sundance-communications.com/forum Forums Computers & Programming Computers, Software, Accessories Win XP Home Problems

I offered to help a non-profit counseling group set up a network. After installing some new data cable, we put in a Netgear switch. For one computer, we cannot PING anybody nor can we ping this computer. I've turned off all firewalls and I found a setting in control panel for ICMP and turned them all on (they were off). Still no PING. I changed the switch, patch cord etc. nothing. Our goal is to get this computer on the LAN and have it share a printer for everyone else. I offered a printserver device but they declined.

Change out the NIC? Check the subnet?

XP Home is a PAIN!!!! We won't even support the box unless they allow us to upgrade it to XP Professional.

That being said, can we take anything out of the equation? If we put the Netgear box on another network, does it perform? If so can we take two KNOWN GOOD patch cables and hook two computers to the Netgear box directly without going through the building wiring?

Are we getting connect lights at the NIC cards/Netgear box?

What about IP Addresses? Is the Netgear box operating as the DHCP server or are you using static IP addresses? If using DHCP are you getting an address other than the 169.X address?

You may also want to go to the Authentication Tab and uncheck the box marked "Enable Network Access Control."

I'm not too familiar with Netgear. Is there a filter that could be enabled in the set-up menus or is it just a non-addressed switch?

You might also consider connecting two computers together with a crossover cable and bypass the Netgear box.

well the netgear is just a simple switch. Yes we get link lights and I used my Mod-tap tester to make sure the cable is ok. And I put in new patch cables. I used both switches successfully in the office. The computer is the customer's and it's been beaten up but that shouldn't matter, it otherwise works. I've put IP addresses in the machines on my own (no DHCP) in the 192.168.1.100 range with a subnet of 255.255.255.0

Can we take a crossover cable and go straight between the boxes? If it fails there, then we'll know it's in the boxes. Perhaps as easy as reloading the device drivers for the NIC cards. You might check the Device Manager as well just to make sure no errors are showing.

To get to the Device Manager, go to Start, then right click on My Computer, then Properties, Hardware Tab, Device Manager button.

Are you pinging by name or IP?
If by name, you need to check your dns server or local hosts file of each client.
If by IP, check that the client has the IP address bound to the adapter. From a client have it ping localhost and then have it ping it's own IP address. If that doesn't work, you will need to remove the TCP/IP component and reinstall it.
Sounds like a lot of work but it really isn't that bad.

I am pinging by IP. I can ping the PC's own IP address, that works (that was one of the first things I checked). It's weird. Thanks for the help guys.

Like Mac said, XP home is a pain. Make sure all your computers are in the same workgroup. since it is a small office environment, you can set all the machines to DHCP if you like. That might be easier than static IPs. You may have nic card that is only sending or receiving, but not both.

I haven't found XP Home to be a problem, but Mac did hit the nail on the head.
If there is no DHCP sever, then you'll run into problems. I would get an inexpensive router... you could even leave the switch in place and just plug the switch into the router. Then just renew the ip addr for all the machines (or just reboot.)

Check the speeds on the NIC's, too. I've seen times when "Automatic" wasn't, and we had to physically set the speeds on the cards.