We just purchased a new desktop and laptop from Dell. We already had another desktop. All computers are running Windows XP. We have a wireless connection and previously have used the desktop and 2 other laptops to share files and a printer. With the new desktop it networked fine but we can't get the laptop to access the network. However, if I go to the 2 desktops the laptop (and the desktops) shows up in the workgroup. I have ran the network wizard on the laptop (and the desktops) several times. I tried to restart after running the wizard and still have not had any luck getting it to work. Can anyone offer any advice? Margaret

I am kind of confused from the report. If you can see all systems in network neighborhood then you can be sure all the hard part is done. Your solution seems to be permissions or shares. Are they all xp pro or home? Home is kind of goofy as to how it decides permissions sometimes. Do you have all systems with a firewall and is the firewall set to allow file and print sharing? Do you have something shared on the laptop? Can you repost your issue to a more simple statement to just one system can or can not connect to another? Seems I can't count how many computers you have still. As a side note you are running kind of a risk unless you are running secure wireless as well as best pracices on your shares and file permissions. I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you goober.

Thank you for your response, I apologize that it was not very clear. To answer your questions, we have the 2 desktops (one old and one new) and the new laptop (which is what I'm having issues with). They are all running Win XP home edition. I can see the laptop on the workgroup if I check it from either desktop, but I cannot check (it says that I don't have permission to access the network)the workgroup on the laptop. I tend to be a plug and go type person, I usually do mess with much. The firewall is set up but I have no idea as to what to do to it. However it is set up from the factory is how it is set up now. It's odd because we didn't change any settings of the new desktop and it is fine. I hope that this is a little clearer than the first message. Thanks! Margaret

To simplify the problem solving process, I would suggest you disable firewall on desktop and labtop TEMPORARY (enable them with file sharing allowed after solving the problem). 1) Make sure you've enabled "File and Printer sharing for Micorsoft Networks" on network card's TCP/IP setting on desktop and labtop. 2) If you are using XP home, you can only do Simple File Sharing, so you should not face user/group permission problem. Only on XP pro we can set file/folder sharing with user/group permissions. 1) Simple file sharing in Windows XP: http://www.home-network-help.com/fi... 2)File sharing with user/group permissions in Windows XP: http://www.home-network-help.com/sh... Hope this helps.. :o)

Well the problem is fixed. I don't really know exactly what did it but I disabled the firewall and did a couple of others things and it worked. Thanks for the help guys! Margaret

Sounds like your problem was the firewall was misconfigured. Sorry to say, unless you're behind a router and have wireless security set up you're vulnerable to hacking now. As the typical time for a hacking attempt is on the order of milliseconds these days (broadband access), you really should do something about that. First, enable wireless security on your LAN. This is not all that hard: run the Wireless Networking Wizard and choose WPA encryption. Don't use WEP encryption; WEP is obsolete and easily hacked. If you have a router you're almost done. Change the default password on the router to something you can remember (or just write it down and keep it safe). If you're using ICS and a host PC to connect to the Internet you'll only need the XP firewall enabled on that PC - just configured properly to run from a host PC. Again, if you're using a router you don't need to enable the XP firewall at all. You can enable the XP firewall on your client PCs but it's kind of a waste of resources because this doesn't provide any more security than the router does. Only a 3rd-party software firewall that scans both incoming and outgoing packets for suspicious traffic makes sense on a client.