Cannot see XP machine?

[Derek]

Hi,

I have a laptop running Windows XP SP3 and a desktop running Windows Vista
SP1. After connecting them to access internet through a router, they both
work well. However, when I want to share files between them, despite
proceeding all the steps outlined in the following link, the desktop still
cannot see the laptop yet the laptop can see and access the desktop shared
folders.
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/co...&p=1&tid=e92fa17a-85e4-4ea2-9a37-f3651818ddee

Can anyone help me?

Best regards,
Derek

 

[Malke]

Hi,

I have a laptop running Windows XP SP3 and a desktop running Windows Vista
SP1. After connecting them to access internet through a router, they both
work well. However, when I want to share files between them, despite
proceeding all the steps outlined in the following link, the desktop still
cannot see the laptop yet the laptop can see and access the desktop shared
folders.

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/co...&p=1&tid=e92fa17a-85e4-4ea2-9a37-f3651818ddee

So the problem lies with the laptop's access. This is most commonly caused
by a misconfigured firewall and/or not creating matching user
accounts/passwords.

A. Configure firewalls on all machines to allow the Local Area Network (LAN)
traffic as trusted. With Windows Firewall, this means allowing File/Printer
Sharing on the Exceptions tab. Normally running the Network Setup Wizard on
XP will take care of this for those machines.The only "gotcha" is that this
will turn on the XPSP2 Windows Firewall. If you aren't running a
third-party firewall or have an antivirus with "Internet Worm
Protection" (like Norton 2006/07) which acts as a firewall, then you're
fine. With third-party firewalls, I usually configure the LAN allowance
with an IP range. Ex. would be 192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you
would substitute your correct subnet. Do not run more than one firewall.

B. For ease of organization, put all computers in the same Workgroup. This
is done from the System applet in Control Panel, Computer Name tab.

C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. You do not
need to be logged into the same account on all machines and the passwords
assigned to each user account can be different; the accounts/passwords just
need to exist and match on all machines. DO NOT NEGLECT TO CREATE A
PASSWORD, EVEN IF IT'S ONLY A SIMPLE ONE. If you wish a machine to boot
directly to the Desktop (into one particular user's account) for
convenience, you can do this. The instructions at this link work for both
XP and Vista:

Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm

D. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab).

Malke

 

[Derek]

Hi Malke,

It drives me nuts sitting in front of the computers all day long tackling
the issues. Finally, I found out that the server service in my XP laptop was
disabled. After switching it on, everything is fine

That said, I much appreciate your advice.

Derek

 

[Malke]

Hi Malke,

It drives me nuts sitting in front of the computers all day long tackling
the issues. Finally, I found out that the server service in my XP laptop
was disabled. After switching it on, everything is fine

That said, I much appreciate your advice.

Ah, I never thought in terms of necessary services being turned off. Glad
you got it resolved and thanks for updating the thread.

Malke