Although County boss Chris Turner had wanted his team to produce the form which saw them shock League One side Swansea City in the FA Cup first round last week, the match never really lived up to expectations.
But it was a lively clash between two sides looking to pull themselves away from the wrong end of the table.
It was Barnet's first return to the north-west since losing 4-1 to Manchester United in the Carling Cup at the end of October.
But they were behind after a quarter-of-an-hour when skipper Matt Hamshaw gave County the lead.
Jermaine Easter crossed from the left, winger Harpal Singh miscued his shot, but Hamshaw made no such mistake and fired home from close range.
The home side's lead didn't last long - two minutes in fact - as Louis Soares' cross was met rather fortuitously by Jason Norville, with the ball rebounding off his right shin and beyond County keeper James Spencer.
Spencer kept his side level with a string of excellent saves as the visitors pressed for a winner in the second half, but the best block came in injury-time when he tipped a Dean Sinclair over the crossbar.
Earlier, Hamshaw and Danny Boshell both had good chances to restore County's lead.
Hamshaw, who was excellent for the home side, saw a dipping shot fly inches over the crossbar, while fellow midfielder Boshell fired over from distance.
Easter was also clean through on goal in the 68th minute but, after collecting Mark Robinson's excellent pass, the striker fired wide of the target.
Barnet saw Ben Strevens head against the woodwork after Liam Hatch had headed into his path, while Ismail Yakubu saw a fierce drive well stopped by the on-song Spencer.
Hatch missed the target with a powerful shot from the edge of the box and Soares had a left-footed cross deflected over the crossbar by County midfielder Keith Briggs.
But in the end both sides had to settle for a point after a frustrating Sunday afternoon.