I have LAN connecting with 9 System connected on it with Windos Xp.

Now, In one of the 9 systems. Sometimes I cannot able to share the drive or cannot view the workgroups in Network Neighbourd.

If I double click it. It puts an Error " stating One or more connections are on. Contact your System admin "

I have turned off the windows firewall for both the system. If I ping both the system in LAN network I get reply from both the ends. But not able the share the drives. What would be the reason give solution. Kindly help me... :(

Based on what you have provided, I would assume that you are running into the limits of Workgroup file sharing.

Computers that are a member of a Workgroup can share only up to 10 connections.

As you said there is limitation for Workgroup file sharing up to 10 connections. Now bascially its running only in 8 to 9 its not exceding above 10 systems. So any other way how to get the connections or slove it out.

So is there any other alternative to get things to be done

:confused:

Windows Server has a few different licensing options. For this size office, the Business Edition is more than adequate. The limit for Business Edition is 100 connections and it also has a centralized security model instead of having to use a decentralized security model like Workgroups. In a Workgroup, each computer is responsible for its own security. In a Domain model, the security is centralized and all the computers and users are members of the domain.

So u want me to upgrade the system to windows 2003 server Isint it?
OR
Is it possible to change in Windows Xp system from Workgroup level to domain level can security be used?

Suggest me please.

Without a server, Windows XP can not operate and any level higher than a Workgroup.

Only the Windows XP Professional version can join a Domain. If you have XP Home versions, then you would also have to replace the workstation operating systems to get the functionality of a server based Domain security model. This can get very expensive so you would have to look hard at all the benefits and weigh this against the cost.

If your office is in a growth pattern where you may grow to more computers than what you have now, then moving to a Domain with a server such as Windows Small Business Server would be worth the cost of upgrade.

The amount of expertise to implement a server based system such as SBS is much higher than using a Workgroup based system so there would be a learning curve as well as some possible time spent in the classroom. You can download a trial version to see if it is right for your business. Also, the server is a dedicated operating system and the same computer should never be used as a workstation so an additional hardware purchase for a server class computer may be required.