manual and set up this way.



Now, once this is done and from each pc you can ping the default gateway (router actually) successfully and access the Internet, let's focus on sharing files among LAN pcs.



Let's say you have 2 pcs (the actual number is not critical but I am trying to make a simple example), called pc A and pc B. Let's say you wish to access a directory (folder) along with its subdirectories (subfolders) in pc A, c directory, called "data" by pc B. From pc A, open Windows Explorer, right click on the c:\Data directory and click on the sharing option and follow prompts and invoke sharing for subdirectories as weall.



Now from pc B, with windows explorer, map a network drive (Tools, map a network drive) to pcA, c:\data directory drive, and check the reconnect at log on box). You may be prompted to provide a user name and password for pc A; if so fill it in.



Now you should be able to see c:\data of pcA in windows explorer of pcB. You can even put a short cut on desktop of pcB from pcB Windows Explorer to link to c:\data of pcA if you want.

Answer 3

have you unblocked the firewall you do that by going to the widows security and also check your anti virus ( both security areas should be allowed to connect.)