Vista and XP workgroups

[DeAnna]

I have a laptop running Windows Vista and would like print from it. I have a
Desk top running XP and have set up the wireless router, workgroups and the
printer. My Desktop can see the Laptop; but the Laptop doesn't show the
Desktop and I am unable to print from the Laptop. We do have another laptop
running XP and it's able to view the desktop and print with no problem.
Please help, I am so confused and frustrated.

 

[Malke]

I have a laptop running Windows Vista and would like print from it. I
have a Desk top running XP and have set up the wireless router, workgroups
and the
printer. My Desktop can see the Laptop; but the Laptop doesn't show the
Desktop and I am unable to print from the Laptop. We do have another
laptop running XP and it's able to view the desktop and print with no
problem. Please help, I am so confused and frustrated.

If the printer is connected locally to one of the XP computers (it is
unclear from your post whether this is the case or whether the printer is a
true network printer), then you must get your Local Area Network file/printer
sharing set up correctly first. Then install the Vista printer drivers on the
Vista machine (get the latest Vista drivers from the printer mftr.). If you
are running Vista 64-bit, post back for slight different printing
instructions. In the meantime, here are general network troubleshooting
steps.

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. In Vista, turn Password Protected Sharing ON. 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:

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

Vista - Start Orb>Search box>type: netplwiz [enter]
Click on Continue (or supply an administrator's password) when prompted by
UAC

Uncheck the option "Users must enter a user name and password to use this
computer". Select a user account to automatically log on by clicking on the
desired account to highlight it and then hit OK. Enter the correct password
for that user account (if there is one) when prompted. Leave it blank if
there is no password (null).

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.

F. After you have file sharing working (and have tested this by exchanging a
file between all machines), if you want to share a printer connected locally
to one of your computers, share it out from that machine. Then go to the
printer mftr.'s website and download the latest drivers for the correct
operating system(s). Install them on the target machine(s). The printer
should be seen during the installation routine. If it is not, install the
drivers and then use the Add Printer Wizard. In some instances, certain
printers need to be installed as Local printers but that is outside of this
response.

Malke

 

[DeAnna]

It's not a wireless printer. It has a cable attached to the desktop which
runs XP.
DeAnna

 

[DeAnna]

I did all that and my laptop with vista does not show the desktop with XP.
--
DeAnna

I have a laptop running Windows Vista and would like print from it. I
have a Desk top running XP and have set up the wireless router, workgroups
and the
printer. My Desktop can see the Laptop; but the Laptop doesn't show the
Desktop and I am unable to print from the Laptop. We do have another
laptop running XP and it's able to view the desktop and print with no
problem. Please help, I am so confused and frustrated.

If the printer is connected locally to one of the XP computers (it is
unclear from your post whether this is the case or whether the printer is a
true network printer), then you must get your Local Area Network file/printer
sharing set up correctly first. Then install the Vista printer drivers on the
Vista machine (get the latest Vista drivers from the printer mftr.). If you
are running Vista 64-bit, post back for slight different printing
instructions. In the meantime, here are general network troubleshooting
steps.

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. In Vista, turn Password Protected Sharing ON. 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:

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

Vista - Start Orb>Search box>type: netplwiz [enter]
Click on Continue (or supply an administrator's password) when prompted by
UAC

Uncheck the option "Users must enter a user name and password to use this
computer". Select a user account to automatically log on by clicking on the
desired account to highlight it and then hit OK. Enter the correct password
for that user account (if there is one) when prompted. Leave it blank if
there is no password (null).

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.

F. After you have file sharing working (and have tested this by exchanging a
file between all machines), if you want to share a printer connected locally
to one of your computers, share it out from that machine. Then go to the
printer mftr.'s website and download the latest drivers for the correct
operating system(s). Install them on the target machine(s). The printer
should be seen during the installation routine. If it is not, install the
drivers and then use the Add Printer Wizard. In some instances, certain
printers need to be installed as Local printers but that is outside of this
response.

Malke

 

[Malke]

I did all that and my laptop with vista does not show the desktop with XP.

Then you've done something wrong, but simply saying "I did all that" doesn't
allow me to help you troubleshoot it.

You can take the time to go through MVP Hans-Georg Michna's Small Network
Troubleshooter:

http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm

which will usually pinpoint the source of the problem.

Or have a local tech come on-site and set you up properly. Networking issues
are often very hard to troubleshoot except hands-on. If you go this route,
don't use a BigComputerStore/GeekSquad type of place. Get recommendations
from family, friends, colleagues.

Malke

 

[David Webb]

Check the network properties list in the WinXP system for a component called the
Link-Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) Responder. If the LLTD Responder component
is not installed on the Windows XP-based computer it won't be seen in Vista's
Network Map.

Here's a link to an MS fix for the WinXP system. Note, if it's up to SP3, the
readily downloadable version (fix v5) probably won't to anything but say that
it's not
needed, so then simply request the hotfix patch (fix v6) and apply it to the
WinXP-SP3 system.

You must request the hotfix from MS. The how-to information is contained within
the KB article. It will be supplied as a zip file with a time limited password.
After you extract the hotfix patch, simply run it in place.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922120

Good luck!

 

[Malke]

Check the network properties list in the WinXP system for a component
called the
Link-Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) Responder. If the LLTD Responder
component is not installed on the Windows XP-based computer it won't be
seen in Vista's Network Map.

Here's a link to an MS fix for the WinXP system. Note, if it's up to SP3,
the readily downloadable version (fix v5) probably won't to anything but
say that it's not
needed, so then simply request the hotfix patch (fix v6) and apply it to
the WinXP-SP3 system.

You must request the hotfix from MS. The how-to information is contained
within the KB article. It will be supplied as a zip file with a time
limited password. After you extract the hotfix patch, simply run it in
place.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922120

The LLTD Responder only allows the XP box to appear on Vista's network map.
It has nothing to do with making file/printer sharing actually *work*. It's
cosmetic. I've never put it on an XP box on either my own network or on all
my clients' networks - all of which have perfectly functioning file/printer
sharing.

The OP has something set wrong somewhere - a misconfigured firewall, two
firewalls, non-matching user accounts, some computers set to connect as guest
and some not, or the like. Someone who knows what s/he is doing who can
actually *see* the computers will be able to get it straightened out in a
few minutes.

Malke

 

[David Webb]

The LLTD Responder only allows the XP box to appear on Vista's network map.
It has nothing to do with making file/printer sharing actually *work*. It's
cosmetic.

Thanks for your comments, but I don't agree with your statement saying that it's
simply a cosmetic fix. I've used this approach on two systems (one was mine),
which had the same problem as stated by the OP, and it solved the problem
without going through the time-consuming network troubleshooting steps and
tweaking one's firewall settings. I've also suggested this approach to others in
these MS newsgroups and they had similar success with it.

I hope that your comments to me hasn't deterred the OP from trying my approach
to this problem.

I believe in simplicity. If my approach doesn't work, only then is more time and
effort justified. IMO, computers (like automobiles) shouldn't take up more of
one's time to fix rather then to use.

 

[Malke]

Thanks for your comments, but I don't agree with your statement saying
that it's simply a cosmetic fix. I've used this approach on two systems
(one was mine), which had the same problem as stated by the OP, and it
solved the problem without going through the time-consuming network
troubleshooting steps and tweaking one's firewall settings. I've also
suggested this approach to others in these MS newsgroups and they had
similar success with it.

I hope that your comments to me hasn't deterred the OP from trying my
approach to this problem.

I believe in simplicity. If my approach doesn't work, only then is more
time and effort justified. IMO, computers (like automobiles) shouldn't
take up more of one's time to fix rather then to use.

Well, we must agree to disagree because I still think you're wrong. Glad
your solution worked for you, but I don't believe it will help the OP. If
you know how to fix automobiles, that's great. I wouldn't attempt to fix
something I consider complicated like that and which I know nothing about.
Computers are no different - if you don't know anything about them, they will
take a while to fix. Your attitude that computers should be simple to fix is a
common one among non-technical people, but it isn't accurate. Computers and
operating systems are complex and I have never understood why people expect
them to be simple.

As for networking, someone who knows what s/he is doing can set up a small
network of two computers (not counting the time it takes for the printer
drivers to install) in under 5 minutes. I don't consider that time-
consuming.

Since the OP is apparently not coming back, I'm done here.

Malke