Home Network with Vista and XP Strange Behaviour

[Aviator]

Hi,

I have read and re-read the posts about vista-xp networking but somehow the
suggestions still don't work. I can access the Vista laptop through the
desktop PC XP SP2 which is wired to the router but I can't acces the desktop
pc via the laptop which is connected wirelessly, though it shows it in the
"Network" window. I get an error that says Windows cannot access (computer
name) error code:0x80070035 network path was not found. Then it offers to
diagnose and then when it has finished, it says "Cannot communicate with
(Computer name) 192.168.1.3" This seems strange as I can access Vista with XP
but not XP with Vista. Can anyone help please? Thanks.

 

[Malke]

Hi,

I have read and re-read the posts about vista-xp networking but somehow
the suggestions still don't work. I can access the Vista laptop through
the desktop PC XP SP2 which is wired to the router but I can't acces the
desktop pc via the laptop which is connected wirelessly, though it shows
it in the "Network" window. I get an error that says Windows cannot access
(computer name) error code:0x80070035 network path was not found. Then it
offers to diagnose and then when it has finished, it says "Cannot
communicate with (Computer name) 192.168.1.3" This seems strange as I can
access Vista with XP but not XP with Vista. Can anyone help please?
Thanks.

Check your firewall on the XP box. See:

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.

What firewall, antivirus, and other security software are you running on the
XP box?

Also, please provide the results of an ipconfig /all on both machine in your
next post. We're interested in seeing the IP addresses for the computers,
the gateway, and the DNS servers.

XP:
Start>Run>cmd [enter]
ipconfig /all [enter]

Vista:
Start Orb>Search box>type: cmd
When cmd appears in the Results above, right-click it and run as
Administrator. Then do the ipconfig at the command prompt as above.

Malke

 

[Mick Murphy]

If using Norton, McAfee, Trend Micro I.S., make sure file and printer sharing
is enabled in THEIR firewall .(LAN allowed)

Also, If you haven’t done so already, run XP’s Network Setup Wizard (in
Start >All Programs >Accessories >Communications), and tell the Wizard to
enable File and Printer Sharing.
Or > Start > Control Panel > Network Connections > Set up a Home or Small
Office Network.

 

[Aviator]

Thanks guys for your responses.

I have McAfee Security Center on XP and I have set the firewall to allow LAN
and allowed File and Printer sharing in both systems' windows firewall before
and I checked again to make sure. Here are the ipconfig /all results:
XP - IP Address: 192.168.1.3
- Gateway: 192.168.1.1
- DNS Server: 192.168.1.1
Vista - IPv4 Address: 192.168.1.2
- Gateway: 192.168.1.1
- DNS Server: 192.168.1.1

I already did the Network Set Wizard on XP but as I said before Vista can't
access XP, thanks again.

Hi,

I have read and re-read the posts about vista-xp networking but somehow
the suggestions still don't work. I can access the Vista laptop through
the desktop PC XP SP2 which is wired to the router but I can't acces the
desktop pc via the laptop which is connected wirelessly, though it shows
it in the "Network" window. I get an error that says Windows cannot access
(computer name) error code:0x80070035 network path was not found. Then it
offers to diagnose and then when it has finished, it says "Cannot
communicate with (Computer name) 192.168.1.3" This seems strange as I can
access Vista with XP but not XP with Vista. Can anyone help please?
Thanks.

Check your firewall on the XP box. See:

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.

What firewall, antivirus, and other security software are you running on the
XP box?

Also, please provide the results of an ipconfig /all on both machine in your
next post. We're interested in seeing the IP addresses for the computers,
the gateway, and the DNS servers.

XP:
Start>Run>cmd [enter]
ipconfig /all [enter]

Vista:
Start Orb>Search box>type: cmd
When cmd appears in the Results above, right-click it and run as
Administrator. Then do the ipconfig at the command prompt as above.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!

 

[Malke]

Thanks guys for your responses.

I have McAfee Security Center on XP and I have set the firewall to allow
LAN and allowed File and Printer sharing in both systems' windows firewall
before and I checked again to make sure. Here are the ipconfig /all
results: XP - IP Address: 192.168.1.3
- Gateway: 192.168.1.1
- DNS Server: 192.168.1.1
Vista - IPv4 Address: 192.168.1.2
- Gateway: 192.168.1.1
- DNS Server: 192.168.1.1

I already did the Network Set Wizard on XP but as I said before Vista
can't access XP, thanks again.

Well, both machines are on the same subnet. McAfee is a horrible program
that constantly causes issues. I would uninstall it and use the built-in
Windows Firewall, which is adequate for most people.

McAfee Removal Tools/Instructions
http://forums.mcafeehelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=71943

After you've removed McAfee and set the Windows Firewall to allow
File/Printer Sharing, test. If you are still having difficulties, make sure
that you've:

1. Really only got the Windows Firewall running and there are no extra
third-party security programs with any firewall-ish functions.

2. Make sure you 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. 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

DO NOT NEGLECT TO CREATE PASSWORDS, EVEN IF THE PASSWORD YOU USE IS
"PASSWORD".

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

Malke

 

[Aviator]

Hi thanks again,

I managed to find the problem. I had don't allow exceptions in windows
firewall checked but I thought it wouldn't matter as the other programs on
the list still worked. Thanks for your help anyway.