Sharing a Win 7 folder with XP computer keeps asking for User Name and Password on XP machine. This has been bugging me for days! Finally have found a solution after about 10 re-installs. Goto... Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy > Local Policies > Security OptionsScroll down to... Network Access: Sharing and security model for local accountsSelect... Guest only and not Classic. I checked on XP machine and Guest seems to be the default. Suddenly those silly promps for user name and password go away when accessing Win 7 share from XP machine and it behaves more like XP file sharing without asking for Usernames and Passwords. I'm interested if this poses any security risk for Win 7 machine? I have Win 7 firewall off but am behine a hardware firewall.Ian

Well, normally you'd want the best of both. But if you got a GOOD hardware firewall then that's good. But this might be overkill for you but others might like it. (maybe even you) :) Sharing Files In Windows 7 and XP Sharing folders between two Windows 7 machines with the new HomeGroup feature is an easy process, but the HomeGroup feature is not compatible with Vista or XP. For this tutorial we are using Windows 7 x64 RC1 and XP Professional SP3 connected through a basic Linksys home wireless router. First make sure both machines are members of the same Workgroup which by default is named Workgroup. On the Windows 7 machine go into Control Panel \ All Control Panel Items \ Network and Sharing Center then click on Change advanced sharing settings. You will want to verify the following settings under Advanced Sharing Settings for the Home or Work and Public profile. If you want any user to have access the public shares turn off password protection. This is located in Advanced Sharing Settings toward the bottom of the list. If you want to keep it enabled make sure there is a log in account for the other XP machines and they have a password. Now if you go into Network in Windows 7 you should see your XP machine and the Windows 7 as well which in this case is Mysticgeek-PC. To share the printer on the Windows 7 machine go into Devices and Printers from the Start menu and double click on the printer icon. Next double click on “Customize your printer”. In the Properties screen click on the Sharing Tab and check the box to share the printer and type in its share name. If your XP machine is an x86 OS you can install Additional Drivers before setting up the XP machine. To find the shared folders and devices double click on the Windows 7 machine icon under Network. Here you can see the printer connected to my Windows 7 machine is shared and also the Users Folder. Continue into the Users folder and Public to see the shared folders, here I also created a folder called XP Share just to keep everything in central location. Over on your XP machine open up My Network Places to find the Windows 7 (mysticgeek-pc) shared folder. Double click on the Share folder to find a list of shared folders in the Public folder on Windows 7. If you have password protection enabled you will need to type in the username and password of the user account on the Windows 7 machine first. Setup XP With Shared Printer To set up the shared printer in XP you will need to go into Printers and Faxes from the Start menu and kick off the Add Printer Wizard. Now select “A network printer, or a printer attached to another computer” then hit Next. Next select “Connect to this printer…” and type in the path for the printer connected to the Windows 7 machine and click next. Now click Yes to the confirmation message. Then click Finish the printer to install and complete the Wizard. In some cases you will need to install the x86 XP drivers for the shared printer because the Windows 7 drivers are not compatible with XP. When everything is installed open up Printers and Faxes to find the shared printer. This should help you get started with sharing your files and other devices with your Windows 7 machine. When I first started I was able to see the printer on XP right away because I had a HomeGroup set up, but once I deleted it I needed to share the printer like you would for a workgroup. You might also have to do a couple restarts of the XP machine for it to see the shared resources on Windows 7.MCSE, MCSA, MCDST [If this post helps to resolve your issue, please click the "Mark as Answer" or "Helpful" button at the top of this message. By marking a post as Answered, or Helpful you help others find the answer faster.]

Hi Ian,After change the policy, users who try to access share files will use Guest account permission. It is similar as "Simple File Sharing" in Windows XP. It will not cause security risk (except all users on same network can access shared files).

Hi, I had been through the process you descibe many many times. Whilst I could always see the XP machines from Windows 7, I could not see the Windows 7 shares without it prompting for Username and Password. Interestingly, I found out by accident, you can type any text in the username box, leave password box blank and it will then grant access each and every time untill the XP machine is re-booted, then it would prompt for username and password again. The ONLY way I could get rid of the prompts period was the method I described in my initial post. I really wish there was a simple file share mode on Win 7. It all seems far to complicated to me. Now I just need to figure why my Freecom 350 media player wont see Win 7 shares.I may well end up going back to XP. Ian

I have same issue since upgrading my file server from xp to win 7. Several xp comps now access win 7 shares - all on same workgroup. Added a Share login ID to win 7 and configed xp comps to "reconnect at logon" and "connect using a different user name" (using the win 7 Share login id). The shares map fine but keep prompting for login info after reboots. Did not have that behavior when file server was xp. Once mapped, they used the id and password specified during the original mapping. How do I get same behavior with my win 7 file server?Jeff