Windows 7: XP can't see Windows 7 in network places

I have two computers. I'll call them "mine" and "his".
"mine" has both Vista and Windows 7 installed (dual boot), "his" has XP Home.



When I boot "mine" into Vista, the networking works perfectly. Vista and XP can see files and printers and all is great.

When I boot "mine" into Windows 7, I can see "his" computer and access his files and his printer. However "his" computer doesn't even see "mine" show up in My Network Places.

I've checked the workgroup in Windows 7 and it's the correct name.
I've gone to the Network and Sharing Center in Win 7 and set my Network to "Home network".
I played briefly with the "HomeGroup" thing in Win 7 until I reached the point where it said it only worked for computers running Win 7. However it does says HomeGroup: Joined (and it appears that I've joined a HomeGroup).

So now what? Why can't XP see the Windows 7 computer?

try go into the Network and Sharing Center...then choose Homegroup and Sharing Option. Try turn on the network discovery setting. See this --> Vista Network Discovery - Setting Network Locations | Windows Server Training

Have you tried using search for networked computers in XP?

How to search for a computer on the network in Windows XP

Can you ping the Windows 7 PC from the XP machine?

Can you access the Windows 7 computer by typing its IP address in XP's explorer address bar?

Open Windows Explorer on XP and type in the address bar...

(Example if your Windows 7 PC's local network IP address is 192.168.1.2, you would type):

^^^Replace with YOUR Windows 7 Local Network IP Address

Another way is entering the Windows 7 pc name like this:

Example if your Windows 7 PC was named "Windows7":

goto his pc, goto Start-Run, type "\\mine" ( assuming your computer's name is mine ) and then it should open the shared forlders on your computer.

if it doesn't work, you need to check if you can ping it like OEM said...

Thanks you for all the suggestions. Here's what happened when I tried them all:

First, on Windows 7:
Network discovery was already on
File and printer sharing was already on
Public folder sharing was already on

On the XP machine:
I could successfully ping the windows 7 machine
If I did start->run \\mine or if I put \\192.168.1.107 in the URL in IE I got a box that popped up looking for a username and password for my windows 7 machine.

I was not able to log into the windows 7 machine however. I do not have a password set up on either of the machines and when I put my windows 7 username in but left the password blank, it gave me a Logon Failure: User account restriction error and said blank passwords are not permitted.

The way my machines are set up, neither my husband nor I uses a password. And we only have one account on each machine set up as an administrator account. I do not want to have multiple accounts per machine. I have a second drive on my computer in which we store all our data. My husband backs up his data onto that same drive. Therefore it's really important that he be able to access it. I do have sharing turned on for that drive and have set the permissions for Everyone to have full access.

So, now what do I do?
The windows 7 machine still does not show up in My Network Places on XP but obviously it has some knowledge that the machine exists.
I really don't want to set up passwords. For us, that's an annoying waste of time.

Many thanks again for the advice.

HEy

Im having a very similar situation

I have a 7 machine with a homegroup and my t400 running XP.

My T400 xp box is able to see my 7 Machine. I can acces some public folders ect. However my 7 machine will not see my xp box. Every now and again my 7 machine will show the xp machine name T_400 in network in explorer but when i click on it it asks for a user name and password. But it denies access when you use the the user name and password for the t400. I am the only user profile and it is set up as admin. I even tryed turning off the firewall on the T400 xp box.

I was able to ping both machines back and forth.

Useing a run command ( \\MachinenameC$) did not work as well. Gave me a DNS error

Any thoughts?


Is there a problem with 7 and xp connectivity?

@Deb27 and Automag:Turn on guest account on the windows 7 machine. You can do this as well to make sure the permissions are accurate.
Download the following and install to the Windows 7 machine.
Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools
http://files.getdropbox.com/u/976813/rktools.exe
after installation is complete, click on: Start, All Programs, Windows Resource Kit Tools, Command Shell
Then enter the following commands. (Attention: they are case sensitive.)
net user guest /active:yes
ntrights +r SeNetworkLogonRight -u Guest
ntrights -r SeDenyNetworkLogonRight -u Guest
The first command enables network access for Guest, the two subsequent ones change two different policies to allow network access for Guest.

By doing what "zay" says you are opening your computer up, if anyone gets onto your network they will have full access without you knowing about it. You would be much better off to just use a password.

There is a reason the GUEST account comes DISABLED by default, if not used properly its a huge security hole.

In the past I offered the option to just create a user account with a password on the Windows 7, and use that as the account to log on with, (that is what I did), but they did not want that. That is why I offered the next option. I know the ramifications of my prior solution, but I was just offering what they wanted. My apologies for that.

They will all "see" each other using the old "workgroup" setup. As you have discovered, Homegroup will not resolve the issue and Network discovery is limited. While I'm not sure about the security risks of the "Workgroup" setup (I'm sure someone here will say what they are and how to work around them) it is a sure way for "mine" and "his" to get along. I have an XP machine, an XP and 7 dual boot, a 7 machine and a Freenas server networked this way and everyone plays well together...