Need Help to connect two Laptops

Hello Members,

I bought another laptop, and have two laptops.

Laptop A is running Windows XP Pro
Laptop B is running Windows Vista

I still have had no luck in connecting these two laptops together into
a mini network, so I can practice sharing files back and forth,
mapping drives, permissions, etc.

Both Laptops have Wireless connections. Laptop A is connected to the internet through a DSL router. Laptop B is also now able to use the internet as well through this router. But the main problem is I want to connect these two laptops together. Can someone please explain in a STEP BY STEP way, how to do this. I have never done this before, so if you can do this Step by step, I'd appreciate it . I'd like to connect them with their wireless connection, I'd rather no use a cable to connect them. Can you explain how to do this. Thankyou All. Ric

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Comments

royal

Oh this reminds me of the good ole days when I first wanted to get into IT and I took an A+ class and a couple of us were messing with a computer and some MCSE came in and was showing us how to network 2 computers together via a crossover cable.

I was completely lost and had no idea how one IP talked to another IP and felt like I was never going to get any of this stuff. And now I can subnet and count binary in my head. Permissions used to confuse the hell out of me also. The point of this story? I've seen your other threads where you feel like you're lost. Don't worry, you'll get there.

As long as both computers are on the same wireless network, they can both talk to each other. Can you ping the other machine? The main reason this is, is because adding them both to the wifi router, you have essentially put them both on the same wireless network which means their IPs are on the same network.

How are they on same network? You're going to have to learn IPs and Subnet masks for that. That's more of a 70-291 topic. I don't remember if it's in Network+ as I did my Network+ almost 6 years ago.

undomiel

Also the next step towards simplification that I would recommend is taking down the firewalls on both machines. It'll help to remove a troubleshooting step for you.

skrpune

hi susuandme - correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you already ask this question on this forum and also on this forum over here?

Have you tried running through the suggestions on those two threads yet? I still think that your main issue is the Link Layer Topology Discovery update and Network & Sharing Center settings if all else is well and the two machines are just unable to "see" each other. All else appears ok, and it's just a matter of getting these two PCs to talk to each other, and since we're talking XP & Vista, then there's some settings changes you need to make on both sides in order to get them talkin'.

susuandme

Hi,

I have managed to connect Laptop A to Laptop B, which
is the XP Laptop can now see the resources on the Vista Laptop.

However, the Vista laptop cannot access the resources on the XP
laptop. I do not know why. I brought down the firewalls. But
the message is "cannot ping Laptop A", Cannot Access Laptop A".

So what is the next step, did I forget some configurations on Laptop
A to allow Laptop B to access it. Thankyou. Rick

skrpune

does the XP laptop have file sharing turned on? here is a quick tutorial on file sharing in XP.

What resources are you trying to share off the XP laptop? Shared Documents folder? Other folders? You have to change folder/file share settings in order for them to be shared across any network, including a simple home network.

Also, what firewall/antivirus suite do you have? I found this link where someone reported that they'd turned off their firewall but one feature was still turned on & preventing access (scroll down to message 7 on that page) - there is apparently an anti-worm component in MacAfee & Norton that can hinder pinging/communication.

By the way, you should not have to turn off firewalls in order to get the two computers to talk to each other correctly. There are usually some advanced settings in your firewall that will let you set a range of allowed IP addresses that can access your machine; if you haven't changed this and/or if you've changed your gateway/router's IP address from the default, then this might be messing you up too - I ran into this when I changed my router's address after installing MacAfee & after setting up file sharing...a quick settings change fixed me up right quick. It seems to be a fairly common thing.

There are lots of possibilities here. If none of these work, then do what I did: google "cannot ping xp from vista" and go down the list of numerous hits...chances are there's someone else who's had the same problem as you and can offer some advice on how to fix it.

susuandme

thankyou, It worked ! Just like magic. I'm starting to learn a little about how networking actually works now. by doing.

Simple file Sharing was original turned OFF, I turned it back on again.

I turned it off originaly so I can learn about sharing and NTFS permissions, but now the Security Tab is gone, but that is okay.

With simple file sharing turned on, I was able to access just the printer folder on the XP laptop. But I wanted to access more than that, so I went to a folder in XP and I Shared it. It then bacame visible on the Vista laptop.

also you were right about the Firewall, I had to turn the firewall off to access the Shares, but I will experiment as you say with the exceptions.

I'd like to ask a strange question, can I shut off my internet access for all this to work, I mean can these two laptops Share files and folders if I turn my router off?

I don't want someone accessing my files from outside. Thanks for everything, this was very interesting lesson. Ric

NetAdmin2436

susuandme wrote:

I'd like to ask a strange question, can I shut off my internet access for all this to work, I mean can these two laptops Share files and folders if I turn my router off?

I don't want someone accessing my files from outside. Thanks for everything, this was very interesting lesson. Ric

Yes, you can shut off your intenet access. For two computers (or a domain) to be able to simply communicate and share files, Internet access is not required.