Basic Windows Vista questions

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Guest

Could someone please explain in plain English, exactly what has to be done to
get a Windows Vista machine to participate reliably in a home network?

I have 5 machines -- 3 wired and 2 wireless. 4 have Windows XP and the new
one has Vista -- I am sick of having to be constantly visiting the "Network
and Sharing Center" to get anything done with the Vista machine. What Is
required to get it to just boot with sharing on and *work*? Why does it take
so long to recognize the other machines in the workgroup (yes, I changed the
Vista workgroup name to match the others)?

Also, could someone please explain the "private" vs "public" network thing
-- the Help text implies that a home network should be private but my
experience is that Vista will always turn off discovery and sharing if you
say you're dealing with a private network.



For the record, I already changed the Vista Workgroupname to match the rest
of my machines -- and I still have all these problems.
 
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727037.aspx

Read the above vista file and printer sharing link.

The Nerwork is set to Public when you are in an open wi-fi spot:airport,
etc. you get more security unleashed!

Private is for home Networks; and it will NOT turn off network discovery;
you need that ON to see the other computers in the network.

You already have the Workgroup Name the same on ALL machines.

In vista network and sharing:
file sharing ON
public folder sharing ON
Network discovery ON
password protected OFF; unless you want to have to sign in from XP to access
vista with a username and passowrd. That will entail you setting up the SAME
accounts on all machines.

If you are using XP as well, run the wizard in them for file and printer
sharing again, so that you include vista.
 
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