I have a home network with PC's all running Win XP SP3. My wife's PC can both see and access my PC thru the workgroup. However, my pc can only "see" hers, everytime I click on her PC's icon, I get the message "\\Ns....... is not accessable. You might not have permission to use this resourse. Contact the administrator of your network to find out if you have access permissions." Known conditions for BOTH pc's: Same workgroupFile and Printer Sharing is onNetBios is enabledComputer Browser is startedBoth pc's have files set to be shared on the network with users able to change the files.Help this has been driving me mad 1 person got this answerI do too

Probably Section C. below and/or misconfigured/duplicate firewalls.Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally caused by 1) a misconfigured firewall or overlooked firewall (including a stateful firewall in a VPN); or 2) inadvertently running two firewalls such as the built-in Windows Firewall and a third-party firewall; and/or 3) not having identical user accounts and passwords on all Workgroup machines; 4) trying to create shares where the operating system does not permit it.A. Configure firewalls on all machines to allow the Local Area Network (LAN) traffic as trusted. With Windows Firewall, this means allowing File/Printer Sharing on the Exceptions tab. Normally running the Network Setup Wizard on XP will take care of this for those machines.The only "gotcha" is that this will turn on the Windows Firewall. If you aren't running a third-party firewall or have an antivirus/security program with its own firewall component, then you're fine. With third-party firewalls, I usually configure the LAN allowance with an IP range. Ex. would be 192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you would substitute your correct subnet. Refer to any third party security program's Help or user forums for how to properly configure its firewall. Do not run more than one firewall. DO NOT TURN OFF FIREWALLS; CONFIGURE THEM CORRECTLY.B. For ease of organization, put all computers in the same Workgroup. This is done from the System applet in Control Panel, Computer Name tab.C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. You do not need to be logged into the same account on all machines and the passwords assigned to each user account can be different; the accounts/passwords just need to exist and match on all machines.DO NOT NEGLECT TO CREATE PASSWORDS, EVEN IF ONLY SIMPLE ONES . If you wish a machine to boot directly to the Desktop (into one particular user's account) for convenience, you can do this:XP - Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) - http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm D. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center, turn off Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab).E. Create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users' home directories or Program Files, but you can share folders inside those directories. A better choice is to simply use the Shared Documents folder.F. After you have file sharing working (and have tested this by exchanging a file between all machines), if you want to share a printer connected locally to one of your computers, share it out from that machine. Then go to the printer mftr.'s website and download the latest drivers for the correct operating system(s). Install them on the target machine(s). The printer should be seen during the installation routine. If it is not, install the drivers and then use the Add Printer Wizard. In some instances, certain printers need to be installed as Local printers but that is outside of this response.MS-MVP - Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!

Thanks, I had found most of this in the knowledge base, but you explained it so I could understand. Unfortunately, after doing all that you specified, my pc is still being denied access to my wife's, while hers has unrestricted access.I am confused on one point, you said that multiple firewalls can be the problem. I am running McAfee Security Center. File and Print Sharing is enabled under the exceptions tab for Windows Firewall. I, being confused on the multiple firewall issue, have tried running just Windows Firewall and then just McAffee Firewall on both machines, but neither scenario changes the status quo. Do I run both firewalls with file sharring turned on, or just one firewall?I have set up additional user accounts on each pc, 1 is an identical Admin account, and the other is a duplicate of either mine or my wife's user account.I have checked and recheck every setting I can think of on both pc's, and both machines APPEAR to be set up identically.This all started last year when I had to replace my copy of Win XP (lost during a move, and I built a new desktop). The disk I purchased came with SP3, and since my pc did not crash, I downloaded SP3 to the other machines. I could uninstall SP3 on the other pc's, but I do not have that option with mine as it was on the disk. The irony is that the other pc's don't have this problem, so I want to rule out SP3 as the source. However, before I loaded XP SP3 on my pc, I had no network issues. I just don't get this.Is there a step by step check list somewhere that I can use? I am usually the guy that everyone comes to when they have a computer problem because if I dont know the solution, I know how to find it. I am on the verge of crossing over to the Dark Side, and switching to Mac........I really appreciate your help!

Uninstall McAfee because you are running both Windows Firewall and the McAfee firewall component. Do this from Add/Remove Programs and then use the McAfee removal tool to make sure you get it all. Then replace McAfee (possibly the worst choice for security you could make) with a plain antivirus and use the Windows Firewall. I recommend ESET NOD32 (commercial) or Avast Free. The information I gave you is really the step-by-step. After you get McAfee uninstalled, if you are still having problems you can look at MVP Jack's networking site for more troubleshooting.McAfee Removal Tool -http://service.mcafee.com/FAQDocument.aspx?id=TS100507http://www.ezlan.net/index.htmlAs a long-time Linux and now Mac user, I don't consider either of those operating systems to be "the Dark Side". However, you will still have difficulties with networking over a LAN if you run two firewalls with those operating systems, too.MS-MVP - Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!

Did you ever get this resolved? I am having the same problem. Sometimes my wife's computer will connect to mine and sometimes not. However I can never connect to hers. Please let me know if you got this resolved and how. Thanks.

Not yet. Uninstalling McAffee did not resolve the issue. I didn't think that it would as I was running McAffee before with no issues as to workgroup comms. I am currently backing up my wife's files prior to uninstalling SP3. I have been told by the IT company that maintains the network @ my job that the issue was created by the XP SP3 install. They have since uninstalled and blocked SP3 on all of the XP networks they run. Ofcourse, they have the luxury of having programmers on staff to reslove compatiblity/ security issues with XP. I have not had alot of time lately, but I hope to do the unistall this weekend. I will let you know if this works or not.

Have you seen this post and tried this? http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/xpnetwork/thread/3976b554-bb9c-4920-881f-38eb64480ca7I'm thinking about trying this because I'm at my wits end. I can run the Network Setup Wizard on both computers and "sometimes" I can get it to where my laptop will access my desktop but I can never access the laptop from the desktop. Then, all of a sudden, neither connection will work. I don't get it.

Uninstalling Service Pack 3 is a ridiculous answer. Hundreds of thousands of people do file/printer sharing on their LANs with XP SP3 and have done for the many years since SP3 came out. If you are at your "wits' end" then do yourself a favor and have a reputable local professional come on-site to straighten things out. It will not be particularly expensive and with only a few home computers will take very little time.It is very difficult to diagnose a network issue without being on-site. You can look at Hans-Georg Michna's small network troubleshooter and MVP Jack's website, but if you still can't figure it out there is no shame in getting outside help.http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm -Small Network Troubleshooter by Hans-Georg MichnaMVP Jack's website is a great resource for troubleshooting networking:http://www.ezlan.net/index.html MS-MVP - Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!

Changing the IRPStackSize worked like a charm. You should try it. I ended up having to set my desktop to 18 and the laptop to 19 to get it to work. Now I have access either way. Neither of them had any value at all to begin with. Just follow the instructions in that previous post I sent.