[dba-Tech] Windows XP Home vs Pro

Haslett, Andrew andrew.haslett at ilc.gov.au
Mon Jul 12 23:10:58 CDT 2004


>From my experience the 'name' of the workgroup is only used for 'My Network
Places'.  

You should still be able to communicate by IP and generally by machine name
(depending on name resolution techniques) irrespective of what the workgroup
'name' is - that is, as long as you have them on the same subnet (they
should all automatically get an IP in the same range by default). 

It is possible that two machines could get the same IP in rare cases...  You
can avoid this by assigning them each a different static IP on the same
subnet if you wish.

In a small network it's not a huge drawback that 'My Network Places' isn't
used.  Just as easy to create a few shortcuts on each machines desktop that
point to your other networked machines as required...

Cheers,
Andrew

-----Original Message-----
From: Steven W. Erbach [mailto:serbach at new.rr.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, 13 July 2004 7:23 AM
To: Discussion of Hardware and Software issues
Subject: [dba-Tech] Windows XP Home vs Pro

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


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