Hi. I have a Windows 7 Ultimate machine networked with a Windows XP netbook through a wired router.Windows 7 has no problem finding and accessing the shared folders on the XP machine (implying the workgroup name on both are the same),however the XP machine is unable to see W7 at all.Pinging the W7 machine from XP works fine, so obviously the connection is working. However when I tried to access W7 by typing its IP (\\xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) or name (\\GTR) in XP's Windows Explorer, the XP returns that it cannot find the W7 machine.I assume this problem is making sharing folder on the W7 machine impossible. I have also gone through many forums which mentioned checking the settings in the advance setting under homegroup, and switching on network discovery and turning off password access there.This is becoming very frustrating and I wish you guys can help me out here.Thanks in advance!!

Do you have SP3 on the XP machine and what software is the XP machine running? Check and see if the LLTD Responder is showing in the network adapter properties, if not, you'll need to install SP3 and if that doesn't fix it, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922120 and if that doesn't work on your XP machines (if you don't see LLTD protocol on xp network adapters) then there is also a hotfix (which I had to do to my XP machine from here http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?kbnum=922120&kbln=en-us as for accessing by ip or DNS name, you are not running the DNS server or had created those records in the DNS (or is there a server - local involved). Review this link just to double check your network setup (basic but worth a look) http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-7/share-files-and-printers-between-windows-7-and-xp/. 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.]

Many thanks for the tip cdobbs. I will try this out tonight. On a separate note I have a media box in the lounge room with internal hardisk which I am also trying to connect to W7, so that I can stream content from the W7 machine to the media box. This box is also connected by wire to the router but cannot find the W7 machine.SAMBA is installed on the media box, and Windows 7 can access its internal hardisk in Explorer.However similar to XP, shared folders on W7 is not visible to the media box.Would you have any tip in this regard?Thanks again!

Samba is out of my league for the most part as its been years since I've used it but here's something to review http://serverfault.com/questions/16257/how-to-make-windows-7-write-to-samba-shared-folderhttp://www.sevenforums.com/network-sharing/8303-cant-connect-samba-share-via-name-ip-works.htmloh and I bet you haven't done this yet in your local gpo of windows 7Windows 7 by default will only use NTLMv2 for authentication, which is not supported by Mac OS X’s Windows Sharing service and can also be caused by the new “Minimum Session Security for NTVLM SSP based Clients” security feature found in Widows 7 and Windows Server 2008. To workaround this problem, 1. Click Start – search secpol.msc, right-click and choose “Run as Administrator”2. Click “Local Policies” and then “Security Options” in the leftpane.3. In the rightpane, locate “Network Security: LAN Manager Authentication Level” in the list. Double-click and change the setting from “Send NTMLv2 response only” to “Send LM & NTLM – use NTLMv2 session if negotiated” and click Apply and OK 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.]

I did forget to mention though if you're using homegroup, you need to keep IPv6 enabled.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.]

Many thanks for the pointers cdobbs, really appreciate your help.

Hi cdobbs, I have tried all of the above last night and to no avail. The netbook is indeed using XP SP3 so it is not to do with configuration of the XP machine (I assume). On the W7 machine I found the LLTD under Services is disable by default and have enabled it since. I also enabled and disabled a number of network policies as below:Enabled:Network access: Allow anonymous SID/name translationNetwork access: Let Everyone permissions apply to anonymous usersDisabled:Network access: Restrict anonymous access to Named Pipes and SharesNetwork access: Do not allow anonymous enumeration of SAM accountsNetwork access: Do not allow anonymous enumeration of SAM accounts and sharesAppreciate if you could shed more light on a solution. Thanks!!

Hi, Please also try following steps on Windows 7 machine. 1. Temporarily disable firewall and antivirus program. 2. Assure the following services are started: Computer Browser, Server, Workstation 3. Restart the Windows 7 machine in Safe Mode with Networking and try to access it from Windows XP machine again. If there is any error message, please upload it Thanks, Novak