Steven W. Erbach
serbach at new.rr.com
Mon Jul 12 16:53:06 CDT 2004
Dear Group, I've "discovered" empirically what seems to be one of the main differences between XP Home and Pro, and I'd like to know if I'm correct. I have a client who has a bunch of Windows XP Home PCs and wireless laptops that he wanted to network together. I asked him, at first, if he could upgrade them to Pro, but he was unwilling to do that. So I caved and set up disk sharing and printer sharing and hooked everything together with a LinkSys wireless router with a cable modem. All the workstations are part of the "Office" group. He was happy. A couple weeks ago this same client asked me to set up a similar network at his house: one desktop PC, a new laptop, and one of the existing laptops from the "Office" network. No sweat, really. Linksys router, cable modem, and Epson printer right next to the desktop (the kids' system) and the new wireless laptop fit right into the equation. I made sure that the laptop was a member of the "MSHOME" group, the group name that the desktop system had. However, I couldn't get the "Office" laptop to recognize the MSHOME group. I left it at that, not really having a clue as to what was wrong. Today I helped my client's wife, the owner of that new laptop I hooked up to the home network, get connected to the "Office" LAN. I couldn't get a connection at first. I could get on the internet all right, but the laptop didn't see the "Office" group. Then it dawned on me, maybe XP Home only recognizes one LAN group. So I re-assigned her laptop to be a member of the "Office" group, and voila! The network, she works! So, am I correct in assuming that Windows XP Home can only deal with one Group at a time in My Network Places? I noticed that right after I re-assigned this laptop's group to "Office" that Windows "saw" both groups...but later on after installing a couple pieces of software and a couple restarts, the "MSHOME" group no longer appeared in My Network Places. My hunch is that if I rename the Group at my client's home to "Office" that everything will be copacetic. Of course, the workstation list will differ depending on whether the laptops (my client's and his wife's) are, indeed, at the office or at home. Am I correct here? Sincerely, Steve Erbach Scientific Marketing Neenah, WI 920-969-0504