networking question

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does anyone know if it is possible to network a vista machine with an xp machine? I tried from the xp machine and it seemed to find the vista machine but it wouldn’t let me into it. Any help appreciated!!

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The answer is yes, both can be networked to share files and printers with each other. Check out this How to Geek tutorial. Many time it is a permissions problem that prevents access.

Also check out this excellent How to Geek tutorial on sharing folders and files between Vista and XP machines.

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Thanks Gerald!! I appreciate the help! I’ll try it let ya’ll know how it comes out.!

James

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I didn’t see where the tutorial mentioned how to find the Everyone group if its not there, or the fact that you may have to dig into the security tab as well in order to get it working so if it doesn’t right away, check out the security settings as well, they should mirror the sharing settings for the most part at whatever level you set them at.

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Gerald – I followed the how to geek articles you suggested. When i go to the xp machine, it doesn’t find any other computers. any ideas?

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James, this is what I use, http://www.teamviewer.com/download/

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Ya, on the XP machine go to Search (the old fashioned Search Companion is what I’m familiar with…haven’t figured out the new one yet for this) and one of the items in the left margin is Computers or people. Then you want A computer on the network and then type in the copmuter name you want to look for. If it comes up, there is no problem, it just hasn’t cached the network location and shares yet. If nothing comes up then there is probably a security issue, especially if you can see the XP system from Vista.

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James,

Have these two computers been able to communicate with one another before? If so, something has changed. Can you successfully browse the Internet with both computers?

Do you have the same Workgroup name set up on both computers? Both computers should be using the same workgroup name.

Locate the IP address that has been assigned to your Vista computer, and ping it from your XP machine. If it successfully pings Vista, then your TCP/IP stack is working correctly. If it does not ping successfully, your TCP/IP stack is not working correctly. At a command prompt type in ‘ping xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx’ without quote marks, where xxx is your Vista machines IP address.

Are your computers networked via WiFi or by Ethernet? If your XP computer is connected via WiFi, temporarily disable wireless on your XP machine and try using Ethernet to connect it to your router to see if anything changes for the better.

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The XP machine requires that you set up a Workgroup. They will not communicate without this! In the Windows 7 machine go to the Control Panel and select System. The bottom portion shows the workgroup name. Go to Change Settings and name it the same as what it is in the XP machine. Note don’t use the default name in XP, it’s a security risk, change it! I think the Vista machine works more like Windows 7 in this area, I could be wrong however. Whatever the case may be you must have a joint Workgroup name for the two computers to be able to talk to each other.

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thanks all for the suggestions. I’ve been out of town and haven’t had I chance to try these yet, but I’ll get on it and see if I can make it work!

James

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Whatever the case may be you must have a joint Workgroup name for the two computers to be able to talk to each other.

Not quite true (you will not see the computer when you browse the network if they don’t match) you should be able to type \computer_name_you_wish_to_browse in the RUN or SEARCH box and see all the shares your security allows even if you are on a different workgroup. You can also go to \remote.computer.IP.address and achieve the same.

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Whatever the case may be you must have a joint Workgroup name for the two computers to be able to talk to each other.

As mentioned, not true at all, I have 4 different workgroups and they all chat up a storm with one another. That changes if there is another challenge layer protocol put in place, such as Windows Home Server Console or Acronis Workstation, but for just simple sharing, all one big workgroups family at the proverbial supper table.

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