XP and Win2000 Pro networking problem

[fshanda]

I thought since these were similar OSs that I wouldnt have any trouble networking them. Wrong.
I had a working home networking setup with 7 boxes all running Win 2000 Pro. I am using a Netgear 8 port hub and have one box set to share the internet connection with the other 6 boxes. I use a US Robotics external modem to connect to the internet. Every thing has been working great. The setup wizzards had everything sharing properly and every box had access to the internet.

My wife wanted XP so I purchased XP Pro and installed it on her machine. Then ran the wizards and thats where the problems began. I have yet to have the XP box connect to the internet or share with the boxes that still can connect. Let me explain. Every box on the network shares the same workgroup name ( I have checked overe and over ). The XP box now seems to have a sub network that can see 2 of the other boxes on the network and share with them ok. This network uses the same workgroup name. These boxes however can not connect to the internet now

The 4 other boxes including the one sharing the internet connection can see each other and share the internet access just fine but canot see the 3 other boxes including the XP box.

I have checked everything that I know and am stumped. Half of my network cant connect to the internet and share with the rest of my network.

I have reran the wizards on the 2000 boxes to try and get them back but they only reconnect to the XP box even after the internet connection sharing wizard is ran.

Please help im tired of sharing my computer with my Wife

Let me say now that im not that good at networking, DUH. If you have a suggestion please be long winded and explain throughly what to do. I know how to get around 2000 prety good just dont know a lot about networking and how to set things up manualy.

Please no links to networking sites. Been there done that. Seems to answer every question except the one I have.

fshanda

[kcrispin3]

That is a very interesting problem you have there.

Here is what i would do.

1) take that XP box out of the network by disconnecting that box from teh hub. That way you have isolated one variable.

2) then see if you can get the other misbehaving boxes on the net and seeing each other.

If so, then you have isolated the problem category, that is, somehow the XP box is causing grief.

3) On the XP box, get into the services applet in control panel OR through teh msconfig utility. (Start, Run, msconfig), and disable all services that have to do with internet connection sharing server, server, dhcp server, computer browser).

4) Restart, then reconnect the XP box to the hub. Run XP's networking wizard to connect to the internet.. pretending that you are on a LAN which has a DHCP server.

[DVNT1]

I think it would be best to start at the basics.

Check the IP address of a "working" computer and a "problem" computer.

For W2K/XPyou will need to open a command prompt and type ipconfig. Th Subnet mask entry should be exactly the same on both or this could be the problem. The IP address should be similar but not exactly the same. Depending on the subnet mask, this value could actually be very different.

After having the IP address you should test with ping.

First disable any software firewalls or IP filters on the test computers (one working & one non-working computer). Then, on the working computer, type ping 1892.168.1.11 (substitute 192.168.1.11 with the actual IP address of the other computer). Do you get a "successful" ping or did it fail?

Please post IP addresses, masks, and ping results.

[fshanda]

kcrispin3, removing the XP box did the trick. As soon as I removed it from the hub I reset the 2000 boxes that I was having trouble with. Then went back and tried the XP box again. This time it worked without any problems at all.

DVNT1, Thanks for the tutorial. I allways read about pinging but have never seen it explained. I will try it out anyway just so I can learn a little more about networking.

One more quick question. Is it better to let Windows assign the ip addresses using the connection/configuration wizzards or would the network be more stable with user defined addresses. I feel uneasy and a little unknoledgeable just using the wizzards.

Thanks for the help

fshanda

[DVNT1]

Manually assigned IP address offer a little faster boot up since they don't look for an IP address. Automatically assigned is better for management (any IP related changes). Once an IP address has been obtained there practically isn't a difference (not any more stable).

Sounds like your problem was two overlapping DHCP services (on by W2K and another by XP). Perhaps duplicate IP addresses were being given out. If you didn't disable all relating ICS services on the XP computer, like kcrispin3 suggested, these problems may reoccur.

[fshanda]

So then I should go to administrative tools/services and disable any ICS services that are set to automaticaly startup. Just want to check before I make any changes there.

fshanda

[DVNT1]

...or even just Uninstall ICS from the Add/Remove Programs on the XP box