Can't Share Laptop on Network

Category: Quickies

Q:

I can't get my laptop to share properly on my home network even though I have both the C: drive and the My Documents folder on the laptop and my main PC set for sharing. From my main PC, I can access another PC on the network from My Network Places with no problem. I can see both the laptop C: drive and its My Documents folder from My Network Places. I can access the laptop's My Documents folder just fine, but when I try the laptop's C: drive I get a not accessible message. From the laptop I can't even see any other computers on the network in My Network Places. But if I use a shortcut to the actual computer address (in the format \\computername\c) I can access the C drive of that computer. Any ideas what's going on and how I can fix this?




A:

All I can say is that Windows networking is flaky and seemingly capricious. Anyone have a suggestion?

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This article was posted by on 21 Aug 2005


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Most recent comments on "Can't Share Laptop on Network"

Posted by:

JJ Jock
24 Aug 2005

Couple of things.. Make sure NetBios is installed in the network settings of the laptop, and also make sure that you are in the same workgroup as your PCs.


Posted by:

Killshot
24 Aug 2005

9 times out of 10, sharing problems are caused by the Microsoft Firewall being turned on; disable it and try again. If that doesn't work, check your Local Area Connection in the Network Connections under the Control Panel. Make sure that your laptop is using the correct NIC for your configuration. Laptops are more prone to these types of problems because they are often equipped with both an ethernet port for local connections and a WiFi card for wireless connections. If your laptop is checking for your local nodes on the wrong NIC, it's not going to find them, but other nodes would still find the laptop, because the second NIC is also connected. Don't give up because you at least know the hardware is working properly; your network settings just aren't configured properly.


Posted by:

Ben
26 Aug 2005

I have had the same problem. I fixed it by setting up a user that exists on both the laptop and the PC. Also giving admin privs to that user may help. When accessing the shared resource, you may have to enter the said username. ie: LAP2//User then the password


Posted by:

tb
18 Oct 2006

hey, thanks for the posts folks. Simple enough suggestions, I can't tell you how long and how often I've had to revisit this subject for me pesonally at home. What a drag. But looks like I'm finally getting somewhere.

My suggestions:

1. make sure all nodes are on the same workgroup name

2. make atleast one file/folder a network share on EACH node, by right clicking and turning on share.

3. install netbui/ipx on all nodes.

4. in network places, start the 'add network place' wizard and either \\name\share or search for the share. If you search, this will be a good indicator whether or not it will work. If a share shows up, then it's all good. If not, you're out of luck even using a path.

5. other nigth I also added all my internal ips to the lmhost file of each computer. Don't know if this helped.


Posted by:

Fernando
13 Dec 2006

Something useful that I found is using net use:

“net use \\computername\sharename * /user:username”

The * is to prompt for the password, instead of * you can add your password on the same line. Hope this help to someone.


Posted by:

dalma
07 Oct 2010

I realize you are a very busy geek, with so many people inundating you with their problems - I just like to say, since I discovered your site it's been one helluva blessing for me and my siblings. Keep up the tremendous work. I am deeply appreciative from "down under", and look forward to your posts. Kind Regards.


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