[Wol]

Strange one, this! (To me, anyway.)

I set up a home network several months ago, with a Linksys WAG 160N as the gateway.

The connected systems are:

1) Main desk computer, HP Pavilion, XP Home SP3, linked by cable.

2) Acer netbook, XP Home SP3, linked wirelessly and only used on the network to update its windows and antivirus, otherwise used occasionally on trips.

3) OXX internet radio, linked wirelessly.

When I set up the network (a first for me, and quite hard work (!)), I gave permission for the netbook to access the files on the main computer. My problem is that although *sometimes* I can see them from the netbook, probably 90% of the times I try I get an error message to the effect that they are not available, I don't have permission or something similar. Then another time - voila! I can see them.

I just don't get it - how can something like file sharing come and go like this?

EDIT: PS I should add that I have ZoneAlarm Free on both computers.

Edited by Wol, 08 January 2010 - 04:36 AM.

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OK - I've answered my own question.

Firefox was preventing my desktop from being accessed from the netbook.

FWIW I opened the desktop FF "Alerts and logs", tried to access the desktop computer from the netbook, saw what the DNS was and added it to the "trusted" zone and all was well.

What *now* puzzles me is why ZA gives such a large number of blocked attempts when the Linksys firewall is "upstream" of it - I would have thought that the router firewall would have stopped access attempts before FF saw them?

[Wol]

OK - I've answered my own question.

Firefox was preventing my desktop from being accessed from the netbook.

FWIW I opened the desktop FF "Alerts and logs", tried to access the desktop computer from the netbook, saw what the DNS was and added it to the "trusted" zone and all was well.

What *now* puzzles me is why ZA gives such a large number of blocked attempts when the Linksys firewall is "upstream" of it - I would have thought that the router firewall would have stopped access attempts before FF saw them?