Networking problem

[SCT]

I have a pc running Vista Home connected to the network via ethernet and a laptop running vista home premium with a wireless wifi connection through a wireless router.
I have setup a network and want to be able to access an external hard drive connected to the pc (j: drive) from the laptop.
I can see the pc on the network from the laptop but when I try to open/explore it I get a message saying:
"Windows cannot access NAME\\pc. Check the spelling of the name"
I have checked the name of the pc in the system and it list it using lower case (Names pc) but in the network map it uses upper case(NAMES PC). The laptop also shows it as being in UPPER case. Does this make a difference?
All file sharing options have been ticked on both machines.I can access files on the laptop from the pc but not visa versa.
Any thoughts/help appreciated.

[GavinSV]

Have you set permissions to give Users on the laptop to access files on the shared drive?

[SCT]

Hi gavin, thanks for your reply.
I am the only user on the laptop so automatically have administrator priviledges.
When I open the network and sharing centre the screen only shows the laptop connected to the network:

and when I view the full map:


As you can see, I can see the pc but I cant select it to browse any drives on it (although sometimes I can and get the message saying to check the spelling of the name).
I have turned on all the sharing options on both the laptop and the pc
Is this the permissions you are referring to?
As I said, I can access the laptop from the pc but not the pc from the laptop even though all of the sharing settings are the same on both machines.

[artur_k]

check if the guest account is enabled on the pc, it should be (99% the cause of the problem)

[grind3374]

I had the same problem mate, I disabled Administrator pass word and turned off the UAC ( User Account Control via control panel/user account ) until I did this it would only allow me to continue with limited access.

[Dreamgirl]

I cant understand why my LAN card stop working.Then i restart my pc, it starts to work again??!!!

[crypto7]

Sometimes windows what resolve names correctly with out a DNS server. I have one or two computers that dont even apear in the networked computers list.

Try to map a drive with the IP address.
eg: \\ip address\share name
if this works, then the issue is in the name resolution.

[z80]

Try using 8 letters or less for the share name, alphanumeric only.


also in explorer, view,options, "use simple file sharing" ticked.

[gavpk]

Try to map a drive with the IP address.
eg: ip addressshare name
if this works, then the issue is in the name resolution.

+1, this is a good start