Shared folders on Xp cannot be found from Vista

T

Terry

I have a Windows XP machine (sp3) and a Vista machine in the same workgroup
(only these two on the network). Both machines have shared folders and the XP
machine has a shared printer.

The XP machine can see the shared folders on the Vista machine however the
Vista machine cannot find the XP machine or the printer on the XP machine.

Network discover is on permissions are set for everyone full control, the
Vista machine can ping the XP machine.

I hope someone can tell me what I missed on the Vista machine to allow it to
connect to the XP printer.

Thanks
 
T

Terry

All shared folders on BOTH machines have everyone full control permissions.
Both machines have the same user ID but neither have a password to log on.
 
M

Malke

Terry said:
All shared folders on BOTH machines have everyone full control
permissions. Both machines have the same user ID but neither have a
password to log on.

Assign passwords and see if it works now. If it doesn't, I'd suspect a
firewall misconfiguration issue. See general networking troubleshooting
below.

Excellent, thorough, yet easy to understand article about File/Printer
Sharing in Vista. Includes details about sharing printers as well as files
and folders:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727037.aspx

For XP, start by running the Network Setup Wizard on all machines (see
caveat in Item A below).

Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally caused
by 1) a misconfigured firewall or overlooked firewall (including a stateful
firewall in a VPN); or 2) inadvertently running two firewalls such as the
built-in Windows Firewall and a third-party firewall; and/or 3) not having
identical user accounts and passwords on all Workgroup machines; 4) trying
to create shares where the operating system does not permit it.

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/security program with its own
firewall component, 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. Refer to any third party security program's Help or user forums for
how to properly configure its firewall. Do not run more than one firewall.
DO NOT TURN OFF FIREWALLS; CONFIGURE THEM CORRECTLY.

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
PASSWORDS, EVEN IF ONLY SIMPLE ONES. 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).

E. Create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users' home
directories or Program Files, but you can share folders inside those
directories. A better choice is to simply use the Shared Documents folder.
See the first link above for details about Vista sharing.

Malke
 
T

T. Jenkins

I'm having a very similar problem, and was hoping to piggy-back on this
posting. All I want to do is access folders on my XP desktop from a Vista
laptop, using a wireless network. My wireless network is currently protected
via WEP, and as soon as I get everything working, I"m planning to upgrade the
security to one of the other settings.

I reviewed Malke's response, and followed the linked instructions on
configuring Vista to allow file and printer sharing. I skipped the section
on setting up shared files on the Vista computer, since I'm not currently
interested in that, and went to the section on "Accessing a shared folder or
printer with Windows Vista." The first step calls for finding the computer
you are interested in, but I don't see my desktop computer (the one I'm
trying to access). All I see are my laptop (the one with Vista) and my
wireless router.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks,
Todd
 
T

T. Jenkins

I'm still struggling with this; seems like it should be a simple thing. Can
you tell me how you removed and reinstalled the file and printer sharing?
I'd like to try that.

Todd
 
T

Terry

I simply went to the properities of the network connection on the XP machine.
Un installed file sharing, re booted then installed the same. Added the
shared folder and printer. Now the Vista could see the XP
 

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