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theavonlady

Networking/Filesharing/LAN Problems.

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Back from vacation. Just received a spanking new notebook. They must like me here - it's Dell's XPS gaming notebook. P4 3.4Ghz, 1GB RAM, ATI Mobility Radeon 256MB. I seem to get what I ask for smile_o.gif

Is there an easy way to transfer files from one PC to another on a LAN network? Both PCs running WinXP, latest versions.

My big starting problem is that I don't see any other computers when I display "View Workgroup Computers" under XP's Network Connections. Yes, they both have the exact same workgroup name and are connected to the same LAN.

Does this problem have anything to do with sharing options or NETBIOS disablement in XP's network settings?

Help appreciated. TIA! smile_o.gif

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Welcome to the family.

I freaked the entire christmas holidays because I couldnt see other computers around. I guess you are smart enough to disable the stupid firewall and file access restrictions.

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Hi Avon and Albert. I have this same "problem" But since I really haven't needed it I haven't bothered to fix it. It would be nice if some one could help!

What I usually do when I want to transfer big files from one computer to the other is that I log on to Msn Messenger on both computers and send it from one to the other. It goes really fast and Msn seems to support larger (several GB of data)

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Both running XP home or professional?

How are they connected? Both computers to a hub/switch or directly? Direct connect with 100mbit (rj45) is only possible with special crossover cables.

If you don't have any other restrictions regarding the network you can use the MS assistant to set up a network. Else you should make sure both computers are in the same workgroup and in the same subnet, eg use ips 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.2. Obviously TCP/IP protocol has to be installed.

You have to share folders on both computers, sometimes windows does not find computers that are not sharing anything. You may have to setup an account on both computers, ie an account with the same name on both computers.

As already mentioned, firewalls may block the service too. You could check for ports 135-139 (tcp and udp) and port 445 (iirc).

If your network works you can just copy over the ofp folder, export the registry entries for ofp, copy those over too, re-import them and play again.

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Both running XP home or professional?

How are they connected? Both computers to a hub/switch or directly? Direct connect with 100mbit (rj45) is only possible with special crossover cables.

If you don't have any other restrictions regarding the network you can use the MS assistant to set up a network. Else you should make sure both computers are in the same workgroup and in the same subnet, eg use ips 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.2. Obviously TCP/IP protocol has to be installed.

You have to share folders on both computers, sometimes windows does not find computers that are not sharing anything. You may have to setup an account on both computers, ie an account with the same name on both computers.

As already mentioned, firewalls may block the service too. You could check for ports 135-139 (tcp and udp) and port 445 (iirc).

If your network works you can just copy over the ofp folder, export the registry entries for ofp, copy those over too, re-import them and play again.

Hi Benu. I know that I'm partly stealing Avons topic, but anyways..

The way things are set up here is that the internet goes into a router, and then the router shares the internet with the two computers. The two computers also receive local Ip's. I now have two identical account names. All I know is that they are in the same workgroup at least the name displayed is the same. I've also tried sharing a folder or two (I see that sharing hand on the folder). Both computers have software firewalls as well.

Exactly what is it that I should do next?

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Title edited, now it's not just one person's problem thread, thus replying in it isn't stealing the thread. Better that than deciding enough with the tech support threads on these forums I think smile_o.gif

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Both running XP home or professional?

Pro.

Quote[/b] ]How are they connected? Both computers to a hub/switch or directly?

Hub, on a simple LAN.

Quote[/b] ]If you don't have any other restrictions regarding the network you can use the MS assistant to set up a network. Else you should make sure both computers are in the same workgroup and in the same subnet, eg use ips 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.2. Obviously TCP/IP protocol has to be installed.

Same workgroup, subnets, etc.

Quote[/b] ]You have to share folders on both computers, sometimes windows does not find computers that are not sharing anything. You may have to setup an account on both computers, ie an account with the same name on both computers.

Same name? Sounds wrong. But both PCs say computer is shareable and I've allowed sharing of entire C drive on old one and one folder on new.

Quote[/b] ]As already mentioned, firewalls may block the service too. You could check for ports 135-139 (tcp and udp) and port 445 (iirc).

Have Zone Alarm on old PC on max settings. No log messages.

Have Norton Internet Security on the new plus XP's firewall. Set up to allow IP range access for 192.168.1.1 through .20.

Quote[/b] ]

If your network works you can just copy over the ofp folder, export the registry entries for ofp, copy those over too, re-import them and play again.

It's not just OFP but there's plenty of OFP related folders on my PC. FAQ web folders, downloads, etc.

I might have to fall back on a 750MB Zip USB drive. Ugh! sad_o.gif

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OK folks. Just searched MS support knowledge DB. NetBIOS over TCP/IP must be enabled. Be back soon..................

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Working now! See MS KB article 318030.

I also dropped down ZoneAlarm to nothing on the old PC. It was blocking access otherwise.

I can now copy everything! smile_o.gif

Burn to CDs? You gotta be kidding! crazy_o.gif

Thanks all! smile_o.gif

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EDIT : too late it's working.

Yep, burning CD wink_o.gif Imagine a B-747 filled with CD-rom, that's a lot of datas going oversee.

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OK, next headache.

For some files, I get a message "Cannot copy fileName: Access is denied. Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use".

The entire folder has been cleared of any read-only attributes. The files in the folder are not in use. There's a few GB of free disk space on my old PC and more than 90GB on the new one. This happens even with some very small files.

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Check the read-only on the destination drive, not source.

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Check the read-only on the destination drive, not source.

That's not it because it's letting me copy 99% of the files. Just every now and then, one file stops the whole procedure.

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probably a file sharing conflict, then. there was an utility to check which process accessed which file, I don't know if it still exists in XP, or its name sad_o.gif

Try to leave as few running processes as possible, to avoid "invisible" use of a file.

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Hehe, netbios over tcp/ip is the port 445 i mentioned above iirc. Because of that "firewall blocked it but no log entries" do i advise to turn them off for a short test. Also funny, you use exactly the two firewalls i would avoid, especially norton ;)

Check owner and permissions of the file (right-click, properties, security tab). That is why it is best to have one and the same account on both boxes (although this was only really a problem for me when sharing between home and pro).Oh, and btw: if you don't have a security tab you can get it by fiddling with "use simple shares" setting (see here).

SpeedyDonkey: i would try without personal firewalls for one time to make sure they are not the problem. Also, you could try to type a connection like \\computername\sharename into the location bar of the windows explorer or mount a network drive in windows explorer. Windows is sometimes stubborn with network computers, recognising them late (an hour or so after they were added to the network). At work we have some computers trying to connect to servers that are gone for several years and not actively configured/referenced anywhere. Lol, no such problems with unix networking ;)

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Also funny, you use exactly the two firewalls i would avoid, especially norton ;)

What's wrong with them? They're doing just fine. I've been using ZA for years.

Quote[/b] ]

Check owner and permissions of the file (right-click, properties, security tab). That is why it is best to have one and the same account on both boxes (although this was only really a problem for me when sharing between home and pro).Oh, and btw: if you don't have a security tab you can get it by fiddling with "use simple shares" setting (see here).

That will be my next step. ;)

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Disabling "simple file sharing" had no effect on displaying a file's properties and enabling a SECURITY tab. sad_o.gif

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Disabling "simple file sharing" had no effect on displaying a file's properties and enabling a SECURITY tab. sad_o.gif

Close explorer.exe after opening the shared folder(s) on both computers then copy. Reboot explorer via taskmanager after transfer is complete.

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U can call me masohist, but having XP pro i would prefer to configure build-in FTP server on it, or any other free one, and i bet i would take shorter time than setting filesharing.

I had a bit more complicated situation (MAC <-> PC), but in 15 minutes problem was solved.

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Strange things..........................

It could be that this file copy error is only occurring with ZIP type files and then with only a few of them. Some of the ZIPs are old. Some new.

When I open such a problematic ZIP file and update it (add, then delete a file), I can then transfer it.

Checking all of the attributes and file owner info, there is no difference between these problematic files and the vast majority that transfer without a problem the first time.

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