I have 2 laptops which access the Internet via a wireless router.

I set up a home network to link both machines, enabling file and printer
sharing on both. Laptop A can read and write to the shared folders in Laptop
B, but Laptop B cannot access the shared folders in Laptop A at all.

What's wrong?

I have exactly the same problem!  My setup has 1 desktop wired to the router
and 1 using a wireless connection.  Both can access the internet.  The wired
machine can connect to shares on the the "wireless" computer but the
"wireless" computer cannot access the other.
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Axfangli wrote:

This is most commonly caused by a misconfigured firewall. Run the Network
Setup Wizard on all computers, making sure to enable File & Printer
Sharing, and reboot. The only "gotcha" is that this will turn on the XPSP2
Windows Firewall. If you aren't running a third-party firewall or have an
antivirus with "Internet Worm Protection" (like Norton 2005/06) which acts
as a firewall, then you're fine. If you have third-party firewall software,
configure it to allow the Local Area Network traffic as trusted. I usually
do this with my firewalls with an IP range. Ex. would be
192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you would substitute your correct
subnet.

If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center:

a. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab) and create identical user
accounts/passwords on all computers.

b. If you don't care about using Pro's advanced features, leave the Simple
File Sharing enabled.

Simple File Sharing means that Guest (network) is enabled. This means that
anyone without a user account on the target system can use its resources.
This is a security hole but only you can decide if it matters in your
situation.

Then create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users'
home directories (My Documents) or Program Files, but you can share folders
inside those directories. A better choice is to simply use the Shared
Documents folder.

If that doesn't work for you, here is an excellent network troubleshooter by
MVP Hans-Georg Michna. Take the time to go through it and it will usually
pinpoint the problem area(s) - http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm

Malke

On Tue, 2 Jan 2007 06:09:00 -0800, Axfangli <Axfan***@discussions.microsoft.com>
wrote:

One of the most common causes of this problem would be a misconfigured or
overlooked personal firewall, or other security component. There are several
other possibilities too, and any might be the cause of your problem. Read this
article with an open mind.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html

For more direct help, provide "browstat status" and  "ipconfig /all", from each
computer, so we can diagnose the problem.  Read this article, and linked
articles, and follow instructions precisely (download browstat!):
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#AskingForHelp>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#AskingForHelp

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