I'm sorry, I am really confused. I have a workgroup with two Win 7 PCs that are attached to the router by ethernet cable, one wireless Win 7 laptop and one wireless XP Tablet laptop. Until today I didn't have any problems with the XP. It was seen in the workgroup and had access to the Win 7 shared files. The thing that freaked me out was when I first plugged the 2nd Win 7 PC into the router a while back. I didn't have to set anything up! It was automatically in the network and had access to the workgroup and all the files on the other computers without any first time setups of passwords. That has had me concerned. All of our computers are password protected, but if anyone could come in and plug their Win 7 PC into our router and have access to our files then the files are not secure. So, I decided that I needed to turn on the password protected sharing. That way you can't just plug in and have access you need a password. That is working great on all the Win 7 PCs (no I don't have a homegroup set up because of the xp), but it has knocked the XP out of the workgroup, it can't access files or print. I can no longer find the xp in the workgroup on the Win 7. When I am on the xp and try to open the workgroup it says I don't have the authority to access it and to see my administrator (unfortunately that is me) Yes, all the computers are in the same workgroup. (Actually, I don't know if the 2nd Win 7 PC has the correct workgroup since I never set it up and the workgroup name we are using is not the default, anyway I am not interested in file sharing with that computer, it only needs to have access to the printer, which it does. [and unfortunately all the files too when it is signed into the computer with the printer]) Everything I have read about having an XP in a workgroup with Win 7s says that you need to take the password protected sharing off. So if I don't have the password protected sharing on what do I do to protect the access to shared files? I don't want to have individual files protected that would drive my husband nuts and I absolutely can't leave the shared files so vunerable. I also wish there was a way to share shared files with only some users in the work group, but I don't think that is possible so I am just working with it. All the computers need the printer so they are in the work group, but they don't all need access to all the shared files. Actually the xp only needs access to a small section of the shared files and the printer. Ugh! Actually if there was a way to just let it have access to the printer, I could deal with that. It wouldn't be ideal, but it would be a compromise I could work with. Thanks for any advise on how to protect the shared files without having the "password protected sharing" on. I really like how it is set up right now, I hate to have to take the password protect off to allow my xp to have access. I am able to figure out simple things on system setting, etc, but I am in no way shape or form a techy. If you give me advise on changing my system, I need a few of the steps and not just do that or change that without telling me how to find it. Thanks.

User accounts can be password protected, and then folder can be owned by specific users who can share them only to specific users etc.My MVP is for Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 IT, and I am getting increasingly good with Visual Studio. Developer | Windows IT | Chess | Economics | Hardcore Games | Vegan Advocate | PC Reviews

Hi, The issue can be caused by permission. You can add everyone for the files' permission to check the result. Password-protected sharing is a more secure method of sharing files and folders on a network, and it is enabled by default. With password-protected sharing enabled, people on your network can't access shared folders on other computers, including the Public folders, unless they have a user name and password on the computer that has the shared folders. They will be prompted to type a user name and password when accessing the shared folders. For quicker access, you might want to have matching user accounts on all your computers. For example, Dana wants to use password-protected sharing to more securely share files and printers between her two computers. On Computer A, she has the user account "Dana22" and the password "Fly43$." If she sets up that same user account and password combination on Computer B, she can more quickly access shared files on Computer B. If Dana changes the password on one of these computers, she must make the same change on the other computer. For more information, you can refer to: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Networking-home-computers-running-different-versions-of-Windows Regards, NikiPlease remember to click "Mark as Answer" on the post that helps you, and to click "Unmark as Answer" if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.