Adding Windows Vista to Win XP Network

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Guest

Can someone advise how to add a Windows Vista laptop into a Win XP Media
Edition home network? I changed the workgroup name matching the XP, from XP
desktop i can see that there is a laptop, but when i double click it, it gave
me Error and to contact administrator. On my Vista laptop, i can't see any
icon in the network except my own laptop. I need to do this so I can share
files and folders with the desktop and also to print since my deskjet is
attached to the desktop running XP. My laptop connection is through wireless.
My current configuration is the desktop is running XP Home Media Edition,
aDSL Cable modem and Netgear wireless router is attached to it. My laptop OS
is Windows Vista Basic. I really appreciate if someone could guide me
through. Thank you
 
Eric,
Both of the file and printer sharing are ON and I even turn off the
password. Still there is an error message pop up when i tried to view my
Vista laptop from the XP Desktop and the message is \\Gsllc-1501(Which is my
laptop) is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network
resource. Contact administrator of this server to find out if you have access
permissions.

Is there something i have to set enable in Administrator Tools in my Win XP
desktop? Without being to connect my Vista laptop to the XP Desktop, i cant
add a network printer. What is your recommendation?

Thank you for your kind attention.

Virod
 
Do you have a firewall either Windows Live OneCare, Norton, or Sygate
installed on any of the machines? If so, you need to make sure it is
properly configured for the network.

--
Eric Cross
Microsoft MVP (Windows Networking)
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
 
Eric, I have the identical problem.
I can see the XP and WME machines on my network and access their files.

I can see my VISTA machine and drives but I get the same error message that
Virod gets when I attempt to access them from the WME or XP machines.

I have even gone to each folder I want to share and set all share choices
for full share for everybody - which I was not all that excited about
doing.... (But actually, I just want to share with my workgroup machines.)

I have attempted to see what settings I could change with the Windows
firewall on the VISTA machine but the advanced settings are set for file
sharing. Do I need to do something else?

Dunc
 
Eric, I use Zone Alarm on the other computers. Do I need to check the TCP
and UDP allowances?
 
Well, Eric I thought that might have been the issue.

I just checked it and my LAN is in the trusted network on Zone Alarm.

From a XP machine I can see the VISTA one. I can see all of the directories
on my F drive but get the same error message that Virod gets. Earlier I had
marked each one with full share privileges for "everyone"
The message I get is:
"(the directory name) not accessible. You may not have permission to use
this network resource."

Dunc
 
One thing more.

I ran net use \\vistaip
and got a System error 53. Network not found, yet I can see the other
machines through Windows Explorer and access their files from the VISTA
machine. I just can't access the VISTA files from the other ones.
 
If I am reading this post correctly, your problem may be that you need to
set folder permissions in addition to setting the share permissions. When
you share out the root of a drive in Vista, the UI only allows this through
the advanced sharing option. When the advanced sharing option is used it
only sets the share permissions. The actual permissions on a file share are
a combination of Folder and Share permissions. In Vista the everyone group
doesn not have permissions so when you connect without a password the system
you can see the folders but not access them or possibly connect to the share
but fail to open it.

Do the following and tell me the permsissions set on the root of your shared
drive?

1. Open Computer
2. Right click on the shared drive and select properties from the context
menu
3. Select the Security Tab in the displayed properties sheet.

If you are connecting to the computer with no password then you are
connecting with the guest account. In order to access the files on the
drive, the everyone group needs to have access set here.

Please let me know if this helps.

Thanks,
Mike
 
Oh Michael, Your a good man!!!!

That did the trick!

I assume that by having a guest account that anyone who might get into my
network can then get access to those files.

Is there a way to just to restrict access to those in my work group.

It is too bad that Microsoft did not make this solution available to small
LAN owners.

Dunc
 
I have exactly the same problem.

We have been using XP machines in a small workgroup. I cannot get file
sharing to work from a new Vista Premium notebook. In the netwok
topology overview (I'm using the German Version, it's called
"Netzwerkübersicht" there) I can see all the XP machines, switches
(since I installed the LLTD tool on the XP machines)... the connection
lines are green. But in the windows explorer under network I only see
the local vista machine.

- I have switched off the Norton Firewall
- I have gone through the page by microsoft on file sharing (mentioned
above)
- I have tried sharing a folder "test" on drive D (also setting
permission to everyone)
- I have tried sharing the whole drive D (also setting permission to
everyone)
- My network is "private", file sharing is set to "no password"

I'm thankful for any help provided...
Maggan Pice
 
Also:
- I can ping all the machines in the network
- But, I cannot ping myself (vista machine locally)

- I have deactivated IPv6 on the vista machine
 
Eric

The amount of research necessary to discover all the tech notes for
networking changes for Vista is going to be beyond the normal small business
user to navigate. I am at home reading these discussions after losing 2 days
of productivity at work trying to estblish a new computer with Vista Ultimate
on a net with other computers running XP Pro and other operating systems. A
frustrating and expensive experience to say the least. Two days work lost and
having to go in Sunday to try and make it work or use another computer to get
ready for a board meeting.

I will try your suggested article "File and Printer Sharing in Windows
Vista". Many of the suggestions I have already implemented.

I would say that Microsoft should include in the documentation furnished
with Windows Vista a explantion of how the file and print sharing needs to be
configured for non-techies.
 
Hello GHCVA, would you be willing to start a new post?

Maybe we can further diagose the issue. Some of the users who have read the
"File and Printer Sharing in Windows Vista" article has helped them in this
newsgroup.

--
Eric Cross
Microsoft MVP (Windows Networking)
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
 
Eric

Once I have applied all suggestions from the article, I would be more than
happy to document the results in a new post. I should be doing this tomorrow.

Thanks
GHCVA
 
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