File Sharing/Printing Problems (W7 Laptop - XP Desktop)

okay so here's the situation
i've been through it before with things working and now not working and i've asked on this forum before but it happened again...
before we start: both machines HAVE MSE

i own a Windows 7 Home premium laptop
wifi enabled, workgroup "WORKGROUP", network discovery/fileprinter sharing/password sharing/ all the things enabled to have the connection between XP and 7 work (it worked before)

and in the living room is an XP desktop
it is connected to the router wihch is connected to the modem. it's also connected to the printer via usb.
workgroup "WORKGROUP", file printer sharing enabled (printer is shared), etc like i said it worked before
i havent messed around much with the xp options (except enabling things here and there)

PROBLEM
======
in the Workgroup folder, the xp can see the 7 computer and vice versa on the 7 computer.

it's just that whenever i click the icon to open it and browse through it, it gives an error : "Network path not found" or "\\blah\ is inaccessible"

it WAS working before after i reinstalled windows onto my computer and soon enough, it stopped working.

they can recognized each other being in the network, but cannot access each other...

Please provide some suggestions. i may have already done some of the things you are giong to say (this has been an ongoing problem) but i need to fix this..


In the end, i'm trying to share files through public folders between xp and 7 (previously worked)
and i want to print from the laptop wirelessly (much more convenient)

Thanks

ps i even turned off password protected sharing from this website's instructions but it didnt work so it's back on

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/...d-fd3d431f3cd5

sorry to bump.. but can anyone suggest anything

on the XP desktop and 7 laptop, yes

Step 1: The best thing that I can tell you is that you need to have a USER name and PASSWORD the same on both computers. Preferably one that you are always going to be logged into as a MASTER account.

Step 2: In Windows XP, go to Folders Options, and go all the way down the list and unclick the "use simple sharing"

Step 3: In Windows 7, In the Advance sharing settings, make sure you are under HOME or WORK, a: turn on network discovery, b: turn on file and printer sharing, c: public sharing = up to you, d: file sharing connections you can leave on 128 bit encrptions, e: keep the turn on password protected sharing... (better safe than sorry), f: use user accounts and passwords to connect to other computers instead of using homegroup connections.

@ acurasd what does "use user accounts and passwords to conenct to other computers" mean? they can't connect to the network path anyway. (don't they connect first, then ask for username/password?)

@kegobeer the windows 7 computer had to go through a recovery disc and therefore the sharing started working again, then as time went by, the network path error showed up just like the initial installation of Windows 7 that came with the computer..

XP is constant throughout this whole thing

I understand but you have to let Windows 7 and Windows XP see one another. Some settings have to be changed on one another. That is why they put Homegroup on 7 to make it easier but it doesn't help if you don't have two machines running windows 7.

The "Use Accounts and Passwords to connect to other computers" which is located in the
Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Network and Sharing Center\Advanced sharing settings
Towards the bottom.... should be checked instead of the "Allow Windows to manage homegroup connections (recommended)" since your not going to be using home groups but traditional user accounts and passwords.

Here is the deal with the passwords:
If you have two machines on the same network having the same user names and passwords, the two computers will see one another as having the same security credentials, and start to handshake with one another. That way the network will still be secured with passwords from being hacked from the outside, but it will also allow you to log into any computer with your USER name and PassWord without having to put it in every time because it will handshake automatically.

If you don't have the same user name and passwords one each machine or you fail to leave a user name out on the machine, than yes it will ask you to put a user name and password in every time to gain access to that particular machine.