Network Neighborhood / My Network Places

Once you have given permission to access resources via the network for Win95/98/ME and / or
permission to access your resources (Sharing) for Windows 2000/XP / XP Home, you can access the network :

make sure, that you Logon to the system using the Network login ("Enter Network Password" ) :

If you press the ESC-key or click on "Cancel" then you did NOT validate your
network Username and will not have access to the network !

It is not sufficient to just make Windows Logon ("Enter Windows Password") :

This does not make a login to the network software, not allowing you then to use the network !

if you intend to access data on a
Windows 2000/XP system, then you
MUST make sure that the username
(and password) used during the Windows
95/98/ME/2000/XP start-up is identical to
the username (and password) defined in
User Management of the Windows2000/XP
system, to which you like to connect.

Like sitting down at the keyboard, where
you need to enter your username, also a
connection via network requires
identification !

( below the sctions for Windows 2000 and Windows XP )
you can access via the "Network Neighborhood" icon on your desktop:

If you get the request for the IPC$
resource, when trying to access a
share on a Windows 2000 or XP
system, then the username and
password entered during startup is
NOT defined (or does not match
EXCATLY a username) defined
the User-Management.

you can access via the "My Network Places" icon on your desktop:

	Select "Computers Near me"
	then the system to which you like to connect to, for which all shared resources will be displayed.

you can access via the "My Network Places" icon on your desktop :

Windows XP will show you all
accessable shares on the network,
to which you have access.

You can also view the computers
in the workgroup by selecting under
"Network Task" :
"View workgroup Computers"

The names of the available resources are the Share-names.
You can now use any Windows Explorer function to copy/paste/delete files.

Important: Only systems with "File-and-Print Sharing" installed and with SOMETHING
shared will be dsplayed in the Network Neighborhood.

If only your own system is shown, see the next section on how the "Network Neighborhood" works.

You can also access the
"Network Neighborhood"
from the File-Open-Dialog
of most Windows programs:

(On some programs, the File-Open-dialog does not offer to browse the "Network Neighborhood",
in such cases it is required to map a network drive ).

Note: due to the design of Microsoft Networking based on a "Browse-Master", it may take
a few minutes after reboot of a system, before it shows up in the "Network Neighborhood".

How does the "Network Neighborhood" work ?
If you like to know more about the "Browse Master" and some of the delays of getting
systems displayed, when systems are switched on :
"Under the hood" of "Network Neighborhood" / "My Network Places"

If you are still not getting a proper display, then check the following:
- verify, that all systems are defined to use the SAME workgroup.
- only systems with "File-and-Printer Sahring" installed and SOMETHING shared are displayed.
- test the network connection

On networks using TCP/IP-protocol, you can find out which system is acting as Browse-Master.
If you like to control yourself, which system is acting as the Browse-Master:

view the "Properties" of the "File and Printer Sharing":
by default, the setting for "Browse Master" is "Automatic", which is causing the systems to
elect a Browse-Master. You can name a system to be the Browse-Master by changing the
"Browse Master" value to "Enabled", but then you MUST on ALL other systems in this
workgroup change the value to "Disabled".

Next Step:

Universal Naming Convention
Map a Network drive
Print via the Network