Cannot get Dimension on home network

Question

I have a Dimension and a Inspirion, both using Windows XP Home Edition.  I recently purchased a Linksys WRT54G Wireless Router and a Linksys WPC54G card for the Inspirion.  My goal is to share my internet connection and to share files on the two computers and use a printer connected to the Dimension.  I hooked up using instructions from Linksys: Dimension to router to cable modem, and installed the card in the Inspirion.  Internet connectivity works fine from both computers.  The Inspirion connects with the router through a wireless network 123.  OK so far.   I then tried to connect the two computers to a network to share files and my printer.  I called this network (Workgroup) 456 and tried to use the Network Wizard to install.  Worked fine on the Inspiron and is visible in My Network Places on that machine.  I cannot connect on the Dimension however, even though I can see the network when I look through My Computer to Network Places.  I receive message saying that 456 is not accessible.  I might not have permission to use and to check with the network administrator.  List of servers for this workgroup is currently unavailable.   To be clear, I used secure names instead of the bold example numbers I used for the network numbers in my explanation above.  I do not believe that this is a duplicate name problem, but it is probably something very simple.  Any help anyone can give me as to how to connect the Dimension to the network and share files between computers and my printer would be greatly appreciated.  Linksys was not very helpful on this problem relative to why I can't connect my Dimension. Thank you.

volcano11 · Answer

The most common cause of problems like this is an improperly configured firewall.  On any computer running Windows XP with SP1, disable the Windows XP firewall. It will not allow File and Printer Sharing. On computers running Windows XP with SP2, make sure that the Windows XP firewall has File and Printer Sharing checked off on the Exceptions tab. If you are running any third party firewalls, like those provided by such programs as Zone Alarm, Norton Internet Security, or McAfee Security Center, make sure they are configured to allow local network traffic.   Steve

babblishu · Answer

Yes I had got this problem too.I think you can disable the firewalls of operation systems and third parties at first . Remember : Don't link to Internet when you do this, it is not safety :smileywink:   then try the Network wizzard again , if it can worked  .  Able the third parties at first , check again .   then you can got the answer. where is the problem.

jmwills · Answer

If at all possible , STAY AWAY from the network wizard and setup the connection manually.  One wrong turn inside the wizard and you are toast.

dansatria · Answer

>> I then tried to connect the two computers to a network to share files and my printer

Are you trying to connect your Dimension and Inspiron to your Wireless Router and then try to connect your Wireless Router to another network?

If that's the case, you need to connect your Wireless Router to the other network using cross-over cable. You'll need to connect one end of the cross over cable to the regular port (not the uplink) on your Wireless Router, and you need to turn off DHCP server on your Wireless Router. In that case, both your Dimension and Inspiron will get the IP address from the other network.

lostore · Answer

Advice was very helpful and I was able to connect the Dimension into the network. Problem seems to have been the firewall confi within Norton Security. One remaining problem now is that I can't print on the printer wired to the Dimension over the network. I can see files in the shared folder from the other computer, but I can't successfully print directly from the laptop. Print job is sent ok, but it never gets there and I get an error message. I have enabled file sharing on the network within Norton. Any suggestions ?

Thank you.

lostore

dansatria · Answer

Your Inspiron may have a wrong 'memory' of the path to the printer.  I suggest that you reboot your Inspiron, delete all printers, re-AddPrinter of the Dimension's printer and try again. Another thing is to check whether the userid (& password) you use to login into your Inspiron is also listed on the Dimension.

jmwills · Answer

On the machine the printer is physically connected to, you need to "Share the Printer". On the machine you are trying to connect the rpinter to:

Add a Network Printer named \\DellComputer\mysharedprinter where Dell computer is the name of the computer where the printer is connected and "My Shared Printer" is the Share name for the printer.

lostore · Answer

That worked for me.  Many thanks. lostore

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

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