Network... I've tried the easy stuff

[Guest]

Issue: Can't access XP Home files from Vista (home premium) machine

XP laptop wireless conection to Netgear WPN824 v.2 Router.
Vista desktop ether connection to same router.

I can access files on the PC from the laptop.

In Vista Network Map, Laptop shows up but can't open it. So frustrating
because Vista knows it's there, but won't let me at it. I can't find laptop
any other way in vista (laptop doesn't appear in network area. Tried
//laptop. Doesn't work in Vista.

Both machines ping each other.
Downloaded the LLTD for XP machine
Firewall disabled on both machines
No anti-virus software on either machine (although I deleted Norton from
Vista, In security center still says "Norton repords that it is turned off-
maybe I didn't kill it all the way?)
File sharing enabled on both machines (tried public & private network on
Vista)
Same user name/network name on both, no password
Netbios enabled over TCP/IP
Both machines can access the internet through the router
Laptop prints on printer shared on Vista
Network discovery ( and other options in "Sharing and Discovery" turned on,
except password protected sharing.

Is this crazy or what?
Can you help me?

 

[Guy Thomas]

I guess it is time for wild guesses.

1) How is the DNS? I realize that it's a home network but I would try adding
the other machine as a dns server in the TCP/IP settings.

2) Has file and print sharing been disable on the laptop?

What happens if you type \\laptop on the laptop!

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your response. The problem has been solved.
For those of you with the same issue, here is what my problem was...
Although I had enabled NETBIOS, for some reason it didn't take. I went back
a second time, turned it off and on again, and then it worked, that is, both
machine could ping by name and IP.

Second, Don't assume that files are shared. Although I had been networking
with this machine with no problem before, somehow the local server became
disabled. This was fixed by opening services.msc in Run, scrolling down and
selecting "Server" enabling it in startup type and then starting the service.
After this I went back and again shared the files that were previously
available.

I don't have any tech experience so I don't really know what I'm talking
about, but this is what worked for me. Good luck.