[Last updated on 22nd June 07 - complete step 4 below, before returning to steps 1 and 2] Friends, I spent much of yesterday carefully studying the various threads on the above issue in this TechNet forum, and am pleased to announce that I have successfully resolved the problem an hour ago for our home network. Below is the text of the computer blog I have just posted on my website. I think it's more useful to read the resolution steps (minus all the noise...) in a condensed (easily revised and updatable) blog format. The relevant TechNet threads are: http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1175590&SiteID=17 http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1323486&SiteID=17 http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1660279&SiteID=17 http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1653022&SiteID=17 http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1292268&SiteID=17 http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1601510&SiteID=17 http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1565504&SiteID=17 http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1594828&SiteID=17 http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1683207&SiteID=17 http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1691250&SiteID=17 http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1686004&SiteID=17 http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1718759&SiteID=17 http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1728901&SiteID=17 http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1769501&SiteID=17 http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1761958&SiteID=17 http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1749756&SiteID=17 ------------------------------------------------ 6/2/2007, 1:15 PM [Sunthar Visuvalingam] This blog describes how I succeeded just now in completely (and relatively easily) resolving the Windows internetworking issues that are causing so much chagrin to (even technically savvy) users, who have recently introduced a Vista computer into their preexisting well functioning XP network. These woes punctuated by much frustration vented against Microsoft is to be found even and especially (in several threads) on the TechNet Vista Networking forum. My thanks however to several contributors [Cyanna, Redondo77 ] to the longest of these TechNet threads, from whose attempts I was able to sift out the most important configuration settings based on my own experiments here at home. Our home network consisted until last week of 3 notebooks, all running Windows XP Professional, that were clients of a wireless network named MSHOME: a Dell Inspiron 6400, an HP Pavilion XH-365, and my wife's Sony VAIO PCG-R505JS (click here for detailed system configurations). All 3 computers could easily access, with full rights, the D (and also CD-ROM) drives on the Pavilion and VAIO, and could also back up to a Maxtor OneTouch external hard drive attached to the Dell. Security was ensured on all 3 by Norton 360 (i.e., Windows Firewall was turned off), which caused no problems at least as far as Windows XP networking was concerned. We had to replace the VAIO (see my Norton 360 blog) on 30 May with a modest Compaq Presario C511NR (a variant of their C500) that came with Vista Home Basic and Norton Internet Security (60-day free trial) preinstalled. I successfully connected it to both our Internet gateway and wireless print server the same evening. However, I've had difficulty till now in getting the 2 interconnected XPs to access, and even see, the Vista and vice-versa: the varying symptoms corresponded pretty much to the behaviors described by those complaining on the TechNet threads referenced above. The following procedures address the core of these interconnectivity problems in order of importance: Ensure the appropriate Security settings on the Vista drive (or folder) you want to share: grant Everyone full rights (so that they exactly match the Share rights). To do this right-click the (say, D) drive in the Explorer window, open Properties, click open the Security tab, then the Advanced button at the bottom. This will open the Permissions tab, where you can click Edit, then Add..., to type and add "Everyone" to the user-groups already displayed there. Then select Everyone on this list, click Edit, and check the Full Control box under Allow (which will automatically check all the specific permissions below. (Thanks to Cyanna for sharing this tip from the Microsoft MVP on the TechNet forum). Ensure that the appropriate (combination of) objects (drive, folders, subfolders, files, etc.) is chosen from the Apply (to) dropdown list at the top. Ensure that the Norton firewall on each of the clients trusts the remaining computers in the network: In Norton Internet Security (Vista) this was done by adding the individual IP addresses (actually not static but dynamically assigned by DHCP) of the other (XP) machines to the Trusted list. Click on Settings on the main NIS window, then on Personal Firewall (in the Web Browsing group), then on the Configure button. Click on Trust Control in the list of choices (in the Personal Firewall grouping) on the left side of the configuration window. You should see your trusted networks already listed under the Active tab. Now click on the Trusted tab, then the Add... button at the bottom to manually type in and add the IP addresses of the XP machines. (If you are using Windows Firewall, I believe the corresponding trusts may have been automatically created for you, for it seems to better integrated into the rest of the Vista security and share environment). In Norton 360 (the 2 XP machines), I moved the SSID of the wireless network and Gateway Physical Address (listed as 2 separate items ) from the Limited to the Trusted pane in the Network Locations tab (the last to the right) in the Firewall Protection Settings window. These two (additional) steps was all it took, for each computer to fully and seamlessly access the others. (Caution: if you keep turning the Norton 360 firewall on and off or keep tinkering further with the related security settings in the course of troubleshooting, there's a good chance of the Trusted computers reverting to Limited without your knowledge. For example, I found that my Dell mysteriously became completely inaccessible to the other 2 computers , and I could not access the workgroup even from within the Dell! This happens especially when the Auto Assign option is set to Limited instead of Trusted.) Once file sharing and network discovery are turned on and functional by applying the above firewall settings, you won't be able to switch them off using the corresponding option buttons in the Vista Network and Sharing window. If you attempt this (by clicking the down-arrow button to the right), you'll see a notification saying that the option is now controlled by the firewall program. So you'll have to manually remove the trusts from Norton 360 or Internet Security. You should be able to ensure the corresponding settings in your own (non-Norton) firewall programs (check your manual or the Help file). There was no need to tinker with individual NetBIOS, UDP, TCP, etc., settings. In fact, on all the machines, the Norton firewalls (360 on both XP machines and Internet Security on the Vista) still show Inbound NetBIOS (Name) requests and even Windows File Sharing as blocked in their Firewall General Rules tab (apparently Norton makes an exception for those machines in your Trusted list). The "restrictanonymous" value was already set to 0 (as opposed to 1) in the registry of the 2 XP machines when I checked last night. My impression is that such low level settings are automatically configured by Windows and Norton when the global firewall rules are applied. The above procedures assume that you've already taken the following steps: Make sure first that all the machines are part of the same workgroup (I changed the default WORKGROUP on the Vista to MSHOME, the XP default, at the very start of troubleshooting). Then go through the steps lucidly outlined and explained in the TechNet article on "File and Printer Sharing in Windows Vista." Download and install the LLTD (Link Layer Topography Discovery) Responder on each of your XP clients, so that the computers may automatically discover each other an other supported devices on the network. (Be aware that there are simplifications, complications, limitations, bugs, and compatibility issues to the LLTD responder that might prevent it from working properly on your XP system. The above link provides instructions to uninstall it if necessary.) To further customize the behavior of this new facility, see: How to Enable the Windows Vista Network Map. The above steps are for unrestricted access across wireless, but they should work just as well for a wired (or hybrid) network (i.e., the problem is with permissions in each client). Also, it should work fine for user level (as opposed to publicly shared) security as well. For example, on trying to access a protected Vista folder from an XP client, I'm asked for my User ID and password, and it works. If the network shares do not become transparent even after completing all the above steps, you might then want to try fine-tuning your firewall settings by unblocking (allowing) inbound NetBIOS, NetBIOS Names, and File Sharing (as suggested by Redondo77, whom I thank for the tip-off about including all the networked IP addresses in the firewall trusts). This seems to have worked for at least one user (posting on 6/6/07), though it's not clear whether these low-level steps were really necessary. Even when file sharing is (finally) working as it should across the (hybrid) network, Vista may still insist on your providing a username and password in order to be able to backup files or do a complete computer backup to (a storage device attached to) another machine. This seems to be a yet additional level of security that Microsoft has added specifically to the backup routine, though you can continue to copy files manually over the forbidden network folder.... If your workgroup is actually part of a (business) domain (as opposed to a home network), file sharing is centrally managed by an Active Domain Controller from which the relevant permissions should be downloaded to your computer and firewall settings. For more information on how to deal with network domains, see: [] Chronology: when I first 'plugged' in the Presario into our (wireless) MSHOME workgroup, it was visible in My Network Places from the XP computers but could not be accessed despite having been shared to Everyone (and later to my administrator account on all 3 machines); the latter would not appear at all in the Networks window on Vista. I eventually got the Presario to see the XP machines after installing the LLTD Responder on the latter (it may have also taken some time for the computers to discover each other on their own regardless of whatever I was doing), and was subsequently able to access their shared folders after creating the trusts in the XP firewalls. Access to the Vista Public folder was enabled only after adding the IP addresses of the XP machines to its firewall's trusted list. Access to the D drive required its security (in addition to the share) permissions be set as accessible to Everyone (which is already the default security setting for the Public folder when Vista is installed). Having discovered Vista (Home) through my wife's Presario, I got around to upgrading my Inspiron to Vista Ultimate 8 June (so we now have to Vistas networked to an XP). Finally, after upgrading the Presario to Vista Home Basic to Premium on 14 June, I removed the 60-day trial of NIS from the Presario and replaced it with Norton 360 (the license is valid for 3 machines) , so the firewall settings are now identical across the network. What I find rather surprising if not downright disconcerting is that there is no indication in either the TechNet Vista Networking forum nor in Symantec's online knowledge base (at least I've not been able to find these resources through repeated searches against likely keywords) that their technicians have sought to troubleshoot such a barebones setup. At least, I can't find such a checklist in order of priority despite all the bad (and snowballing...) publicity that both companies have been receiving! Sunthar

Excellent post, Sunthar. On a different tack, have you successfully backed-up your Vista pc to another PC/HDD on your network using the Vista Backup & Restore Center?When I attempt it, Vista B&RC asks for a username/password for the target HDD - yet none has been established for that target HDD. Others posting to Vista Apps TechNet have had similar problem.Cheers,Redondo77

Hello Redondo,My wife's Compaq Presario C551NR came with Vista Home Basic preinstalled, which does not provide any backup services worth the name. We did upgrade to Home Premium a couple of days ago, but I immediately replaced the 60-day trial of Norton Internet Security with Norton 360. The latter provides basic backup services including up to 2GB online storage at Symantec. Not only does this more than meet my wife's needs, but is also automatic for the most part. It took the whole night (12 hours) to upload 1.4 GB of data wirelessly. The advantage for her is that (it's supposed to be wholly) automatic and unobtrusive (actually there are reports that the server is often down and the backup does not complete successfully...), and she would, in principle at least, only need to spend a couple of hours per week at a cybercaf in Paris over the summer for the subsequent incremental backups.More relevant to your query is that on 08 June I have upgraded my own Dell Inspiron 6400 from XP Professional to Vista Ultimate (and the prolonged troubleshooting routines with incompatible hardware and software drivers is by now mostly over). I have been using Norton Ghost 10.0 to back up my C:\ and D:\ drives to a Maxtor Mini OneTouch III 160GB external hard drive that is attached via USB. I'm planning to replace it with Vista Ultimate's full-featured backup tools (esp. as Vista is reporting some minor compatibility issues with Ghost). I'll also try backing up wirelessly to my (obsolete) HP Pavilion XH-365 XP Professional laptop, which serves now primarily as a backup machine. I'll be sure to let you (and others) know what I discover later this week regarding the password protection.Thanks for the appreciative remarks on my XP <> Vista networking post! I have just updated it once more today and have also acknowledged all your input. I have been providing marketing intelligence through regular surveys of user-forums (in English, French, German, and, earlier, Dutch as well) for a pioneering software company. So I now enjoy finessing all these insights into forum-posts from a consumer perspective. I would like eventually to open up my own computer blog space to other power-users as a public service to IT consumers.Regards,Sunthar

Just a preliminary confirmation that Vista does demand a user name and password for a networked storage device though the latter has not been protected with the same. Yesterday, I tried to back up to the Maxtor Mini OneTouch III external hard-drive attached to my Inspiron 6400 from my wife's Presario running Vista Home Premium, but it wouldn't let me. Setting both security and share permissions to Everyone and according the latter group full control didn't make a difference. However, I had just done both a Windows Complete PC Backup followed by a Files Backup from Vista Ultimate on my Inspiron without being prompted for a user name and password. Microsoft (MS) seems to be assuming that backing up to a device attached to one's own computer is (relatively) secure, whereas doing so over the network is not secure: hence the insistence on such security measures. However, these constraints seem rather silly when I can easily access and modify the contents of the Maxtor from Windows Explorer from across the network. In fact, I ended up simply copying her entire My Documents tree and Outlook data file over within Windows Explorer (bypassing the backup procedure). It seems to me that MS should allow the such backup security constraints to be overridden within a home network environment. Otherwise, they should not allow one to bypass such data protection by such other and obvious means.I'll let you know soon whether I'm able to back up from my HP Pavilion (my wife is taking the Presario today with her for the summer to Paris...) after setting up the device with an accredited user name and password.Regards,Sunthar

ok very simple...all I had to do is delete the norton antivirus from my pc and it worked perfectly with xp to vista networking...

Hi, I downloaded the MS patch Link Layer Topography onto myXP Desktopand now I have a disk read error every time I turn the computer on. I close the error window and the computer works fine. This happened only after downloading this patch. Can you tell me how to fix it? I am in the process of sharing a vista wireless with an XP desktop wired. I will try out your steps tonight, but would like to get rid of this annoying error. Thank you.

The only thing I can think of is to try uninstalling and then reinstalling the LLTD responder. The (command-line) instructions provided at here for the research prototype should, I hope, work for the supported version as well: http://research.microsoft.com/~rjblack/Topology/#topslave I'd also recommend rebooting after uninstalling and before reinstalling (though Richard Black says its unnecessary). Please let us know how it went... Sunthar

after fighting with this issue, I installed netbios on my XP machines and POW, it resolved the PW issue and both Vista and all XP (32 &64) now see and access each others shares. anyone not familure with NetBios, its a protocol you can install in your local area connection device, in network connections on an XP machine right click on your local area connections and select properties, then install, protocol, which ever option has NetBios in it.

I've been following this thread with interest since I'm experiencing similar problems. I had a network with a desktop and a laptop, both running XP, and file sharing was working between these two machines.Then I added a new laptop running Vista. After following svAbhinava's excellent guide, the XP desktop can access shared files on the Vista laptop and vice versa, but the XP laptop cannot see shared files on the Vista laptop, nor can its shared files be accessed from the Vista laptop. This is a problem because the new laptop was meant to replace the old one, and I want to transfer files from the XP laptop to the Vista laptop. After installing LLTD on both XP machines, I can see both of them on Vista's Network Map. So I guess this means that computers can be visible to the Network Map without being accessible for file sharing. Any thoughts on this?

Good job! However, I have another proven solution towards Windows XP-Vista ICS problem which is related to failed IPv6 stack. Some people may not use any Norton product, but they still experience the similar problem. Please refer to the following post I wrote few months ago, it is a proven solution. Dear all, Just as what you guys feel, I've keep searching for a solution of this problem. Some people think that it is a bug, but I proved, it's not ture. Motivated by my curiosity and hacker sprits, I figured out that the problem is caused by a failed IPv6 stack problem, which repeatly shown in my event log. To address this problem, I tried to disable IPv6, disable new dynamic stack, disable firewalls, enable static IP and so on. But they all failed. To my surprise, the solution is extremely simple. First, disable the satic IP and ICS (if you have set previously). Second, go to Control panel > Network and Internet > Networkand Sharing center > Managing network connections (on the right corner)> Select all connections > right click on one of the connection > click "Network bridging" Third, when finished,right click on the icon of Network Bridge > select "properties" >unlock the UAC >remove the tick of your internet connection in the upper box > click "OK" Forth, right click the icon of your internet connection > select "properties" >unlock the UAC > go to the "sharing" page, tick both check box. > click "OK" Now, wait for the Windows Vista to recongnize the new network setting. Wait a minute and check if both computer can get access to interent. If the tricks failed to work, just restart both of PC.

Yep. . . IT'S THE NORTON TRIALWARE, STUPID!I wish they wouldn't contaminate my machine with this garbage.

My vista windows filesharing failed on me suddenly after 2 months of running smoothly. The system wouldn't find computers other than itself (although using \\pcname\ still worked). I tried some stuff but gave up, and this topic made me do a re-test.Hypothesis:caused by Windows FirewallI tend to disable stuff I don't use, and the firewall is one of them - blindly trustingm$tofinallydothejobright.Yousee,thereisaflawinXPthatmakesnetworkdiscoveryfailifyoudisablethefirewall.Always."When you disable the Windows Firewall service on your Windows XP Service Pack 2-based computer, the Computer Browser service stops after five minutes" <- http://support.microsoft.com/kb/889320,stillnotreleasedasapubliclyavailablefix.Vista apparently does the same. I turned full MSFW firewall protection on, and suddenly it started working. Turned it off, stopped working. Turned it back on, still doesn'twork.EDIT:After a few rounds of enabling/disabling sharing and a full network restart, it's back up. Specifically, I re-enabled all 'required' services to turn my filesharing mode from "Custom" to "On". Although it worked with 'custom' before, I'll leave it. Windows firewall is off, by the way. The service is still running tho'.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!! it now all works fine and dandy and i couldnt be happier! im writting a post to another fellow now, im going to simplify the steps a little for him as he is a bit of a noob (not that im much better), but i will definately credit you! you are a legend!

First, I'll add my thanks for a great summary. I've got a real puzzler, though. I recently added a Vista desktop to my home network (currently an emachine running XP media centre and an HP pavillion laptop running XP both running exactly the same AVG / ZoneAlarm suites, all computers connected through a router - laptop wireless, desktop, wired). Without any changes whatsoever, the new Vista maching could see my HP laptop (even though it was MSHOME). However, the desktop was invisible in both directions. I manually included the Vista IP address into the ZoneAlarm trusted sites on the emachine and, hey presto, I could access the Vista desktop. However, Vista would not allow access to the emachine running XP. If appears in the network map on Vista, but won't allow you to open it and it won't display when I refresh the available networks. All sharing and security is enabled / disabled on the XP machine. And, I've changed the XP network to WORKGROUP. What do you think might be going wrong?

Hi, Firstly, Sunthar u made a excellent post. U are one of the few people who have documented a step-by-step method without assuming people know their way around Vista and XP. I need help withcracking this problem. I have two PCs with the following specs - Desktop with XP and Norton 360 and 2 external drives attached to it - Laptop with Vista Home Premium and Norton Internet Security (l will change toVista Ultimate and Norton 360 as soon asI sort out all the issues. - I also have 3 NAS (1TB, 500GB, and 300GB) Drives on the network I followedSunthar's instructions word for word. After all the steps the desktop was showing only itself and thethe 3 NAS devices under "View Workgroup Computers". The laptop could see only the windows media player files for the desktop and the 500GB NAS device butcould not access the drives etc. The manufacturer for the NAS devices said they are not releasing a patch for old NAS products to run on vista so it will not work unlessMicrosoft does something or i do something to Vista dont we love these corporations that care However, here's the kicker. After i followed all the steps and after much struggle, i decided to turn off the firewall on the desktop and the laptop. Now the desktop shows only itselfin "View Workgroup Computers" and I can see and access everything also the NAS drives that are not supposed to work with vista (according to the manufacturer) If i turn the Firewall on it reverts to the first problem. Any ideas on what u think i could try? Thanks in advance

Here is the latest update. After doing all the step and turning off the firewalls on the laptop and desktop both PCs could see each other and all 3 NAS devices but the following happened.... From the Vista laptop I can see and access all NAS devices and drives (Internal and external) that are connected to the desktop. From the XP Pro desktop I can see and access all NAS devices. I can also see the Laptop from the "View Workgroup computers" but when i try to access any of the drives i get the message below "Laptop is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions. Logon failure: The user has not been granted the requested logon type at this computer." I've tried looking up help menus etc but don't seem to be getting anywhere with the problem. Appreciate anyones help. Thanks Regards, Cyrus

I just recently got a vista computer and your tips on networking vista to xp was helpfull. But I do have a concern. I would like all of my local networked computers to share all files on C drive, by changing the security and sharing rights to Everyone does thatalso allowothers on the internet (dial-up, dsl,broadband etc.) to have access to these files as well? Thanks

I have the same problem listed below Cygasmic wrote: Here is the latest update. After doing all the step and turning off the firewalls on the laptop and desktop both PCs could see each other and all 3 NAS devices but the following happened.... From the Vista laptop I can see and access all NAS devices and drives (Internal and external) that are connected to the desktop. From the XP Pro desktop I can see and access all NAS devices. I can also see the Laptop from the "View Workgroup computers" but when i try to access any of the drives i get the message below "Laptop is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions. Logon failure: The user has not been granted the requested logon type at this computer." I've tried looking up help menus etc but don't seem to be getting anywhere with the problem. Appreciate anyones help. Thanks Regards, Cyrus

I spent today adding a couple of new Vista PCs to my network and experienced similar problems. The older XP machines could see each other. The 2 new Vista machines could see each other. But the XP machines couldn't see the Vista machines and vice-versa. Reading this thread made me do what I'd always intended to do but faster: uninstall the free Norton packages (trials). That didn't instantly help. I had to download and run the Norton Removal tool available here http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039?Open&src=&docid=2004093015165236&nsf=tsgeninfo.nsf&view=docid&dtype=&prod=&ver=&osv=&osv_lvl= which clears all the stuff left behind when you use add/remove programmes to remove Norton. At next start up the Vista machines could see the XP machines but the Vista machines were still invisible to the XP machines. That was because I hadn't properly renamed the worgroup on Vista but following the instructions available here http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/bb727037.aspxsorted that out. Now everything is honky-dory. I've installed AVG Free for now on the Vista machines (I run Kaspersky on the XP machines) and will see how that goes. Interestingly, the NAV installed Vista machines blocked access to the page that Symantec offer the Norton Download Tool on. It is accessible once you've uninstalled NAV with add/remove programs. Frankly that sort of deviousness is why so many people distrust Symantec. Hope this helps others

Excellent instructions. I followed to the letter and finally, after six months, got my Vista to find the XP computers on our network. Many thanks.

Hi, I was also strugling for a while to connect my Windows XP / Norton Internet Security 2006and a Windows Vista / Norton 360 machine. However, I did not like Norton 360 and replaced it with Norton Internet Security. That also solved all of my network problems. ConnectingXP and Vista with both of them having Norton Internet Security 2008 wentreally easy!

Unbelievable. Here it is August/September 2008 and I have just gone through this hassle. My old "main squeeze" died on 8/24. I honestly believe WinXP SP3 auto update did the deed (long story). Anyway, had backups so all was good in that regard. Got a fresh new Vista machine w/Norton Internet Security 2008. Fresh (build date June 2008).Don't even get me started about drivers, etc. and the other nonsense associated with getting this new box set-up and configured. Pitiful.Anyway,had a total of 3 XP machines and 2 network printers on a small home business network set-up. So, now it is one Vista machine, 2 XP machines (with NAV 2007) and 2 network printers. All computers and printers HP. Lord help me, it has taken 3 weeks to get things straightened out (with some help from BigDog IT / Tyler Hamilton) and I am still having admin/permissions issues for s/w installs,win update, lacking printer and display drivers etc. Win 3.0 was a huge step. Win 3.1 even better. WFW better yet. Win95 was sweet. Win98 improved on that. WinME kind of a joke. Then...WinXP seemed at last to pull it all together -- PnP, ease of networking (simple P2P networks). And now we have Vista -- the mother hen that doesn't let you wander out of the yard. Total PITA. And of course, even with all this babysitting we will still manage toacquire viruses/malware, etc. -- and my guess it will even be harder to get things straightened out because of all the layers of nonsense we are now dealing with. The "system" is now collapsing under its own weight.

I am in the same boat you are! Please keep me posted. I have a ADStech NAS-806. This really sucks! I will let you know if I resolve the issue. Somehow we have to loosen security in the LLTD protocol. Thanks!

A program can solve this issue. you buy a disk and you can use the program on up to 3 PCs. just install them, and they'll automatically detects the others computer and you get the option to share files, printer, and host a website to share files over the net. (my fave feature.) unfortunately, the newest version 5.0 doesn't support sharing over the internet. so if you want that, you'll have to get 4.9 it will also do other stuffs to. check it out. I got mine for $0 at sale price. that was over. if you guys want it, you'll have to pay. or u could try the trial edition. link below. http://www1.purenetworks.com/product/free.php

Dear Friends, Another issue I have run intois the sharing of NAS drives. The problem began with the MS updates issued around 10/17/2008. After installing the critical updates my UNC shares were gone. You could ping, manage routers, NAS drives etc.. But not see them. The only thing discoverable was you. After a lot of trials I discovered if you use the format \\ip_address\ or \\ip_address\share_name you can see all shares on the network once you do one. You also have to map drives this way too. Brent

My old XP desktop could not access the internet after installing (and wiring to) a wireless router for my new wireless Vista laptop and setting up a wireless/wired network. I followed your simple instructions on installing Netbios and now my wired desktop accesses the internet as it used to do, in seconds. I still have a lot of issues to work out and after two days of total frustration, I have a renewed hope! Thanks so much.

Thanks for your advice which I followed but still didnt completely solve my very siliar problem. I could see my XP machine on the Vista network map but still couldnt access it. So for the benefit of anyone else who comes upon this article - what fixed this problem for me was to install the Peer to Peer component on windows XP.The following article tells you how to do this:http://www.microsoft.com/technet/network/p2p/p2pintro.mspxor 1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Add or Remove Programs. 2. Click Add/Remove Windows Components. 3. In Components, click Networking Services (but do not select its check box), and then click Details. 4. Select the Peer-to-Peer check box, and then click OK. 5. Click Next, and then follow the instructions in the wizard.I hope this helps someone. All the best

Thanks to all. Installingp2p networking on my WinXP boxes was the final trick necessary for me on the XP (SP3) side. FYI, I added a Win Vista machine to the network about 1 month ago, and networking has never worked rightwith my existing XP systems. I could ping the XP machines from the Vista machine, but could not ping the vista machine from either of the XP machines. After ~80 hours of flailing and cussing, installing p2p, as described above, solved this.(search phrase: cannot ping vista from XP)I still have not resolved why I cannot browse to the XP machines using explorer on the vista machine. Yet, if I enter the network address (\\host\drive) directly in the start->search field, they pop up like champs. I also don't have a problem mapping the remote XP drives on vista. I installed the LLTD responder on the XP machines, and can now get an accurate network map on vista - whoopie. This didn't fix anything else.Also can't get remote printing to work from new vista machine to printer onexisting XP machine. Vista can't find the remote printer most of the time, using the "add a network printer" wizard. Sometimes, it miraculously appears in the list of remote printers, but when I select it, the wizard reports that the printer driver is incorrect. Supposedly, Vista comes with the correct driver pre-installed for this very common Epson printer.Well, there goes my xmas holiday... back to work tomorrow. I hope Bill enjoyed his holiday more than I enjoyed mine.I guess that customer satisfaction really isn't a top priority when you are a monopoly.

Here's how I solved the Xp and Vista Networking problem. 1. I reset the Workgroup name to a new name by using network setup. First on the computer connected to our Router which was running XP Professional2. Next I ran network setup on the other computer using XP.3. Next I renamed the Vista Premium computer Workgroup name and rebooted the computer.4. Next I pinged the Xp computer from the Vista premium computer to see why it could not access the XP computer. The message that came up was to contact the network administrator to make sure port 2560 is open(windows network service). So I went to my XP Professional computer and went to my McAfee firewall settings and changed the settings to open port 2560. Everything then worked magically. I could access all the files in the XP Computer and I could setup up the printer no problem.I hopes this help others having the same problem. I am not a computer tech but just playing around for several days I was able to solve the problem for me.