windows XP network head scratcher

[spacedog]

right I've got two pcs connected to the interweb and each other via a netgear ethernet router.
Both pcs are running XP with sp2 but pc B is a fresh install
both conenct to the interweb no problem
now I've been faffing about all day trying to get the two of them to talk to each other now I've got to the point where both are visible to each other in "network places"
pcB can happily access shared files on pcA
but if I try to access pcB from pcA I get an error that ends in "the network is not present or not started"
once I get that error and then try and access pcA from pcB I get an error that ends in "the network path was not found"
so now neither of them will talk to each other unless I reboot

I've seen a few things that suggest that the services "server" and "workstation" are related to this problem
if I look under services I see that they are set to automatic but haven't started. I can start them manually but this doesn't seem to make a difference

any suggestions? I've been through just about everything google has to offer

 

[spacedog]

sorted

I did a reboot of both systems just to check the settings and then I was back to having neither pc see the other
I checked the ping and got a ping transmit error 65 . after a quick google I realised I had deactivated zonealarm on pcA but not actually uninstalled it. I unistalled it and rebooted and now they're happily working again

although i did get a "generic host process has caused an error and needs to be shutdown" on pcA and that stopped it working again but I just went into service and restarted "server" and workstation and it started working again

hopefully it'll stay that way

 

[Gaz`]

can both the PC's ping each other now?

disable all firewalls, until you get it working properly.

ensure that both pcs are in the same workgroup
(right click my comp > properties > computer name)
set the workgroup name the same on both machines.