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Windows 7 or Vista networking with Windows XP

Mon, 2007-10-15 19:46 by admin Forum/category:

Network Networking

Step-by-step instructions There are a few fundamental points you want to look at when you have problems networking a Windows 7 or Vista computer with other computers running Windows XP. 1. Try to open another computer's shares by clicking on [Start], Run... and entering two backslashes (\\), directly followed by the other computer's name. This allows you to connect to a computer quickly, even before it shows up in your network environment. You can also enter the same computer address, i.e. two backslashes, followed by the computer's name, into the search box or into the address field at the top of Windows Explorer. If this does not work, please read on. 2. In the Windows 7 or Vista Network and Sharing Center set the following. (For more details, check the article "File and Printer Sharing in Windows Vista" below.) a. Network Discovery: On (to see the other computers) b. Network Location Type: Private (Public is for open hot spots, etc.) c. File Sharing: On d. Public Folder Sharing: On (the folder is called Public Folder in Windows 7 or Vista and Shared Docs in XP.) e. Password Protected: (Set to your liking. If you have accounts with identical username and password on all sharing computers, you can enable this without any inconvenience; otherwise you'll be asked to log on.) 3. If you have any third-party firewall or similar network security software installed, check and correct its settings to allow file sharing. Examples would be anything named Norton, Symantec, ZoneAlarm, Kerio, and there are many others. Certain anti-virus (for example Norton Internet Worm Protection) and VPN software (for example Cisco VPN) is also known to cause problems. 4. Make sure the target computer has at least one share or shared printer. 5. Make sure that each computer has a user account with a logon password that is not blank. It is easier, but normally not required, to have the same user account with the same password on both (or more) computers and to be logged on to that account when trying to connect. (You can have several accounts on each computer.) Of course the account you use must have sufficient access rights to the resources (folders, files, printers) on the server you want to access across the network. 6. If you have not installed Service Pack 3 on a Windows XP computer, but still want it to appear in Windows 7's or Vista's network topology map (not required for basic networking), download and install the Link Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) Responder (KB922120) for Windows XP with Service Pack 2. (SP2 must be installed first.) Without this, XP computers will still appear in the network map, but only under, "cannot be placed in the map". The relevant Microsoft Knowledge Base article is: Network Map in Windows Vista does not display computers that are running Windows XP A similar Technet article is: Network Map Does Not Display Computers Running Windows XP These articles refer exclusively to Windows XP with Service Pack 2, not 3. According to the documentation SP3 already contains the LLTD function. If this function got damaged, one workaround is as follows. On Windows XP with SP3, even though the protocol installer won't work, you can install LLTD manually. First extract the files from the WindowsXP-KB922120-v5-ENU.exe file. This article explains how to do it. In the folder into which you extracted the files you will find a folder SP2QFE. Open this and you will find the required files. Copy the following three files into the following folders (change "Windows" into your SystemRoot folder name if it is different): File rspndr.sys Copy into folder \Windows\system32\drivers

rspndr.exe

\Windows\system32

rspndr.inf (inside the ip folder) \Windows\inf Open a command line window and type the command: rspndr -i This will install the LLTD responder. 7. To make access more convenient (not required for basic networking), make sure the workgroup name is the same in the System Properties on all your computers. The default workgroup name on Windows XP was "MSHome", while in Vista the default has been changed to "workgroup". 8. If it still doesn't work, run the Network File and Printer Sharing Wizard on all Windows XP computers. 9. If all of these points cannot make your network functional, fill in this form and check the resulting advice. Originally: http://winhlp.com/node/179