NIS 2012 blocking file sharing?

Norton Security | Norton Internet Security
1

I've got three computers set up for file sharing. All 3 have NIS 2012. The sharing works about half the time.

When the problem arises, I will go to Start/Network and see the other computer, but after I enter the username and password it tells me   Network Error    Windows cannot access ............   Details: The network path was not found.

There is a Diagnose button, it does help, says it can't find a computer by that name, except that it is being shown in Network.

 

When this problem happens, the computer that I am using is running Windows 7 Pro, the two computers I am trying to access are both Windows Vista Home Premium. Sometimes I can access one of the Vista computers, but the other is unavailable, which seems to say the problem is on the computer that I am trying to access. Additionally, if I cannot get access to one of the Vista computers from the Win7 computer and I go over to the other Vista, I will not be able to access the problematic Vista computer from it either. Again, seeming to imply that the problem is on the computer I am trying to access. But it does happen occasionally on either of the Vista computers.

  

I have found that I can fix this by going to the computer that I want to access, disable the Norton firewall, and then reboot both the computer that I am trying to access, as well as the computer that I am using for the access. (If I do not reboot both, it will not help.)

After that, I can re-enable the Norton firewall, and it will continue to work for a while.

(I do not think it is just a reboot issue, since these computers are shut down every night, and rebooted each morning. )

 

Sometimes I can just wait a while, and the shared access will return on its own.

 

They all have the same workgroup.

They are all set for password protected sharing, although the user account is not present on the computer that I am using for the access. I just enter the credential when prompted.
  Edit: I just changed the user account on the computer that I am using for access to match the  username and password on the account on the target computer, does not help

 

I am able to ping the computer, even though I cannot access it.

The firewalls are set for Shared.

 

BTW this also happened when all the computers were running NIS 2011.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks

 

 

2

Hi

   Can you change the Shared status into Full Trust and do a restart, then try accessing the files.

3

I've made the suggested change, let's see how it works for a while.

 

Can you explain the differences betweeen Full Trust and Shared?

 

Thanks

4

Making the change to full trust did not help. The problem is still occurring.

 

 

5

Did you set Full Trust in Trust Control on all machines? That is what I have always had to do to get it to work.

6

I've set Full Trust on all 3 computers in the network. Worked for a little while, now it is failing again.

 

When I go into Start/Network on my Win7 machine (computer A), the Vista computer (computer C) that I want to access is not even shown.
When I sit at a different computer (Windows Vista - computer B) and try to access that same computer, computer B is not shown there either

 

When I then open NIS2012 on the Win7 computer A and go to the network map and select that computer C, it says Connection: offline.
And next to the IP address it has the wrong address - it says  192.168.192.168

 

When I do the same on computer B, it also says computer C is offline, but it shows two IP addresses - the same incorrect address as above, and it also shows the correct address.

The computers have all been on for over an hour today, so it is not a startup issue.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks

 

Edit: I went back after posting this and now i see that the correct IP address is shown for computer C in NIS on A and B, but C is still shown as Offline. If I wait long enough it will come back online again as it usually does. And by the way, computer C is online, has full internet access.

7

I've still not been able to resolve this.

I've got all computers set to full trust, all computers have the identical user account, and the shared folders have Everyone added in the share dialog.

 

When the problem appears, it definitely seems to be on the computer that I am attempting to access. Neither of the other computers are able access it. And then when it finally does decide to be accessible an hour or so later, both computers are then able to access it.

 

In the network security map, sometimes the inaccessible computer shows as Offline, but sometimes as Online. Turning off the firewall sometimes seems to help, but not always, unless I reboot after turning it off. Then it usually seems to work.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks

8
Vincenzo wrote:

 

When I then open NIS2012 on the Win7 computer A and go to the network map and select that computer C, it says Connection: offline.
And next to the IP address it has the wrong address - it says  192.168.192.168

 


Are you using a Class C network?

I pretty sure class B is not supported.

A class C network is when only the last octet changes, the first 3 are fixed.

For instance 192.168.1.xxx

subnet 255.255.255.0

 

A class B would be 192.168.xxx.xxx

subnet 255.255.0.0

 

Dave

9

Hi

   If the communication between the computers were blocked by the Firewall in NIS, then adding an exception for those IP's should fix the problem.

 

   Follow the steps below to add exception:

   Goto Settings -> Network -> smart Firewall -> Advanced Settings Configure -> General Rules Configure -> Add -> Allow -> to and from -> only the computers and sites listed below ->Use IP range Add the IP range you're using in your Network-> And then finish the wizard by selecting appropriate settings.

10
Vincenzo wrote:

And next to the IP address it has the wrong address - it says  192.168.192.168

When I do the same on computer B, it also says computer C is offline, but it shows two IP addresses - the same incorrect address as above, and it also shows the correct address.

How are you assigning IP addresses?  192.168..192.168 seems like a very strange IP address for the router to assign and it doesn't sound like one a user such as yourself might have picked - but it is the default address for some Epson wireless printers.  Also, a device on your network can have only one IP address, so if you have a PC at more than one address, something is messed up.  This certainly sounds like a network problem, rather than a firewall issue, and something definitely seems odd with the IP addresses.

11

When I check the Network Map in NIS from my Win 7 laptop, it shows 192.168.192.168 as the IP address for both of the other two computers.

 

When I run ipconfig on those two computers, they both show normal internal ip addresses   192.168.0.103 and 192.168.0.105.
Those are also the addresses I see when I look in my router's LAN page.
My subnet mask is 255.255.255.0

 

Thanks

 

 

12

Hi

Purge the Network Security Map and create a new list of devices. Ensure that you disable Remote Monitoring and close the Network Security Map window before you purge Network Security Map. After creating new list give Full trust to all of'em and check.

 

To purge the Network Security Map

  1. In the Norton Internet Security main window, click Settings.

  2. In the Settings window, click the Network tab.

  3. In the left pane, click Network Security Settings.

  4. In the Network Security Map row, click Purge.

  5. In the confirmation dialog box, click Yes.

13

OK I've done that.

 

How do I create the new list and give Full Trust?

 

And btw to answer a previous question, all ip addresses are obtained automatically from the router.

 

Thanks

14
Vincenzo wrote:

How do I create the new list and give Full Trust?

Norton should automatically detect the devices on the network and, if you have file and printer sharing enabled on the PCs, Norton should assign a trust level of "Shared" for each device.  That should be sufficient.  If you still have problems, you can manually edit the trust level of each device in the Network Security Map and set them to "Full Trust."  If the devices do not appear in the map, disconnect each one from the network and reconnect them - Norton will see them as they are added back.

15

 

I've never had to create the list. I've always just gone in there and the list was already there, then I edited to give full trust in the dropdown that has the name of my network, on the left.

 

I've never used the dropdown entry that says Trust Control, not sure what it is for. Should I  be using that?

 

16
Vincenzo wrote:

I've never used the dropdown entry that says Trust Control, not sure what it is for. Should I  be using that?

No, just let Norton find the devices automatically.  Disconnect and reconnect each one, if necessary.

17

Looks like we cross posted.

 

It did repopulate the list, and one computer it gave Full trust to both devices, on the other computer it gave full trust to one and shared to the other. (previously they all were full trust).

But the access is still not there. On the computer that gave both devices Full Trust, I have access to only one device, the other one is still not accessible at the moment. If it is like before, the access will come and go.

18

Also the computer that cannot be accessed is showing two ip addresses again:

192.168.192.168

192.168.0.104

19

If you are still getting odd IP addresses, you may need to check the router.  You might try turning it off for a minute, and if that doesn't work, you might want to reset it, which will revert all settings to their defaults (you'll have to go back into the configuration screens and re-configure them again, so you'll want to note the settings before doing the reset).

20

On the problem PC, go into the LAN properties, Internet Protocol properties and make sure it is set to receive an IP address automatically.  If you don't know where to find this, please advise what the Operating System is on the PC.