Malke wrote:
> Stegura wrote:
>> Hey there,
>>
>> I just upgraded to vista. All other computers on my home network are
>> running XP.
>>
>> I managed to connect to the network, and to the internet. The problem
>> is that none of the other machines are showing up under 'network' on
>> my computer.
>> I've turned on network discovery, we're all in the workgroup "mshome",
>> the network is 'private'.
>> Is there something I'm missing?
>
> In spite of what the other poster said, networking with Vista and XP is
> very easy. You just need to take things step-by-step and not get
> flummoxed. The following looks like a lot of information but if you just
> work carefully and systematically and not allow yourself to be daunted,
> you will get your Local Area Network set up without much trouble.
>
> *****
> This link will take you through Vista networking very well:
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/net.../vista_fp.mspx
>
> Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally
> caused by 1) a misconfigured firewall; or 2) inadvertently running two
> firewalls such as the built-in Windows Firewall and a third-party
> firewall; and/or 3) not having identical user accounts and passwords on
> all Workgroup machines; 4) trying to create shares where the operating
> system does not permit it.
>
> Here are some general networking tips for home/small networks:
>
> 1. Configure firewalls on all machines to allow the Local Area Network
> (LAN) traffic as trusted. With Windows Firewall, this means allowing
> File/Printer Sharing on the Exceptions tab. Normally running the Network
> Setup Wizard on XP will take care of this for those machines.The only
> "gotcha" is that this will turn on the XPSP2 Windows Firewall. If you
> aren't running a third-party firewall or have an antivirus with
> "Internet Worm Protection" (like Norton 2006/07) which acts as a
> firewall, then you're fine. With third-party firewalls, I usually
> configure the LAN allowance with an IP range. Ex. would be
> 192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you would substitute your correct
> subnet. Do not run more than one firewall.
>
> 2. With earlier Microsoft operating systems, the name of the Workgroup
> didn't matter. Apparently it does with Vista, so put all computers in
> the same Workgroup. This is done from the System applet in Control
> Panel, Computer Name tab.
>
> 3. Create identical user accounts and passwords on all machines. If you
> wish a machine to boot directly to the Desktop (into one particular
> user's account) for convenience, you can do this. The instructions at
> this link work for both XP and Vista:
>
> Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
> http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm
>
> 4. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center:
>
> a. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
> Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab) and create identical user
> accounts/passwords on all computers.
>
> b. If you don't care about using Pro's advanced features, leave the
> Simple File Sharing enabled.
>
> Simple File Sharing means that Guest (network) is enabled. This means
> that anyone without a user account on the target system can use its
> resources. This is a security hole but only you can decide if it matters
> in your situation.
>
> I think it is a good idea to create the identical user
> accounts/passwords in any case when Vista machines are involved and it
> isn't an onerous task with home/small networks.
>
> 5. Create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users'
> home directories (My Documents) or Program Files, but you can share
> folders inside those directories. A better choice is to simply use the
> Shared Documents folder. See the first link above for details about
> Vista sharing.
> *****
>
> Malke
Hi Malke,
so maybe you can answer this question. windows XP, 2000, NT, even 98
could see more than one workgroup at the same time.
network neighborhood was browseable by entire microsoft network or
computers near you. I've tried for 2 weeks now to get vista to see a
network with mixed OS's and 2 workgroups. I've tried the suggestions on
the article you mentioned. I even turned off the windows firewall
(since we're behind a firewall already) and it still refuses to see 2
workgroups.
So is the bottom line that vista sees only ONE workgroup? I've got
several sites I work at that have more than one workgroup on purpose.
These people don't have the $$$ to spend for a server so they do what
they need with the windows workstation OS they have.
so the way network neighborhood used to work is now gone? I'm still in
the early stages of using vista but I have to admit this is a bit
confusing. what was wrong with the way network browsing worked? I
didn't hear anyone complaining about that aspect of windows. what
people complained about was security problems, viruses, having to run
windows as administrator (which is NOT a good idea for production use),
having to reboot windows at least once a week due to memory leaks,
windows (or applications) prone to corruption (patches anyone??), etc.
This was what most people's complaints were, not network browsing!