Hi

I have a home network system established with 4 computers connected to an ADSL mdem router. All computers are running Windows XP.

The networking was running fine until the other day when I installed a USB external hard drive to one of the computers. The hard drive was taken from one of the older computers and already had Windows XP installed on it. I was trying to get the external hard drive to work as a dual boot, but this project failed, so now I can only access the external drive through my computer on the PC attached to the USB hard drive.

But since doing this, I have been unable to access any of the files through the network on the computer with the external hard drive attached to it. I can access all drives and files to the other computers in the network from the computer attached to the external hard drive but not the other way, so it's one way traffic only. I get that administrator priviledge error message.

Even when I turn off the external USB hard drive, thinking that drive was causing the problem, I am still unable to access the C: drive and files through the network, even though priviledge has been granted to access the drive through the network.

So, I am not sure if the new external hard drive with it's own operating system and firewall and antivirus program has caused the networking problem or not. I have checked all my settings, cables and everything looks good, as I said, it seems the problem started when I connected the external USB hard drive. I am not sure if this drive with it's own IP address has caused the problem, as I have exhausted all avenues I know, and now need some help in resolving this matter.

Regards

Stephen

Re: unable to read drives in networking

Check the sharing settings on the drives - My Computer - Sharing and Security. Sounds like sharing has been disabled. (re)Run the network setup wizard. Sometimes this will fix issues without making any obvious changes.

Chris B

Re: unable to read drives in networking

Chris

Thanks for your reply, I have run the network wizard around 10 or more times, and this has not helped the problem. All options to allow the drives and files to be accessed on the network have been enabled. The Windows firewall has been turned off. I have exhausted all my known possible causes for this problem. I am really at a loss to understand what is causing this problem. All the computers on the network can access all the drives and files on all the other computers on the network except the PC with the external hard drive.

All the sharing faciltities on the problem PC are set up exactly the same as all the other computers, so that's why I am at a loss to understand what has gone wrong, the only variable being the addition of the external hard drive with it's own operating system.

Regards

Stephen

Re: unable to read drives in networking

Lets work through it then. Where are the PC's getting their IP addresses from? Presumably the internet PC has ICS enabled which is doing the job. Try pinging the main PC from the affected unit - ping 192.168.0.1. What result?

If it fails, what happens if you apply a static address (eg 192.168.0.20) to the problematic unit. Can you ping now?

Chris B

Re: unable to read drives in networking

Chris

The main computer with the adsl connection is the PC that is causing the problem. This PC has a static IP address of 192.168.1.101. I was able to ping this PC from one of the other computers on the network without any problem. I was also able to ping back from the problem PC to one of the other computers on the network with a static IP address without a problem.

The problem PC did have a obtain ip address automatically, but I changed it to a static address after having the network problem.

What do you suggest next?

Regards

Stephen

Re: unable to read drives in networking

I had the same problem. Remove and re-apply permissions on all shares, that is in the properties of each shared folder in the sharing tab uncheck "Share this folder on the network", reboot and then do the opposite and check the Share check box. This happened to me when I added a new internal sata drive but doing this seemed to fix the problem.

Hope this helps!

Cheers Erik

Re: unable to read drives in networking

How are you networking - if it is a 4 port speedtouch you are using, press the reset button on the modem and set it up again. You must have your adsl password if you do this as this will reset the modem to factory default. Once this is done, the pcs should pick up an ip correctly. However, given the odd 192.168.1.101 address, it seems you are using a hub / switch of some sort. Has the main pc got 2 network cards, or are you connecting the adsl via USB? (This is much easier if i can see it - such is life). Please describe each connection/computer and your modem in detail.

Chris B

Re: unable to read drives in networking

Erik

I did what you suggested and some odd things happened. When I unchecked all the boxes to allow access to a particular drive or partition and rebooted the PC, the windows icons in network places on the other PC in the network where still showing the "c" drive and "e, f and g drives( I have the hard drive partitioned) even though these drives where disable for network view, I thought the icons would disappear.So I manually deleted all the icons relating to these drives, then I went and checked all the drives again to allow network access to the " c, e, f, and g drives" and went back to the other PC and to network places and a new icon appeared for the "c" drive, but no icons appeared for the "e, f and g icons", also I was still not allowed network access to the "c" drive.

I rebooted both machines, and still no network icons appeared on the other PC to allow me into the "e, f and g drives" and still no network access to the "c" drive.

Any further suggestions?

Regards

Stephen

Re: unable to read drives in networking

Chris

I have a Netcomm NB1300 Plus 4 ethernet/usb adsl modem router with intergrated router & 10/100 4 port switch.

2 of the computers on the network have auto IP address allocation and the main PC connected to the internet(the one which can't be accessed through the network) and one of the other computers have fixed IP address's due to running a bit torrent program on these computers, which need a fixed IP address for port forwarding.

All the computers can connect to the internet without any problems with this set up.

Hope this info can be of help.

Regards

Stephen

Re: unable to read drives in networking

A few items to look at. They tell you that you need fixed addresses for port forwarding to work, but it ain't so. If you use DHCP an address will be allocated, but once this is done, unless you make configuration changes, it won't change, and this avoids several issues. Set the bitcomet pc to auto, reboot and check the IP by opening a command prompt and typing ipconfig. Change the routers default server address to suit if it is different to the fixed address. When using DHCP, the default gateway will be allocated automatically, fixed it won't. If you want to try leaving the addresses fixed, do an ipconfig on one of the DHCP machines, note the default gateway address and add it to the fixed machines. This alone may sort out your issue. Let me know how it goes...

Enjoy

Chris B