Mobility Site - View Single Post

Villain · 05-26-05, 03:34 AM

I don't know anything about the VM Net browser, but I do know a little about Windows Networking. If you have the option to set a workgroup name, make it the same as your other device's domain name, without the .tld in it. For example, at home, I have a network named avalon.net, but one of my pc's is windows xp home edition and can't join the domain. So, to ensure file sharing works, I gave it the workgroup name of avalon and made sure that I created a logon to it with the same username/password I would use on a client that actually joined the domain.

Since doing this (btw, this was the 'trick' to get Windows 3.x - ME versions to connect to a domain for file sharing with Windows NT and 2000, but still works today with 2k and 2k3 networks, even with Active Directory), I haven't had any problems. The only issue you're possibly going to run into is name resolution, which can be solved rather easily.

For name resolution issues, simply create a hosts file on the laptop that defines the PPC, and then use a registry hack from PHM's site (not sure of the url at the moment, so I'll have to look it up tomorrow and post it, you can search the web for PHM utilities and probably find it). This should allow you to set the hostname for the device you want to browse, giving you full access to it.

Alternatively, if you have a DNS server setup at the location that you are browsing, configure both the PPC and the device you are connecting to so that they use it as the primary DNS server. That should also help with any issues in finding each other. Windows 2000, XP, and 2003 use DNS instead of WINS for name resolution as the default, so having this properly setup, or using a hosts file, works the best.

05-26-05, 03:34 AM	#6 (permalink)
Villain Aximsite Minor League Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Washington State Posts: 196 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	I don't know anything about the VM Net browser, but I do know a little about Windows Networking. If you have the option to set a workgroup name, make it the same as your other device's domain name, without the .tld in it. For example, at home, I have a network named avalon.net, but one of my pc's is windows xp home edition and can't join the domain. So, to ensure file sharing works, I gave it the workgroup name of avalon and made sure that I created a logon to it with the same username/password I would use on a client that actually joined the domain. Since doing this (btw, this was the 'trick' to get Windows 3.x - ME versions to connect to a domain for file sharing with Windows NT and 2000, but still works today with 2k and 2k3 networks, even with Active Directory), I haven't had any problems. The only issue you're possibly going to run into is name resolution, which can be solved rather easily. For name resolution issues, simply create a hosts file on the laptop that defines the PPC, and then use a registry hack from PHM's site (not sure of the url at the moment, so I'll have to look it up tomorrow and post it, you can search the web for PHM utilities and probably find it). This should allow you to set the hostname for the device you want to browse, giving you full access to it. Alternatively, if you have a DNS server setup at the location that you are browsing, configure both the PPC and the device you are connecting to so that they use it as the primary DNS server. That should also help with any issues in finding each other. Windows 2000, XP, and 2003 use DNS instead of WINS for name resolution as the default, so having this properly setup, or using a hosts file, works the best.