I'm sure this will be nothing new to you...

[fish3k1]

Hey guys, having an issue with home networking.

Basic problem is thus: three computers, all on the same network via a BT home hub (which for the non-uk residents is sort of a combined modem/router/webphone).

All systems are set to use the workgroup "MONKEY" (don't ask, someone thought it'd be a laugh).

Two machines are running Vista, one is running XP.

All machines used to be able to see each other and talk to each other happily, file-sharing etc, network discovery, no problem. Then one day, without warning and for no apparent raisin (heh) the XP machine startes getting denied from the workgroup resources.

Error reads "Monkey is not accessible. You might not have permission to use thie network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions."

Seen this plenty of times in the past, usually a reboot of all hardware solves it... not so anymore it seems. Can't even ping each other in a command prompt.

Not been able to test if vista machines can talk due to lack of third flatmate (he's away) so not really sure where the problem lies. Any advice = greatly appreciated.

[SteeleDragon78]

that almost sounds like an update for one of the OS's fouled the work group settings up, nice easy thing to try would be to change workgroups and then rejoin monkey. might want to check your update history as well, someone else on the board was having issues with a vista update lately.....hmmm

[Rapscallion]

That was me, but it's my local ISP fouling up. The update was simply coincidental.

Rapscallion

[fish3k1]

Already tried leaving and rejoining monkey as I was writing the OP, results were a steaming pile of negative unfortunately :/

Just found out also: my Macbook on OS 10.4.11 is also not able to see the other computers on Monkey, although again, I've never had any problem with it before.

[ApolloSZ]

If you have access to the home-hubs admin page (usually the first ip adress on your network eg 197.168.1.0 or 1) see if there are any MAC adress blocks/limits.
I sort of know the hub your talking about (aunty brought one back from scotland) but havent had much of a chance to look at it's admin pages so can't give you more accurate descriptions

[fish3k1]

Nothing blocked in the hub settings, actually did a full reset on the hub not so long ago (i.e factory defaults) because the thing was acting a little weird.

Funnily enough, out of curiosity I checked network discovery from my macbook to my vista pc whilst changing the vista machines workgroup - under the default workgroup 'WORKGROUP' I can get access, as soon as I switch back to monkey and restart I lose the machine again. Probably just turn all machines back to workgroup (or an entirely new workgroup name) but does anyone know what would cause that? Something in the windows registry?

[ApolloSZ]

out of curiousity, did the main issues coincide with the factory reset on the Home Hub?

[fish3k1]

No, they were present well in advance.

[MrSmiley]

In addition to the workgroup, resources are usually controlled by the username... so if someone logs in as "Jack", it checks for an account named "Jack" on each computer that it's trying to access resources from (or a server but that's usually domains). Sometimes a changed setting here or a change of password could be what's fouling things up.

Funnily enough, out of curiosity I checked network discovery from my macbook to my vista pc whilst changing the vista machines workgroup - under the default workgroup 'WORKGROUP' I can get access, as soon as I switch back to monkey and restart I lose the machine again. Probably just turn all machines back to workgroup (or an entirely new workgroup name) but does anyone know what would cause that? Something in the windows registry?

It indeed sounds like something might be saved with "MONKEY" that's not letting it work. I can't remember where these settings are stored on each computer to clear them out. Google hasn't made my memory any better. Maybe it's time for the dawning of the "MONKEY1" group instead.

[fish3k1]

Well, being back on WORKGROUP seems to have solved the problem of file sharing at least. Maybe the dawn of MONKEY1 is just over the horizon MrSmiley

What we have since discovered though, is that the XP machine also seems to have come down with a case of the IEXPLORE.EXE trojan, and it's proving an absolute SWINE to shift. Now I'm not comfortable with registry editing, so what advice can ye good people at CS.com give me?

[ApolloSZ]

Currently I like Avast Antivirus and Malware Bytes Antimalware for cleaning my PC. Haven't encountered this trojan myself tho

[MrSmiley]

What we have since discovered though, is that the XP machine also seems to have come down with a case of the IEXPLORE.EXE trojan, and it's proving an absolute SWINE to shift. Now I'm not comfortable with registry editing, so what advice can ye good people at CS.com give me?

In addition to virus scanners and spyware scanners, iexplore.exe is part of the core windows system. While I don't agree that's a good thing, it does mean you should be able to use restore points or run Microsoft's System File Checker tool to scan/reinstall/restrore the file. To do that just open a command prompt window (START MENU > RUN > 'cmd') and then type "sfc /scannow" or "sfc /scanonce" if you prefer to do it after a reboot. This will basically check the integrity of each "core" windows file and try to restore from a SP or Windows CD if the file differs.

Of course Internet Explorer being Internet Explorer, I'm not sure it wouldn't be a better idea to just download the setup file and reinstall it completely, replacing the trojaned file. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/int...r/default.aspx for the latest version (IE8) or search http://download.cnet.com/ if you want a specific earlier version (since Microsoft always pushes people to the latest stuff, whether it's better or not). For best results you may want to download this on a computer NOT infected and transfer it over the network to the bad computer. Heck it might be better still that once that's done you reboot the computer in safe mode (press F8 when you see "Loading windows" before the fancy graphic) and run the installer there. That will ensure a minimal amount of files are loaded at the time.

Best of luck.