XP ad-hoc wireless network - accessing shared files and printers

I've 2 pcs running XP Pro and each has a wireless card. I've successfully set
up the ad-hoc network on the host and have connected using the client. Each
PC is in a common workgroup.
Now, this may be a stupid question; call it the vagaries of an ageing
pensioner's mind. How do i actually physically "see" and attach the shared
resources that are on the host, at the client. Do I need to set up a "network
place"? If so, how should this be formatted in a mapped drive? Or is there a
simple method that I am just not seeing? My ad-hoc network is simply called
"Clive'sNetwork".
I ultimately want to use the internet connection on the host, from the
client but am having IP issues at the client. I will post a query on this
separately.
All help welcome!!

 

Standard networking advice from MVP Malke below. Take the parts that
apply to you and ignore the rest.

For Internet Connection Sharing, see
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306126
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314066
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308006
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp_ics/

<QUOTE>
File/printer sharing

Excellent, thorough, yet easy to understand article about File/Printer
Sharing in Vista. Includes details about sharing printers as well as
files and folders:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727037.aspx

For XP, start by running the Network Setup Wizard on all machines (see
caveat in Item A below).

Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally
caused by 1) a misconfigured firewall or overlooked firewall (including
a stateful firewall in a VPN); or 2) inadvertently running two firewalls
such as the built-in Windows Firewall and a third-party firewall; and/or
3) not having identical user accounts and passwords on all Workgroup
machines; 4) trying to create shares where the operating system does not
permit it.

A. Configure firewalls on all machines to allow the Local Area Network
(LAN) traffic as trusted. With Windows Firewall, this means allowing
File/Printer Sharing on the Exceptions tab. Normally running the Network
Setup Wizard on XP will take care of this for those machines.The only
"gotcha" is that this will turn on the XPSP2 Windows Firewall. If you
aren't running a third-party firewall or have an antivirus with
"Internet Worm Protection" (like Norton 2006/07) which acts as a
firewall, then you're fine. With third-party firewalls, I usually
configure the LAN allowance with an IP range. Ex. would be
192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you would substitute your correct
subnet. Do not run more than one firewall. DO NOT TURN OFF FIREWALLS;
CONFIGURE THEM CORRECTLY.

B. For ease of organization, put all computers in the same Workgroup.
This is done from the System applet in Control Panel, Computer Name tab.

C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. You do
not need to be logged into the same account on all machines and the
passwords assigned to each user account can be different; the
accounts/passwords just need to exist and match on all machines. DO NOT
NEGLECT TO CREATE PASSWORDS, EVEN IF ONLY SIMPLE ONES. If you wish a
machine to boot directly to the Desktop (into one particular user's
account) for convenience, you can do this. The instructions at this link
work for both XP and Vista:

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

D. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab).

E. Create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users'
home directories or Program Files, but you can share folders inside
those directories. A better choice is to simply use the Shared Documents
folder. See the first link above for details about Vista sharing.

F. After you have file sharing working (and have tested this by
exchanging a file between all machines), if you want to share a printer
connected locally to one of your computers, share it out from that
machine. Then go to the printer mftr.'s website and download the latest
drivers for the correct operating system(s). Install them on the target
machine(s). The printer should be seen during the installation routine.
If it is not, install the drivers and then use the Add Printer Wizard.
In some instances, certain printers need to be installed as Local
printers but that is outside of this response.
</QUOTE>

 

Lem,
I'm sorry but this is too confusing for my 65 year old mind. Your Point F
"after you have etc"; this is my problem. How do I actually access the shared
files at the client? I have file sharing set on and the printer I need is
also set as shared. But how do I actually get at them? I have the same
workgroup etc and have been suceessful in setting up the wireless network and
attached to it from the client. I just need to know how to be able to "see"
the shared files and open them from the client.

 

Hey, I'm over 64.

If you've actually indicated that a *folder* (not file) is to be shared,
then on the computer where the folder actually resides, you should see
(in Windows Explorer) that its icon has a hand under it. See, e.g.
http://wcts.whitman.edu/whit.bits/october2002/WindowsFileSharing/shared.html

The way you made (make) that happen was by right clicking on the folder
(again, in Windows Explorer), clicking on the Sharing tab, and giving
the folder a "share name" (try to keep it under 12 letters/numbers long,
no spaces, no special chars). This is what step E means by "Create
shares as desired."

Then, on the *other* computer, you should be able to access the shared
folder in a variety of ways. The folder *may* ("should") show up in My
Network Places. Although MNP works most of the time, it can have
problems, and it may take 10 or 15 minutes after both computers are
actually connected to the network for the icons to show up. You can
sometimes speed things up by the following: In My Network Places, click
on "View workgroup computers" in the left pane. Then double click on the
icon for the "remote" computer and its shared folders ought to show up.

A simpler, more reliable method is to access the remote folder directly.
First you need to know the computer name of the remote computer. If you
don't recall it, right click "My Computer" and select properties. Then
click the "Computer Name" tab. What you're looking for is the "Full
computer name." Let's suppose that the remote computer is named "Clive2"
and you want to open a folder that you've shared under the name "CDocs".

Go to Start > Run and type
\\Clive2\CDocs [click OK]

and the folder should open in a Windows Explorer window.

There are other methods. (In Windows, there are probably at least 3
different ways to do anything).

Sharing printers is similar, but there can be some idiosyncrasies, so
why don't we stop here and see how you do. If you get any error
messages, please quote them verbatim.

 

Hi
In addition when a folder is shared correctly you can "Map" a Share as an
additional Drive on another computer and then it would appear in Windows
Explorer as an additional Drive.
Here is a little more on the issue, http://www.ezlan.net/sharing.html#map
Jack (MS, MVP-Networking).

 

Lem,

Fair play to you! I'm glad there are still some ageing hippies around.

The mote has been cleared from my eyes; I have made contact beautifully with
the host shared folders, from the client and am ecstatic! Thank you.

On the issue of using the Internet Connection on the host, are there some
special settings I need to make on the client Internet Explorer? On simply
trying to access a web page from the client with the standard settings, I get
the usual "web page not found". So I presume I'm just not getting to the
connection. Are there possible issues with IP address settings?
Many thanks for your very clear help

 

Thanks Jack,

All is now well with the file access; I've done as you suggest and mapped
the folders that I need. I'm ecstatic!

 

The problem *may* lie in the manner in which you initially set up the
ad-hoc connection (use a router is *so* much easier and safer). The
first thing to check is the IP address assigned to the *client* computer.

On the client computer, open a Command Prompt window:
(Start>Run cmd [enter])

In the Command Prompt window that opens, type
ipconfig [enter]

Your IP address should be 192.168.0.x. If it instead has the form
169.254.x.y, you have not configured Internet Connection Sharing. See
the links in my earlier post, repeated here:

For Internet Connection Sharing, see
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306126
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314066
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308006
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp_ics/

These articles also have some troubleshooting help.

 

Hi
Glad you solve it. Mapping Drives is one of the great solutions for working
over LAN .
Jack (MS, MVP-Networking)

 

Lem,

'fraid I hit a brick wall here.

MS Article 306126 tellms me I should se this message when I add ICS to my
internet gateway.
"When Internet Connection Sharing is enabled, your LAN adapter will be set
to use IP
address 192.168.0.1. Your computer may lose connectivity with other
computers on
your network. If these other computers have static IP addresses, it is a
good idea to set them
to obtain their IP addresses automatically. Are you sure you want to enable
Internet
Connection Sharing?"

I don't see this; and of course my IP is not set as suggested; it is 169.254
128.25.

I am using a 3G Card, a USB modem that I have always on. Should this make a
difference.
I have tried forcing the IP addresses to be in the 168 range but lose
connectivity to the host when I do that; so I've returned to auto selection.
I have been unable to ping the host at all using 168's.

I now have both computers set to auto IP; I can connect to the wireless
network no problem and have access to all the shared folders and drives.

I just can't seem to get the ICS working.

 

Forcing the IP address (on either computer) will not work. ICS does
several things on the "main" or "host" computer in addition to setting
the IP address.

See if the suggestions here help: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308006/

Or, read a few of the pages starting with
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp_ics/

and use the Network Setup Wizard.
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp_ics/networksetupwiz.htm
(Don't get confused by the screen shots that apply to earlier versions
of Windows; after starting the Wizard, skip down the page until "The
Wizard's Welcome screen then appears. Click Next to continue.")