About to throw it out the window!

Hi...I have been trying to get my new laptop to be able to connect to my desktop. I have read other tutorials on how to do it...but yeah its not working. I am not all that smart about computers...i know a little bit...So this is what i can tell you about my two computers. My desktop is a Dell running XP Home I have an external hard drive connected to that, then I have my laptop which is also a Dell and it is running Vista. I am using a netgear router for the wireless internet. i am not to sure what else you would need to help me out but i want to be able to access my external hard drive from both computers...as well as the printer. First off is this possible? and if Yes...CAN YOU PLEASE HELP?? I have changed both so they are on the same workgroup or whatever you want to call it...I have made the files on the drive that I want to be able to access shared..or whatever...no I don't know what to do...neither one of my computers can see each other! i really need some help! Thank you in advance!!

They need to be in same workgroup
They need to be in same subnet
You should have the same account and password on both
You need to setup a share on the drives with that user account
Reboot both boxes. Log in with that account.

SCSIraidGURU said:

They need to be in same workgroup
They need to be in same subnet
You should have the same account and password on both
You need to setup a share on the drives with that user account
Reboot both boxes. Log in with that account.

Click to expand...

I believe that they are in the same workgroup I changed them both to be "Home". How do I make them be in the same subnet? By the same account and password do you mean to sign into windows?

Can anyone else help me out?

Hi MommaWebb and welcome to the Vista forums

Let's start from the beginning.
Are you able from both computers to surf on the net?
Is your XP machine using NTFS or FAT32 file system?

Yes I can surf the net from both and the XP machine is NTFS. But the external drive that I want to share is FAT32...if that matters

OK, then for the XP,
If i remember, in the explorer/tools/folder options/View tab, the option to "Use Simple File Sharing" should be unticked.
Then, in the Network Connections panel, right-click your Ethernet card and under the General Tab, make sure that "File and Printer Sharing For Microsoft Networks" is ticked.
Then, on the folders/partitions/drives you want to share, right click and from the menu, select Sharing and Security. Tick the box that says, "Share this Folder on the Network", if you want to allow other users to modify your files, select the box "Allow Network Users to Change my Files."
Write somewhere the name given to your network, it could be WORKGROUP, HOME or whatever you wrote.
Write somewhere your username and password if you use one.
That is it for the moment for XP, check everything is done this way and come back.

sidney1st said:

OK, then for the XP,
If i remember, in the explorer/tools/folder options/View tab, the option to "Use Simple File Sharing" should be unticked.
Then, in the Network Connections panel, right-click your Ethernet card and under the General Tab, make sure that "File and Printer Sharing For Microsoft Networks" is ticked.
Then, on the folders/partitions/drives you want to share, right click and from the menu, select Sharing and Security. Tick the box that says, "Share this Folder on the Network", if you want to allow other users to modify your files, select the box "Allow Network Users to Change my Files."
Write somewhere the name given to your network, it could be WORKGROUP, HOME or whatever you wrote.
Write somewhere your username and password if you use one.
That is it for the moment for XP, check everything is done this way and come back.

Click to expand...

I am not even seeing the "Use simple file sharing" as one the options to uncheck.

Ok well I still can't find the first step but all others are the way you said.

sidney1st said:

OK, then for the XP,
If i remember, in the explorer/tools/folder options/View tab, the option to "Use Simple File Sharing" should be unticked.
Then, in the Network Connections panel, right-click your Ethernet card and under the General Tab, make sure that "File and Printer Sharing For Microsoft Networks" is ticked.
Then, on the folders/partitions/drives you want to share, right click and from the menu, select Sharing and Security. Tick the box that says, "Share this Folder on the Network", if you want to allow other users to modify your files, select the box "Allow Network Users to Change my Files."
Write somewhere the name given to your network, it could be WORKGROUP, HOME or whatever you wrote.
Write somewhere your username and password if you use one.
That is it for the moment for XP, check everything is done this way and come back.

Click to expand...

I meant to ask you...the name given to the network I have...but what username are you talking about? I know I sound dumb!! I swear I am really not!!

OK, the Username/password are those you use to login in xp.
Then let's prepare Vista:
Open the control panel and go to System.
Click on Advanced system settings and go to the Computer name tab.
Click on "Change" in front of rename the computer.....etc....
Verify that the name of the Workgroup is exactly the same that the one you have in XP
If it is the same, then cancel if not click on OK on all windows and you may have to reboot to apply the changes.
Then, go to the network and sharing center.
Make sure that Network discovery, File sharing, printer sharing and Media sharing are ON
To share your Drives/Folders, right click, open the properties window go to the sharing tab.
Click on Share and once it is done (you may receive a warning) open the advanced sharing window.
Give the name you want and click on permissions to ensure that everybody can access your drive/folder and give the permissions you want to allow.

Now check that the 2 computers can see each other and come back.

They still can't see eachother!!! I don't understand!!

Is your firewall (if you use one) configured for the network? (on each computer)

don't know...I use trendmicro internet security...do you know it?

Yep, disable trendmicro on the 2 computers(you of course will re-enable it after the test) and look if the 2 computers can see each other.

OMG IT IS WORKING!!! YEAH!!! I had to download a patch for the XP computer...the LLTD responder...and sure enough...there it is!!! Thank you for your help!! I really appreciate it!!!

Ok well I got little happy a lil too soon...how do I make it able to see eachother with trendmicro enabled?

Very glad you "almost" sorted it out.
Well, you have to configure the network in your firewall software.
I do not know very well this proggy, but i guess that in the settings of the firewall you should have a tab to configure the network, you should better open the help file and search for "network".

I think I got it...its working anyway...I turned off the Use a proxy to connect...is that right? I was reading the help and it said that most home networks don't use a proxy so I turned it off and then went to try and open my other computer and it worked.

Great, very glad it works.
For the proxy, you're right!
Do not hesitate to ring the bell should you need more assistance

Thank you so much for your help!!