Windows networking fixed!!(w7 to xp)

okay windows lovers, this is how i got windows 7 to accept incoming connections from XP so you can view files on the W7 computer from the windows XP computer:

THIS IS AFTER YOU HAVE SHARED THE FOLDERS AND FILES OF YOUR CHOICE!

1. unjoin any "homegroups."
2. make sure your connection is considered a "HOME" connection.
3. Open network and sharing center and click on Choose homegroup and sharing options...
4. Then click Change Advanced sharing settings.
5. Expand Home and Work.
6. Make sure these options are selected...

A. Turn on Network Discovery
B. Turn on File and Printer sharing
C. Select Either: Turn on sharing so that anyone with network access can open files
OR: Turn on sharing so that anyone with network access can open, change and create files.
D. Turn off password protected sharing
E. Use user accounts and passwords to connect to other computers.

I think that the last selection is the most important, once it works, feel free to tinker with the settings; once it sets the options for "Home and Work" it automatically changes those setting to "Public" network.

P.S. This was using windows 7 (32-bit edition). I also turned off my firewall, tinkering with that can be done by YOU, because most people's settings are different.

That Homegroup thingy is an abomination -- stick with "Classical networking" -- much better
cheers
jimbo

If I may add one thing to what stupidbiznitch9 said, there may be one additional step required if you are intent on sharing the entire C:\ drive of the Win7 machine with other XP's on the network. After following stupidbiznitch9's instructions completely, you may still have to open Windows Explorer and right-click on the local C:\ drive in the left column. From the popup window select "Include in Library", and either add it to one of the available choices, or "Create New Library". Once in the Libraries section, it can be viewed or mapped from the XP machines.

Thank you data account for that side note, i was only intent on sharing a fixed number of folders; your extra info maybe helpful to some people

Sometimes all that doesn't even work unless you run the Network setup wizard on the XP machine(s).
My big gripe with all this stuff is that it NEVER seems predictable -- sometimes one XP machine is fine whilst the other just refuses to be seen -- and it's almost impossible to find what the difference is between them -- even with all firewalls off and AV software not running.

It will work eventually but why can't this stuff be just "Plug 'n Play". - Once I connect a machine to the network I should get a prompt -- allow others to see this machine etc etc. I shouldn't have to go through all this sort of stuff to get it to work.

In attempting to make it easier with the "Home Group" idea Microsoft have actually screwed this up BIG time by making a complex operation even more complex.

Networking is one area where Linux wins EVERY TIME over Windows by miles -- however that's not the issue here.

Send feedback to MS BTW as a decent SIMPLE Home networking system should simply be plug and play these days - especially for Home / small office networks.

Cheers
jimbo

WELL, I think I have tried everything.
I can share my printer attached to W7127 with XP
I can access XP from W7
I can see all the resources on W7 from XP but I can't access any except printer.
I can map a network drive on W7 from XP but can't access it.
I have firewalls OFF.
I have workgroups the same.
I turned off Homegroups.
I made the reg mod.
I can connect to XP from a W7068 laptop
I turned Homegroups back on
I cannot connect to W7127 to W7068 either direction.
I can't connect to the W7068 laptop from XP but can from W7068 to XP
I used to be able to connect to everything with W7068

SO WHAT CHANGED???????????????

I just fixed my problem of printing to a network printer that I had tried a couple of weeks to fix. Under Adminiatrative tools, open services, and check the roting and remote access service; make sure it is started on both machines. This worked automatically on my last RC 7100 install, but was turned off on this install. Making sure the service was working on both systems enable networking printing for me. The opther system was Win 2000 based.

it was disabled, but starting it did nothing.
Also I do have printer access.
I can see the system resources - all the drive - It just won't let me access any of them.
they are ALL shared - but it is acting like they are not.

One thing that nobody mentioned here was that the workgroup names on all of the computers have to be the same. XP wants to call it Mshome while Windows 7 calls it Workgroup.

Another thing to remember is that networks take time to find themselves. It can be up to 15 minutes.

The other day I tried to call up my network and it wouldn't work. It had been a couple weeks since I tried it. I typed the IP address of the other computer into the Address Bar (\\192.168.?.?) and it went straight to the other computer. It started working after that.

Homegroups only work between computers that have Windows 7. It works with no other operating system.

There is a commercial Program called Network Magic that has a 30 day trial as I recall. Download it, install it in Vista Compatibility Mode and see if works. Let's see if it works with your printer. If it does, then we're missing something in the setup. If not, something fundamental is the OS is broken. Read the manual to get the max out of the program. I don't use it unless everything else I know fails.