How to Troubleshoot a Home Network

Some people have two or more computers that are set in a home network. Sometimes there will be some problems with the network like blocking your file and print sharing. In this article you will learn how to troubleshoot a home network and get it back working properly.

How to Troubleshoot a Home Network

Step 1. First, make sure that you have run the Network Setup Wizard on each of your computers in your home, even if you have configured it manually. Your file and printer sharing will be disabled until you run the wizard at least once.

Step 2. All of your computers should appear in My Network Places or View Workgroup Computers, if not, wait about 20 minutes and check it again. If all of your computers still do not appear and you have older versions of windows running like Windows 9x or Me on your network, restart the Windows XP computers, wait about 3 or 4 minutes then start up your older computers. If that does not work try booting your computers in various orders.

Step 3. On each of your computers, go to the start menu and click on My Computer. Select My Network Places and then select View Network Connections. Then look for the Local Area Network icon and see if it says "disconnected." If the answer is yes then you have a problem with your cables or your network adapter.

Step 4. Now look at your Local Area Connections icons say "Firewalled" next to them. If you find this problem, then your Windows Connection Firewall may be blocking your file and printing sharing. Go to your Firewall Protection and make the needed changes.

Step 5. Another thing you can try go to the start menu and right click on My Computer and click Properties. Then view the Computer Name tab. Each of your computers should have a different name and the same workgroup name on them. If they happen to not have different names then you will have to change them. After you have adjusted this restart the computers and see if it made a difference.