Vista - Workgrouping in Vista Home

Hello Again,

I am trying to connect my laptop (vista home premium) to my desktop (vista
home basic) through work grouping but I am not successful. I did this all
day long with PCs and LPs that had XP Pro. XP Pro had multiple checklist and
other helpful features. Vista may but I cant seem to find them.

I have both set for the same workgroup.
I have folders shared
I have networking window configured to allow file and print sharing.

I was able to, at one point, access my laptop from the desktop but not the
other way around. I have the firewalls configured the same and have tried
accessing them without the firewall. Now I can access anything from one
another. I re-checked and triple checked everything.

Am I over looking something? Does anyone have a good short effective
checklist for this in Vista? Is vista home basic non compatible to do this?
Also, like XP Pro, will Vista allow for sharing internet connection through
one PC?

Thank you in advance!

DM wrote:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../bb727037.aspx

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!

Am I interpreting the following correctly?

NoteIf your computer is on a workgroup, you have the option of turning
password protection on or off. If password protection is turned on, the
person you are sharing with must have a user account and password on your
computer in order to access the files and folders you are sharing. You can
turn password protection on or off in the Network and Sharing Center.

If i have user (usera) on my laptop and want to access my desktop, do I have
to have an account named usera? The one time I was able to access my lap top
from the desk top, I didn't have similar user accounts. I was prompted to
log in and supplied a user name and it's password to an account that was on
the laptop and was able to see the folders and files. After trying to access
my desktop from the lap top, and reconfiguring everything to make successful
progress, now I can't access either computer from each other.

I am getting the network path not found, although I am seeing the computers
as "Network Discovery" is working.

Also, if I go to networks on my desktop, I can see my desktop and laptop
because "Network Discovery" is working, however, I can not even access my
desktop network. Is there something wrong with the firewall, sharing or
security settings? I have rights granted in both sharing and security and
have the firewall set to allow file sharing.


"Malke" <malke@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uWEyykSgIHA.2448@xxxxxx

DM wrote:
Since you've asked for details, I'll give you my full standard networking
troubleshooting reply which should answer your questions. I apologize for
not giving you this first thing but I interpreted your first post as you
only wanting something quick.

***
Here are general network troubleshooting steps. Not everything may be
applicable to your situation, so just take the bits that are. It may look
daunting, but if you follow the steps at the links and suggestions below
systematically and calmly, you will have no difficulty in setting up your
sharing.

Excellent, thorough, yet easy to understand article about File/Printer
Sharing in Vista. Includes details about sharing printers as well as files
and folders:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../bb727037.aspx

For XP, start by running the Network Setup Wizard on all machines (see
caveat in Item A below).

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.

For XP and Windows 2003 Server, MVP Hans-Georg Michna has an excellent small
network troubleshooter. It may also be useful with Vista.

http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm

Here are some general networking tips for home/small networks:

A. 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.

B. For ease of organization, put all computers in the same Workgroup. This
is done from the System applet in Control Panel, Computer Name tab.

C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. You do not
need to be logged into the same account on all machines and the passwords
assigned to each user account can be different; the accounts/passwords just
need to exist and match 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

D. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center:

1. 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.

2. 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.

E. 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.

F. After you have file sharing working (and have tested this by exchanging a
file between all machines), if you want to share a printer connected
locally to one of your computers, share it out from that machine. Then go
to the printer mftr.'s website and download the latest drivers for the
correct operating system(s). Install them on the target machine(s). The
printer should be seen during the installation routine. If it is not,
install the drivers and then use the Add Printer Wizard.
***

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!

Ok Malke, what are we over looking. I have applied the instructions from the
link you provided and they are the same instructions I have been applying
for the last 24 hours. However, I am now back up to viewing files on my
laptop from my desktop but not the other way around.

I can not even view the files on my desktop from my desktop by going through
the network path. I keep getting network path not found error. I tried
renaming the computer and rebooting; failed. I tried updating the the
security/sharing users; failed. I go to networks and see computer 123 and
computer 345. I can click on 123 and see all shared folders and printers. I
click on 345 and see all folders and printers but when I click on any of the
folders, I get the error message.

As I mentioned to someone else, I've done this before and numerous times.
Truth is, I'm a layman intermediate. I was an additional duty Client Support
Administrator (CSA) for my job only a year ago before being transferred to
another country where my new office has a CSA where they use different front
ends to manage accounts on a domain. Now I can only learn as I go and
provide basic advise to help at work. At home is a different story with
Vista.

"Malke" <malke@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:%23kEDwUUgIHA.2540@xxxxxx

DM wrote:
From your description of the issue, I would say that you have a one or more
things set wrong: misconfigured firewall, misconfigured permissions on the
shared folders, and if you haven't created the matching users/passwords you
need to do so.

If any of the computers are XP Pro, disable Simple File Sharing.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!

Addendum - If you have any McAfee, Norton, Comodo, or ZoneAlarm products
installed - uninstall them. Recommended antivirus programs are NOD32,
Kaspersky, or Avast (free). The built-in Windows Firewall is adequate for
most people, particularly if the LAN is behind a router.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!

Thanks,

Any ideas on how to have the firewall configured? Do you suggest, if
available, hit the default settings? Both computers are vista. the laptop is
home premium and the desktop is home basic.

I think creating the matching users/passwords is what helped me get back
into my laptop from my desktop.

I'll keep plugging away at my firewall. Although the firewall shouldn't
prevent me from accessing the desktop folders from the desktop through the
network window.





"Malke" <malke@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:%23sQN%237VgIHA.4684@xxxxxx

This seemed to do the trick. I thought I had them all off but didn't get the
one my work prefers me to have when I bring files home to work on.

Are these, "NOD32, Kaspersky, or Avast (free)," the new recommended
products for Vista? Norton was the prefered for 2000, ME and XP. Where I
worked at that time anyway.


"Malke" <malke@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:ued7$8VgIHA.4684@xxxxxx

I can't seem to keep the network set to private. I keeps switching back to
public.

Any pointers for that or do I have to keep setting it to private when I boot
up?


"DM" <themusgravefamily@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:ODI3hOWgIHA.5624@xxxxxx