In reply to a post by WatchMan:

I still can't access files on my XP machine from Windows 7 even with the 'everyone' option selected.

I thought you said in your previous post "I have finally managed to see the files I need to access from Windows XP". What did did you change on XP to make it behave differently?

In Windows 7, I followed Black's advice

To add to the "everyone" group in win7 right click the folder/drive you want to share and click properties / sharing tab / advanced sharing / tick the box "share this folder / permissions / add / advanced (near the bottom) / find now / scroll down and double click "everyone" / ok / select desired permissions here if you want (full , change ,read / ok / ok /
Important is that you then repeat the above steps in the security tab going through "edit" then "add.
that should get it working if you follow exactly.

Or, shove everything into the public folder.

I can access the Public folder from XP, no problem. I still can't access XP shared folders from Windows 7 even though it can be seen on the network.

Is it XP home edition ? I have been testing with XP pro which of course has full use
of NTFS permissions. It is suggested XP home users just use the installed public folders for sharing.

I had similar problems initially when trying to network three pcs-

Acer Netbook with XP
Acer Laptop with W7
HP Tower with Vista

It took me some time to achieve and to be honest, I don't really remember how I achieved it.

However, one thing I did on each PC was to load a Photo of itself, also suitably named, so that as the network came in to operation, I could be sure that I was accessing another PC on the Netwotk, by seeing the appropriately named filename and if opened, the picture of that PC.

Made life a lot easier.

OK can we start with the basics.

Can you ping XP from Win7 and vice versa?
Can you ping XP from Win7 using the computer name and vice versa?
Can you connect to the XP machine IP using UNC path "\\computerIP"
Can you connect to the XP machine using UNC path "\\computername"
Create TEST account on both machines with SAME password, try again.
Can you ensure File and Printer Sharing firewall exception is active on both machines? (Do you have 3rd party firewall?)
Can you confirm Server service is running on both computers (right click my computer > manage > services)
Can you confirm Network profile for Windows 7 is Private?
Create different test folders and check whether they share successfully.

In reply to a post by Pipexer:

Can you connect to the XP machine IP using UNC path "\\computerIP"
Can you connect to the XP machine using UNC path "\\computername"

Connect how? Using what software/feature?

lol
take it Pipexer...it gets complicated for sure.

About the xp home issue i mentioned...ignore it..I just installed a fresh copy and without
changing anything I shared "my documents" and all win7 and vista pc's on the network have access.

I suppose I am stumped, the given suggestions should have worked.

start working your way through Pipexers list.

I will bow out of this one...

Using windows explorer silly

Can you ping XP from Win7 and vice versa?

Not sure if this is the same as

Can you ping XP from Win7 using the computer name and vice versa?

, but 'Yes' to the second question.
.

Can you connect to the XP machine IP using UNC path "\\computerIP"
Can you connect to the XP machine using UNC path "\\computername"
Create TEST account on both machines with SAME password, try again.

As for the next three questions I don't have sufficient technical experience to know how to answer these.

I do know that I don't use a third party firewall. I also checked the Server service on both machines and this is running.

Can you confirm Network profile for Windows 7 is Private?

How do I find this out? As far as I can see I only have three options, Home, Work or Public ... I have set this to Home. I have not created a HomeGroup!

Create different test folders and check whether they share successfully.

I have found I can share folders from within XP regardless of whether they are placed in a public folder providing the security settings are for 'Everyone'. I cannot access shared XP files and folders from within Windows 7. At present the only way I can do this is by using TeamViewer but this is not my preferred option. Before I switched to Windows 7 I never had a problem with networking between Linux or XP!

There was something odd about the XP machine CMD window which may have some bearing on the problem. Instead of C:\Users\name in the command line it had the following: C:\Documents and Settings\name-YOUR-0B11AB5F50>
Incidentally, the XP machine is my wife's but it is unlikely she could have changed anything in that respect.

Your help is much appreciated!!

Edited by deleted (Wed 06-Jul-11 22:11:14)