View Workgroup Computers

[cmwood]

I have two networks connected by router. 10.159.232.0 and 10.159.234.0 I can ping the nodes on the opposite side of the router from each side, 10.159.232.1 can ping anything on the 10.159.234.0 network and vice versa. What I need is to be able to see the workgroups on one network from the other network, like when you go to network places then click on "view workgroup computers". I have XP Pro on all the pc's I need to do this on. The goal is to share documents across the two networks. How can I do this?

[aeinstein]

I have two networks connected by router. 10.159.232.0 and 10.159.234.0 I can ping the nodes on the opposite side of the router from each side, 10.159.232.1 can ping anything on the 10.159.234.0 network and vice versa. What I need is to be able to see the workgroups on one network from the other network, like when you go to network places then click on "view workgroup computers". I have XP Pro on all the pc's I need to do this on. The goal is to share documents across the two networks. How can I do this?

I'm not sure you're going to be able to do that w/o 3rd party software. I've been out of networking for a bit now, but from what I recall using the 'View Workgroup Computers' utility does just that - it let's u view the computers associated within the same work group as the one ur using. Specifically, this means the computers would have unique names but share the same EXACT work group name and be within the same LAN segment, as defined by the physical & logical (think "subnet mask") connections. Out of curiosity, what are the subnet masks for each of ur two networks? With that, a little more info would be helpful, such as how many computers are on each network and what their OS's are (for instance XP Home wont have a couple of the network/admin centric utilities that XP Pro has - there arent many differences between the two, but for ur purposes it may be the difference in getting what ya need done). You may want to double check the work group name, computer name, ip address & sub-net mask configured on each pc - giving us a facscimile of this info wud help too (by that i mean if u feel ansy abt giving us specific work group/computer names, give us some example schema that u feel comfortable with (personally i would prefer be provided an equitable example schema rather than the actual names). giving us specific private ip addresses & sub-net masks are not going to be an issue since 10.159.x.x scopes fall within the private class of 10.x ip's and as such are not routeable - accessible - over the public internet). lastly, for now, try using the net view command to access the different computers; if ur not familiar w/this command set just access the help search on ur pc, type in "net view command" - in WinXP Home u'll get two search results, the full text result being the one u'll want to access. oh, & btw, lest we forget the basics, make sure ur firewalls & internet security programs are TEMPORARILY disabled while ur t/s. HTH

[cmwood]

10.159.232.0 and 10.159.234.0 are the networks, full class C. Gateways are .254 and .254. There are 75 pc's on the .232 side and 38 on the .234 side. All pc's of question run XP Pro. VPN is not an option as we are already Frame between the routers at each location. Cisco 1700 routers at each location. First of all, I didn't think this was possible at all, until, last monday I connected a brand new pc to the local network, .232, and double clicked "My network places" then on "view workgroup computers". What I saw was not what I expected...I saw icons of the pc's on the .234 network. I closed and went back into view workgroup computers and then saw the pc's on the local .232 network only and was never able to get this pc to see the .234 pc icons again. I thought it was a fluke deal until last thursday when connecting another brand new pc to the local .232 network it happened again! This time when I saw icons of the .234 network I double clicked on one and went to the shared folder and was able to view the documents shared at that location. As soon as I closed I was never able to see the .234 network again. Both networks have workgroup names of DEDI. It would certainly make my job easier to be able to see both network pc icons on my pc at each location. Have never heard of netview but will try it sometime this week.

[aeinstein]

sorry, i mistakenly ass-u-me'd that u were a small home/office/lab admin. I'll snoop around for you & c what i came come up with, if anything. either way i'll post within the week. if u get this resolved in the meantime please run up a quick post to let us know how it worked out. Good luck.

[aeinstein]

just checked & it looks like XP is not officially supported by IBM Tivoli's Netview s/w

PS: you might try posting your inquiry here on the adminlife forum as well - there's never too many fronts in obtaining correct info!

btw, do u want to enable end-users to have cross access as well, or strictly from admin permissions?

[cmwood]

Still trying to figure this out... Really stumps me! We have shared folders on both networks available to all for document use and drive mapping. I also have a password protected folder on my IT-Admin pc that I use for sensitive material, data transfer and programs. I probably would do most of the cross network stuff as I'm the only one that uses both although my boss and a couple of the other managers go to the remote location about once a month or so. Thanks for the info about the other forum, I'll post there also. If a solution comes up I'll repost. Even if one does'nt come up I'll post.

Thanks again,
Chris

[cmwood]

Well, I have a solution to what I want to do, but not an answer to the question. A friend suggested that I use the browser and type in "\\10.159.234.90" as an example and I was able to see the shared files on the pc with that ip at the remote location. So...I can accomplish what I want to do now which makes me a happy camper! Still would like to know the answer to the other, but, if I never find out it's ok cuz I have the alternative! Thanks for all the suggestions and help! I'll keep checking in!
Chris