impossible to access shared folders from a dell computer

Question

Hello,
We are using a small network made of 12 pc's. Some are DELL's, some are not. I only have trouble with the DELL's and only if they are installed from the orginals Win XP CD's from DELL. The trouble is : impossible to access to the shared folders on the network. I can see them but no autorisation to access. If I use another machine, no problem. Is there anything special with default Dell network configuration ?

Thank you

volcano11 · Answer

The most common reason for this is firewall settings.   Have you either disabled the Windows XP firewall (if you have SP1), placed file and printer sharing in the exceptions list of the Windows XP firewall (if you have SP2), or configured any third party firewalls to allow local network connections? Steve

volcano11 · Answer

Dell installs standard Windows with the standard Windows defaults.  It is no different than the network setup on any other computer.  The only time I have ever encountered this problem on the hundreds of Dell computers I have set up, is if the Windows built in firewall has either not been disabled or the user has failed to remember that Zone Alarm, Norton Internet Security, or McAfee Security Suite also contains a firewall that needs to be configured.   Steve

jmwills · Answer

Are the trouble PC's running XP Professional or XP Home?

maxchampion · Answer

thanks for your quick answer but unfortunetely, there is no firewall running on the PC's. One of the 4 Dell's we own has been reinstalled recently without the original CD from DELL but with an origianl XP CD from Microsoft and the machine works fine. I'm really going crazy with this. I'm sure there is something on the default setting in Dell's Windows CD installer...

maxchampion · Answer

the computers are running Win XP Home SP2

jmwills · Answer

The limit on XP Home computers joining a network is five (5).  That means a total of five machines, not just XP Home machines.

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impossible to access shared folders from a dell computer

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