xp simple file sharing use netbios only?

[nutBar]

please help

I have a small home network of one xp pro and one xp home machine. I know that xp home only supports windows simple file sharing (and cannot share across a domain), but from experience of networking windows 98 I know that netBios bound to TCP/IP is a potentially dangerous problem. I also keep reading that Xp solves this problem by removing the need for the netBios protocol. But, my home network works perfectly when I enable netBios (which I am trying to avoid) on both machines, but when I disable netBios the shares become unavailable in My Network Places on both machines.

I have been looking all over the web for info to clarify this issue. What I want to know is does XP Simple File Sharing require netBios? If it does, then what are the issues in using netBios on XP machines in a home network. My network is comprised of two xp machines (one xp, one pro) connected to a switch, with a adsl router also connected to the switch. All IP addresses are static, and I have the routers DNS server enabled. Everything works perfectly, except that file sharing only works with netBios.

many thanks
nuttie

 

[Magsy]

There should be no issues.

You shouldn't have it enabled on an internet facing connection, which of course you haven't because the router is in the way.

http://cable-dsl.home.att.net/netbios.htm

 

[nutBar]

Thanks for the info Magsy, but could you confirm though that Windows XP Simple File Sharing requires netBios to function? My confusion comes from the fact that I believed that XP negated the need for the protocol, but as far as I can see, netBios is the only option with xphome. Unfortunatly, I use NAT on my router, so the routers usual protection is rendered useless: this is the main reason why I am trying to avoid using netBios, or at the least, understand why Im still using it in Windows XP.

nuttie