Windows 2000 Pro SP4, XP Home and Vissta Business 32

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ian
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I

Ian

Hey group! A REAL NOVICE HERE. As we say in Afrikaans, "vreemdeling in
gebied, wees asb geduldig" which means "stranger in these parts,
please be patient". My main production machine is Windows 2000 Pro
SP4, my wife's desktop is XP Home, and we have two Vista Business 32
laptops that work via the WLAN very well when connecting to the
internet etc. But, I want a REAL EASY WAY to connect ALL my computers
to each other. There has to be some procedure somewhere and looking
for it via Microsoft's search facility is like looking for a white
peson in Africa - or the proverbial needle in a haystack. I have tried
to make sense of the do this, do that, from the knowledgebases and
TechNet, but it doesn't work. I can see my desktop machine from my
laptop, but I cannot connect to it, not even with the administrator's
login. I cannot see the XP Home machine from either my desktop or my
laptop, and only occasionally can I see the other laptop from my
laptop. Unfortunately I have to go to each and every machine, ensure
the WORKGROUP is the same (which it is) and then add a SHARE to Drive
C of each machine (already done) but I still cannot log in to these
other machines.

So, is there a networking genius out there who has tried to connect
all these different operating systems together and succeeded? If so,
please send me the recipe. It's driving me silver haired, and I don't
have that many years left on this planet to figure it out myself. In
February 2009, I will be replacing the two desktop machines with two
new desktop machines running Vista Home Premium, or compatible -
possibly Linux (Ubuntu) with Vista in a box somewhere on the hard
disk, but I haven't decided about this yet.

First things first, can someone please help me get these computers to
see one another?!

Thanks.
Ian Samson
 
Have a read below.
AFAIK, with you also using 2000 Pro, you will have to set up exact same name
user accounts and passwords on all machines.
At home Networks, with XP and Vista, and people not wanting the drama of
Passwords/accounts, it gets turned off in vista, but with 2000, you require
User accounts

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

Have a read of the above link re Vista File and Printer Sharing.

Permissions/Share info is there as well.

If using Norton, McAfee, Trend Micro I.S., make sure file and printer
sharing is enabled in THEIR firewall (or LAN allowed, depending on how their
Exceptions are worded in their Firewall)

1st thing to do is make sure that the Workgroup Name of ALL the computers is
the SAME.

In Vista Network and Sharing:

Network Discovery: ON (So it can see the other computers)

Network set to Private (Public is for hotspots, airports, etc)

File Sharing: ON

Public Folder Sharing: ON (Vista’s Public Folder is the same as XP’s Shared
Docs)

Password Protected: OFF (unless you want to set up identical usernames and
passwords (passwords can be different) on ALL computers in your Network) If
you have it ON, you will be asked for a username and password when you try to
access a Vista computer from an XP computer, or a Vista computer.

Also, run the XP’s Home or Small Office Network File and Printer Sharing
Wizard to include Vista in your “New†Network, even if you had an XP Network
set up prior to adding a Vista computer to it(redoing the Wizard seems to
work for XP machines!).

In “My Network Placesâ€: “Set up a Home or Small Office Networkâ€
OR under Accessories > Communications > Network Setup Wizard > Allow File
and Printer Sharing.
 
Hi
If you set the File Sharing Correctly on each computer it should work well.
The following contains setting of Sharing about few of the Windows client
OS;.
Successful Sharing involves some general consideration in Network settings,
http://www.ezlan.net/sharing.html
As well as specific adjustment of each computer according to what it is
allowed to be shared.
Windows 2000 Sharing -
http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/w2kshare.html
Windows 2000 User Management -
http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/w2kuser.html
Windows 2000 User Permissions -
http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/w2kpolic.html
Vista File and Printer Sharing-
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727037.aspx
Windows XP File Sharing -
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;304040
Printer Sharing XP -
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/expert/honeycutt_july2.mspx
Windows Native Firewall setting for Sharing XP -
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/875357
Windows XP patch for Sharing with Vista -
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922120
Jack (MVP-Networking).
 
Hey Jack, thanks for the encyclopaedia of references for me to go read
up on. Okay, I will.

One quick question, though, why can I not see my Windows 2000 machine
from the Vista Network Map via the router? I can see this Vista machine
and my wife's Vista machine - both HP Compaq 6720s laptops.

To answer Mick's question, all user names and passwords are identical on
all machines. I was a network administrator first on Banyan VINES then
on Novell NetWare, so I do have a smattering of knowledge (I realise
it's miniscule, 14 years of it isn't really very long), but I did use
the same user name and password on all 4 machines.
 
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