Can't access one computer over network

I'm running 2 vista machines, one (Computer A) with a printer hooked up to it and i've always shared this printer over the network. I haven't made any changes to either computer, but now I can view all the files on Computer B from Computer A over the network, but I can't access Computer A from Computer B anymore, thus I can't use the printer. I've always gone into the Network and Sharing Center on Computer B, double clicked the network icon, double clicked the Computer A icon, then double clicked on the printer icon to access it. Now when I try to double click on the Computer A icon, I get the message: "\\computer a is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions. The network is not present or not started. For more info, press help." Here are the network settings for Computer A:

Private Network
Network Discovery: On
File Sharing: On
Public Folder Sharing: On (read only)
Printer Sharing: On
Password Protection Sharing: Off
Media Sharing: Off

Network settings on Computer B are the same as Computer A except next to File Sharing it says "Custom". I've clicked on the "turn on file sharing" option and clicked apply, but it still says custom.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Thanks for your reply, but I'm not quite sure what you mean by Start Search box. Sorry.

I don't have any 3rd party firewalls on either machine that I'm aware of.

Thanks again for your help!

 

Just a slight correction its \\xxxxxxxxx not //xxxxxxxxx

 

Thanks, but I'm still not sure what's meant by "from a command prompt". I can go to RUN in the start menu and type in ping xxxx.xxxx.xxx.xxx (the ip of the other computer) and I get a window that comes up and says "pinging xxx..... with 32 bytes of data" and then it says request timed out 4 times and the window closes. I hope this helps!

Thanks!!!

 

command prompt = goto START > RUN and type in CMD then OK. A COMMAND window will open and remain open until you exit it.

Please list all the IP addresses of your machines.

 

Thanks for clarifying that. So I pinged the other computer but I just get request timed out so I guess it can't communicate with this computer. But I do still see this computer if I go to Network Sharing Center. The icon is there on the network, but it still won't let me access it. Is there a way I can just completely start over again? Maybe delete the network and settings I have and create another network? Thanks again!

 

Can you tell me what anti virus software you are running on the machine that can't share files. Can you turn it off for a moment and check?

 

Currently don't have any installed except super anitspyware. I turned it off but still can't access the computer.

 

Please follow this.

By the way.....are both machines on the same workgroup?

 

Okay, I read through the linked page and everything looks good. The workgroup name on both computers is the same. One thing I noticed when I was looking at both computers is that on Computer A (the one with the printer), when I open up Network and Sharing Center and click on the network icon, I see 4 icons: Computer A, Computer B, Linksys Internet Gateway Device and MS Publication Service Device. But when I do the same on Computer B, I only have 3 icons: Computer A, Linksys Internet Gateway Device and MS Publication Service Device. So the computer itself isn't showing up here. I don't know if that means anything but I thought it may be something. Also, as mentioned before,
Network settings on Computer B are the same as Computer A except next to File Sharing it says "Custom". I've clicked on the "turn on file sharing" option and clicked apply, but it still says custom. When I go back in to check if file sharing is on or off, neither button is selected.

Thanks again for your help!

 

Hi. I have different user accounts on the 2 computers. How do I go about trying to map the printer on the other computer? Thanks!

 

Tried to do this but I get the same message that computer A is not accessible.

 

Thanks for your suggestions, but these all seem to be geared towards XP and I'm running Vista on both machines. Can I still go through the steps mentioned there? Thanks!

 

I spent about 3 hours last night going through all the suggestions in the help section and various internet sites but still the same results. Any other ideas? Isn't there a way I can just start over and try creating a new network? Would that help? Thanks

 

From computer B, have you tried START > RUN > \\xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx OK? Where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the IP address of computer A.

I saw this mentioned before but I did not see your answer to it.

 

I did that and I get the message: Windows cannot access \\xx.xxx.xx.xx . So I clicked the diganose button and it gives me the message: xx.xxx.xx.xx is not set up to establish a connection on port "File and printer sharing (SMB)" with this computer.

Thanks again for your help.

 

OK. Is the Windows firewall off? If it is, my only other suggestion is to delete the network card in device manager and reboot the machine. Make sure you have drivers for your network card just in case Windows doesn't.

 

The firewall is off. Before I delete the network card, I want to make sure I save the driver. I went to device manager and under Network adapters I double-clicked Atheros AR5007 802.11b/g WiFi Adapter. It opened up a window. I clicked on the Driver tab and clicked on Driver Details. It tells me the driver files are in C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\athr.sys. If i take that file and copy it to make desktop, then delete the Network card, will I just be able to place this file back in this folder in case Windows can't find it?

And when you say delete the network card, am I right-clicking on the Atheros AR5007 and selecting uninstall?

Thanks again!

 

That's correct. In network sharing center, if I click on "View full map," I see an icon for Computer A, an icon for Computer B (one underneath the other), an icon for the network and an icon for the internet. But when I'm on computer B and double click on the icon for computer A, I get the message, "computer a is not accessible....."

 

I was hoping I could get an opinion before I delete the network card as advised in a previous post. Before I delete the network card, I want to make sure I save the driver. I went to device manager and under Network adapters I double-clicked Atheros AR5007 802.11b/g WiFi Adapter. It opened up a window. I clicked on the Driver tab and clicked on Driver Details. It tells me the driver files are in C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\athr.sys. If i take that file and copy it to make desktop, then delete the Network card, will I just be able to place this file back in this folder in case Windows can't find it?

And when you say delete the network card, am I right-clicking on the Atheros AR5007 and selecting uninstall?

 

Hi. So I uninstalled the adapter and it didn't help. I still can't access this computer. Any other ideas? Thanks for your help!

 

So now I'll throw something else into the mix. My daughter just got a netbook running XP (Computer C). It CAN access Computer A and the printer. So I'm guessing the problem is with Computer B? As mentioned before, I can't change the workgroup name on this computer because it's grayed out (so I just changed the workgroup name on Computer A and C to the same name as Computer B) and also on Computer B, in network settings, next to File Sharing it says "Custom". I've clicked on the "turn on file sharing" option and clicked apply, but it still says custom. When I go back in to check if file sharing is on or off, neither button is selected.

Thanks again for all your help.