"cannot find server" under IIS on LAN

[welshTerrier2]

i'm running a local IIS server on my home laptop to test apps i build with Visual Studio ... on the hosting laptop, i can enter a path in the browser like: http://localhost/myWebApp/default.aspx and i can view the file with no problems ...

but when i try to view it from another node on my home network, i get a "cannot find server" error ... i tried pinging the host computer from the other node and it can see the host computer without a problem ...

not sure if it matters but i allowed IE as an exception in my firewall (i'm going to try a quick test by turning off the firewall completely - results to follow) ...

any ideas why i can't see my website from another computer on the network?? both computers are in the same workgroup and both are running Windows XP Pro ...

[welshTerrier2]

1. all set - found the answer

it was a firewall problem - what's weird is that i turned off the firewall but that didn't help ... here's what solved the problem:

Port 80 is blocked by the Windows XP Firewall by default.

Go to Control Panel > Windows Firewall.

On the Exceptions tab, click on Add Port, name it HTTP and enter 80 as the Port Number, select the TCP radio button and click OK.

That should allow your computer to respond to non-local port 80 requests.