Sharing files and printer on the network :-(

[dwarfer16]

Hi, there are currently two pc's in my house, mine and my sisters, connected to broadband via a Linksys Router and the printer is connected to my sisters pc. They always used to share files fine but then I came to print something the other day and couldn't and I also noticed that I couldn't see any of my sisters shared files and vice versa, it just seems as though the two computers don't see each other! I have tried the Network setup wizard but that just made my internet stop working as it changed all the connection properties! I have also checked that the workgroups are the same for both pcs and they are. Like I said, they used to work fine! Any suggestions would be greatful!

Thanks,

-Craig

[Splash]

I have a tenner sat here (metaphorically at least) that says you have a firewall on one or both PCs that's stopping your file and printer sharing. Test this theory by trying to ping one machine's hostname from the other, then pinging one machine's ip address from the other. If neither work you're pretty much looking at a firewall config issue.

[ash_rm]

Has anything changed on that network? New Router or something? Anti-Virus Software?

Otherwise sounds like a firwall is on one or both of the PC's as Splash says.

If its the Windows firewall and you wish to keep it on, you could add file and printer sharing in the exceptions list.

If you have Norton, Zone Alarm etc check the settings.

[latrosicarius]

Try doing the following on both computers:

Go to START > CONTROL PANEL > NETWORK CONNECTIONS and delete any bridges you see.

Then run the Network Setup Wizard. Select the option "this computer accesses the Internet through another computer on my network" -- or something similar (I forget the exact wording). This "other computer" is, in fact, your router.

Then, as you work through the wizard, pressing Next, you will see an option to "turn on file and printer sharing". Turn it on. Then finish the wizard.

Lastly, go to the WinXP firewall settings (START > CONTROL PANEL > WINDOWS FIREWALL), and tick the checkbox for File and Printer Sharing to allow it as an exception. In fact, you can probably just turn the whole firewall off for the moment as a test, since you are already behind a router with a built-in hardware firewall.