Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Head scratcher- crossover cable Laptop to PC lan

by tcantrelln Sep 8, 2005 7:04AM PDT

Occasionally have to connect a laptop carried to a jobsite and crossover connect it to a pc-new laptop recently acquired, set up just the same- ( Winxp-pro-sp2 on everything-Zonealarm on everything,) used XP's setup wizard-old laptop-new both connect fully with each other no problem, pc will connect either laptop-no problem, however the new laptop will connect to all partitions on PC, but will only drill down thru "C"-all the rest of the partitions show-and will open to the files/folders of the root of the partition-but no further-usual error message about contacting the administrator of the share-have a same named admin level account on each, have tried simple file sharing on and off-registry set for anonymous logon permitted,puzzled why I could get anywhere I needed in the operating system partition-but not the others-Is there a partition limit?? (Laptops 1 partition-PC=5 partitions...)TIA

Discussion is locked

5 Posts
- Collapse + Expand Details
- Collapse -
Maybe you need different crossover cable and
by Melati Hitam Sep 9, 2005 4:06AM PDT

more detail information on how you connect those three computers

- Collapse -
Same crossover cable
by tcantrelln Sep 9, 2005 6:34AM PDT

Works perfectly between the 2 laptops-between the old laptop and the PC, and the PC to the new laptop...my startup steps are 1. no lan cables connecting the computers, boot them each fully into windows- right click Zonealarm firewall-off, plug in crossover cat5 cable, wait and watch the connection in the system tray- ( Acquiring IP -etc etc) when the yellow triangle comes up ( Limited connectivity) I can right click the network icon on the desktop-search for computer-type in the other connected ones name and nearly instantly find it- and have full connectivity-permissions-etc, except for the one glitch of- new laptop to PC partitions E,F,G,H-will not communicate...however "C" communicates fine...I have run network setup wizard so many times, the electrons probably grumble, am considering cloning the old laptop HD onto the new-move it back to new-repair Xp and probably fix it that way-but I feel like it's something nearly undocumented, or so obvious that I've forgotten it...

- Collapse -
can you browse
by Melati Hitam Sep 9, 2005 7:03AM PDT

something in that partition, from that laptop?

- just maybe.. you forgot to format that partition..

- Collapse -
The new laptop can see / browse
by tcantrelln Sep 9, 2005 8:06AM PDT

Anything / however deep in the "C" partition of the PC, all partitions are formatted NTFS, all have files and data on them, the old laptop can see anything on any partition, the pc can see anything on either laptop-however the new one cannot open anything past the root of partitions E,F,G,H...I can see the files-ar data but any attempt to open data results in a "Unable to connect" error, attempting to open folders brings up the permissions error...all partitions are set for full permissions on all folders, files- even reset everything fully off-rebooted,then set fully on, rebooted-still the same.. if I think before hand and have whatever I need to transfer moved to the "C" partition I can copy,cut,paste whatever- but if it's not in C, forget it....any ideas?

- Collapse -
FINALLY !!
by tcantrelln Sep 12, 2005 10:19PM PDT

Got it to mostly work-on both computers went thru everything that was shared - Folders-Partitions-etc, got the message on some that sharing was for administrative purposes-and other messages ( reconnect at reboot etc.) Did that on both, rebooted and then gradually worked thru turning off sharing that had re-established itself, when everything was unshared, went thru and turned on sharing all over again, set permissions wherever I could to all/everything-etc, rebooted both, turned off Zonealarm, connected crossover cat5. Now I can go anywhere from either computer, to any depth, Excepting the Windows or Program Files folders on each ones "C" partition. I can live with that. I do wish I could find a text on just what the network wizard does in the registry- and to TCP/IP..just to read it and have a better understanding of the nuts and bolts...

Back to Networking & Wireless forum

CNET Forums

Operating Systems
Software
Electronics & Gadgets
Hardware
Tablets & Mobile Devices
General Help
Brand Forums
Roadshow Autos
Off Topic

Other Forums

Forum Info