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NetBEUI and file and print sharing


markperl

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I've setup 2 different home networks with netbeui as the sole protocol for file and print sharing. All machines running WinXP used Win2K's version of netbeui.Network #12 XP Pro machines setup with PC#1 sharing it's Internet dial-up connection with PC#2. File and print sharing worked perfectly, and when PC#2 wanted an Internet connection, PC#1 dialed out, and the connection worked great. All was well...until PC#1's user screwed up PC#1 (details aren't important). User reloaded WinXP on PC#1, but not netbeui, leaving only TCP/IP bound to File and Print Sharing. Netbeui was unbound and TCP/IP rebound to File and Print Sharing on PC#2. Internet connection sharing re-setup between machines as before.PC#2 gets its IP address from PC#1 correctly because of ICS and can ping PC#1. When PC## wants an Internet connection, PC#1 dials out and connects.Problem: PC# cannot "see" PC#1. PC#2 cannot see PC#1 when it tries to browse the network. Even though PC#2 can cause PC#1 to dial out, it cannot browse the InternetThings that have no effect on the situation: checking/unchecking Enable LMHOSTS lookup and Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP.I brought in my WinXP Pro laptop and connected to and shared the Internet connection with PC#1 just using TCP/IP, so the problem seems clearly related to unbinding netbeui from PC#2. What's going on here?Network #22 WinXP Pro machine and 1 Win98SE machine share a DSL connection through Linksys WAP router. One uses wireless connection while the other 2 use copper. Since all machines get their private IP addresses from the Linksys router and use ZoneAlarm, the extra protection of netbeui isn't really needed,...but I wanted to try it anyway...and be even more protected.Internet usage is of course not an issue with this setup, but the problem is the same. Netbeui was the only protocol bound to File and Print Sharing, Win2K's on the XP machines. While on the road, PC#3's (Win98SE) dial-up connection wouldn't work. This was the first time it had been used after setting up file and print sharing useing netbeui. Tried all sorts of fixes over the phone to no avail, so removed netbeui from the mix and all was well. This being my girlfriend's business laptop, I decided to would remain without netbeui, so had to remove netbeui from other home machines (both WinXP).PC#3 (Win98SE) can ping PC#1, but can no longer browse the network or see the printer it needs to share. WinXP has been reloaded on PC#1, the primary sharing computer. Interestingly, if I add the user name of PC#3 (Win98SE) to the XP machine, browsing works again, but then I end up with a multiple login screen on the XP machine. Tried this same thing with network #1 to no avail.Same problem as the first network described above. It seems as if loading/binding netbeui, then unbinding it somehow "damages" something that prevents one computer from being able to "see" another computer on the network.Yes, we can try to re-do the netbeui thing, but I'd rather resolve this issue before trying that again.Would appreciate hearing your thoughts. I assume it's something really simple that I've overlooked, but it's driving me a bit nutty.

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There is a reason netbuei was not a selectable protocol in Win XP. Turn off "simple file sharing" in XP. Make sure the XP Firewall is turned off. Can every machine ping each other? You can obtain the IP for each of the machines set for DHCP by typing ipconfig /all.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Re: Netbeui in XP, both Scott Finnie and Fred Langa recommend using Netbeui on P2P networks for added security since it's not a routable protocol. I don't remember the guy's name, but Scott quoted a senior guy from M$ as saying it was best to use Win2K's version of Netbeui for this purpose. That was good enough for me to try it out. And it worked just fine...until it had to be removed for various reasons.XP's firewall was never turned on, and all machines could always ping each other. Mark

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Running your P2P network on a private IP range is also not routable from the Internet.10.10.x.x192.168.x.xEthernet Print Servers like IP addresses...

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