Help please!

I have a new laptop which connects wirelessly to a Belkin router which in turn is hard-wired to my desktop pc. Both computers, connect to the internet no problem and I can ping each computer from the other. I have run the network setup wizard and can view shared folders on the laptop from the pc. however when I try to view the pc from the laptop I get the error message which says access denied contact system, administrator to check I have access permissions.Both computers run xp home (sp2). I have configured the folders I want to share for sharing, and disabled firewalls etc. I have also spent over an hour on the helpline going round in circles and racking up my phone bill. This is starting to drive me mad:loopy:

any ideas?

Could be one of a few things:

You haven't shared a folder on the laptop

You havent created the logged in user (from the desktop) in the XP users on the laptop (shouldnt be a problem unless you have turned off simple file sharing).

You have removed the "everyone" group from the premissions on the network share and not explicitly specified the user account from the desktop (again... shouldnt be a problem unless you have turned off simple file sharing)

You havent ticked the firewall exception for "file and printer sharing" on your wireless network adapter on the laptop. Some wireless network adapters also come with profile settings which will include an option to not allow exceptions on certain access points. You should check this isnt ticked.

You arent getting netbios name resolution. Try going to run and typing \\ipaddress\sharename instead of going through network neighbourhood.

There's a possibillity it could be network settings, incorrect subnet/(mask), mismatched workgroup names or something. But its unlikely. I'd hazard a guess that you've overlooked something in the XP firewall or user rights :)

First of all have you checked that each PC is a member of the same workgroup ? (right click my computer>properties>computer name)

This is often the first stage that people fall over on.

Punk has covered most things..but generally with SP2 the firewall settings are automated.

Ine thing to consider is that if you have Norton INternet Security (sorry for swearing there I realise that such bad language is uncalled for) then that will in itself stop the network functioning.

Good luck

Could also be the router. Some allow traffic from wired to wireless but not the other way round, for security.

If none of the above works try typing services.msc in the Run prompt (Start > Run) then checking that the Server service if running. Right click and select automatic and then start if it isn't. Don't know why but this was stopped on mine and stopping File Sharing working. Above is on desktop BTW.

Thanks for all the suggestions- I am working my way through them but am extremely pushed for time at the moment.