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These are mainly for wired networks, but it should apply to wireless networks as well:
* Make sure Windows file and printer sharing is enabled for your network connections (if you went through the wizard, this should be done for you, but just check anyway). Go to My Network Place, right click on a blank area and select properties. This should list all your network/dial up connections - the one for your network is usually "Local Area Connection" or "Wireless Network Connection" - right click on that and select properties - check and see if "File and Printer sharing ..." service is listed, if not, press "Install" -> "Service" and add it in.
* With my firewall (ZoneAlarm), I had to manually create an entry (under "add network" or something similar) for each computer that is allowed to connect to my computer (that is, to add their IP address or the network IP range to the allow list). If you see the computer listed in My Networks, but you can't access it, it's usually a firewall problem on the other end, I find.
* Also make sure all the computers are in the same workgroup as each other. To check or change the workgroup, right click on "My Computers", go to the "Computer Name" tab and make sure the "Computer name" is different on all computers and "Workgroup" is the same (change them if necessary). Note the computer name - you can connect to computers without going through My Network Place by Start -> Run -> and typing "\\computername" (without the quotes). For example, if your computer was name "mediaserver", then you can type "\\mediaserver" to access it. I find that this is faster and more reliable than going through My Network Places.
If you can access the net through all 3 computers, then it suggest they are connecting to each other (or rather, connecting to the router) properly. Connecting a Windows XP to a non Windows XP (Me or 2000) computer is a little trickier, but it usually means just creating a new user account to connect to.
* Make sure Windows file and printer sharing is enabled for your network connections (if you went through the wizard, this should be done for you, but just check anyway). Go to My Network Place, right click on a blank area and select properties. This should list all your network/dial up connections - the one for your network is usually "Local Area Connection" or "Wireless Network Connection" - right click on that and select properties - check and see if "File and Printer sharing ..." service is listed, if not, press "Install" -> "Service" and add it in.
* With my firewall (ZoneAlarm), I had to manually create an entry (under "add network" or something similar) for each computer that is allowed to connect to my computer (that is, to add their IP address or the network IP range to the allow list). If you see the computer listed in My Networks, but you can't access it, it's usually a firewall problem on the other end, I find.
* Also make sure all the computers are in the same workgroup as each other. To check or change the workgroup, right click on "My Computers", go to the "Computer Name" tab and make sure the "Computer name" is different on all computers and "Workgroup" is the same (change them if necessary). Note the computer name - you can connect to computers without going through My Network Place by Start -> Run -> and typing "\\computername" (without the quotes). For example, if your computer was name "mediaserver", then you can type "\\mediaserver" to access it. I find that this is faster and more reliable than going through My Network Places.
If you can access the net through all 3 computers, then it suggest they are connecting to each other (or rather, connecting to the router) properly. Connecting a Windows XP to a non Windows XP (Me or 2000) computer is a little trickier, but it usually means just creating a new user account to connect to.
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