Networking XP Home and Windows 2000

I used to own a computer with XP Pro. I had no problems creating a home
network and sharing files and printers.

Now, I have an eMachine with XP Home and I can no longer see the other
computer on my network. Both machines have the same "workgroup" name but they
just can't see each other. Everything is the same except the OS. On the XP
computer it sends me a message saying I don't have the authorization to view
other computers on the network.

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John K wrote:

> I used to own a computer with XP Pro. I had no problems creating a
> home network and sharing files and printers.
>
> Now, I have an eMachine with XP Home and I can no longer see the other
> computer on my network. Both machines have the same "workgroup" name
> but they
> just can't see each other. Everything is the same except the OS. On
> the XP computer it sends me a message saying I don't have the
> authorization to view other computers on the network.

XP Home can only do "simple sharing" which is authenticating as guest.
Win2k doesn't do this (sensibly). My Win2k box is turned off now so I
can't check, but IIRC guest is disabled by default (which is what you
want anyway). Make an identical user account and password on the Win2k
box that matches the one(s) on the XP Home box. Don't use a blank
password. You can always log in automatically if you want that
convenience (see links below). This will allow the Win2k box to
authenticate the XP user as someone permitted to access its resources.

Also, remember that XP SP2 automatically uses the Windows Firewall. Make
sure you've set File & Printer Sharing and that you don't have any
other third-party firewalls (or if you do, that WF is off). Beware of
tricky apps like Norton Antivirus which has "Internet Worm Protection",
a firewall. Having the IWP enabled along with WF is no good - disable
IWP.

How to automatically log on to a user account in Windows XP -
http://support.microsoft.com/default...282866&sd=tech

Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm

If you still are having problems after making the user changes and
checking firewalls, here is an excellent network troubleshooter by MVP
Hans Georg Michna. If you take the time to go through it, it will
usually pinpoint the problem area(s).

http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Malke