Sharing files and documents

M

Michaela521

New Member
Hello I have 2 computers and both of these computers are on a router internet connection and I was wondering what one could do inorder to share files between the two. I was hoping that there was a way to share the files without having to take up any memory in the other computer you are sharing the file with. I have windows xp on both computers. Thanks :cool:
 
go to "My Network Places" -> "Set up a home or small office network" -> turn "File and print sharing" on

you have to do it on both machines
then right click on the folders you want to share and go to properties, click the sharing tab and share it
 
Thanks for the reply. Ironically that is what I did but for some reason the computers are acting up on me or perhaps I have a setting wrong. So to better explain it lets say I have two computers named x(computer that can store alot of information) and y(computer that can't store alot of information). I would like to be able to share files on computer x with the computer y without having to fill all of little computer y's memory. So I run that program on both machines and on each one it creates a icon/file on both machines in view work group computers (mshome). For computer x(big) I name the icon/file a(big ones) and on computer y(small) I name the icon/file b(small ones). If I want to share information with computer y(small) without having to fill its memory I simply drag any file into icon/file a(big ones) on computer x(big) but if I drag any information into icon/file b(small ones) while on computer x(big) what seems to happen is all I do is copy the information onto computer y(small) of which defeats the whole purpose. So what I seem to have to do is simply place all the information into icon/file a(big ones) on computer x(big). Problem is that when I go to view work group computers (mshome) and try and access the icon/file a(big ones) on computer y(small) It gives me an error message. This is what is says.

A(big ones) is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions.

The network path was not found.


BUT strange thing is that I can do this in reverse. If I go to computer Y(small) and place information into its icon/file b(small ones) I can access icon/file b(small ones) on computer x(big). This ofcourse allows me to not have to copy any information over to computer x(big) that is on computer Y(small) but I wanted it to be the other way around.
I tried to explain the situation as well as I could. Thanks as always.:cool:
 
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That was the most confusing post ever....

so you went through the setup wizard on both machines....they are both on mshome, and you still cannot view files from one machine to the other?

any folder you have shared should just show up in my network places
 
k i didnt understand anything of the earlier post but... you might have to change some security settings when you are in the sharing tab press permissions and see if everything is set correctly. after that press the tab security and see if youve got the correct permissions after that you should be able to do anything.

btw you do have a good connection? try pinging if you dont visually have a good connection:

press run and type cmd then type --> ping and the ip you want to ping if it works you at least have a working connection
 
:D Right know i think that that old machine of mine is messed up sense you tell me that if I allow a file to be shared you should be able to access it from the other computer without it being saved on that computer Note: I can share files with the older machine from the newer but the only thing is that the file gets saved on it. If I share files with the newer machine from the older one the file doesn't get saved on that one (wierd). That computer has always given me trouble. The only thing that I might be able to do is just reinstall windows and everything back on it:( The connection is good though sense I can access the internet just fine through it. Do you think that perhaps that computer is giving me trouble becuase I have installed windows xp on it when it was originally designed for windows millenium? Is that possible? Any other suggestions?
 
it don't matter what it was designed for
honestly without seeing it I couldn't tell you....are you sure it's getting saved on the machine and you're not just looking at network drives??

you should be able to say play a song or a movie off one machine and have it play on the other without copying it

try the network wizard a few times, perhaps it didn't run through properly or something and reboot afterwards
 
You would be surprised about how long I have spent on both machines running things over again. I've also tried to turn off the firewall, virus etc on both machines. Right know it sounds like it shouldn't be doing this so I am leaning towards the older machine being messed up.;) It definitely gets saved on it though cause when I share a file from the newer to the older one it starts copying the file and I check the hard drive space on the older one and it is much lower than before I saved it:mad: . Really is frusterating:mad: :mad:
 
sometimes win xp has problems with networking when you install 2 different versions on 2 computers. so do u have to same versions try and update them in totally the same way. so if one has sp2 and the other doesnt you really should put sp2 on both of them. if that doesnt work im more or less out of ideas
 
XP Home or Pro? Do you have Simple File Sharing on?

I'm not really sure what you are saying in your description... I gather you want to be able to access files stored on X from Y, correct? What kind of files? What programs are you using?

If you want to execute programs on X from Y, then you are opening up a huge can of worms not easily solved here.
 
let's simplify this:

First, set up a network where you can get internet on both computers. Do a google search for this, or configure (the wizard doesn't do this) your router to allow WiFi access and choose the channel and WEP (or other) key (so no one else gets in to you network) and get your other computer on the same channel and WEP key. That's half of it!

Now, once your network is up, choose the folders you want to share (right click>Sharing>Choose options)

Now you need to get the IP addresses of the two computers.

(1.)Open a DOS command prompt (ask if you need help with this)
(2.)Type ipconfig and press Enter
(3.)Find the label for your connection or adapter (the IP should be something like xxx.xxx.x.x


After you've done that, go to Start>Run>Type \\IP_of_comp_you_want_to_access>press Enter
Now, the shared files and folders will show up in the window that is opened.


A suggestion: (sp?)
If you are worried about computer space, you can connect a Network Storage Device (that is, if you have about $150) and I think Western Digital makes some. These are hard drives that you can to your router or wireless network that you can simply put things on.
 
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