Troubleshoot network places in Windows XP

April 23, 2009 6:26 PM

How can I erase all my network places in Windows XP (one computer XP Pro, one computer XP Home) and start again? The trouble is that some places that used to work don't work any more, and I don't know why. Also, when I try to create new places, some work, and some don't.

Would it be also good to somehow restore both computers to a state in which they had never been networked and start again from the beginning (how to do this?)
Folder sharing has completely got me down.
I share a folder on one computer and try to connect to it from the other computer and get the old "Access is denied" message.

ALSO, are there advantages to Network Places over mapped drives or vice versa?

Perhaps someone could point me to an exhaustive XP networking troubleshooting site?

posted by feelinggood to computers & internet (3 comments total)

Well, I just tried it, and it seems that you can just highlight them and hit 'delete'.
posted by alexei at 12:36 AM on April 24

Network Places is just a pretty way to see drive shares on the same network. It's not a separate thing.
posted by odinsdream at 7:13 AM on April 24

The reason you're possibly getting this is b/c you have one PC with XP home and the other with XP Pro. They treat filesharing differently by default. XP Home wants to use "simple" (non-authenticated) filesharing, while XP Pro wants to tie authenticate users for shares. I'll suppose you're on your own secured network.
I'd recommend:
Deleting everything out of the network places on both PCs.
On the XP Pro computer, go to my computer, Tools, Folder Options, And at the bottom of the list of folder options you'll see "use simple file sharing" check that. This will tell the PC to allow guest access to these shares. We may have to recreate the shares, but no biggie.
Run the network setup wizard again on both PCs, ensuring you have the same workgroup set (Home likes to name the workgroup MSHOME while Pro likes to name it WORKGROUP). You're also doing this to ensure file & print sharing is turned on. Make note of the PC names as well. If they are unfriendly names such as "User-x8skke8b8" then change them to easier names like "office" or "kitchen".
Now that you know your pc names, lets look at the "file shares" that they have. You can list all of them by right clicking on my computer, and selecting manage. On the left side you should see "Shared Folders" and "Shares" within that that holds all the current shares of that PC. You may delete them and recreate them if you wish.
A fast way to now access shares is to go to Start, Run and enter \\computername\sharename and the share you're accessing should come up. (note these are BACKslashes) Alternatively, you could only type \\computername and it will list all shares on that PC. This is useful because you can right click on a share and "Map network drive..." and keep a consistent mapping (such as M:\ for "\\office\music")
posted by ijoyner at 10:41 AM on April 24 [1 favorite has favorites]