network with Vista and Windows 7 Starter

Hi,

I have a Dell laptop running Vista and just purchased a netbook with Windows 7 starter. I want to share files between the two, however, I cannot see the other computer on the Network Map. Both computers are on the same network with same Workgroup name. I have both set as "Turn on network discovery", "Turn on file and printer sharing", "Turn on sharing so anyone with network access can read and write files in the Public folders".

Please let me know what I have missed. Shouldn't I be able to see both computers on the network at the same time even though they are running different version of Windows? I don't want to pay anymore to upgrade. Please help!

let's try this, find the ip of one of the machines on the network.

1. In the system tray, click the network connection icon and select Open Network and Sharing Center.
2. To view the IP address of a wired connection, click Local Area Connection. To view the IP address of a wireless adapter, click Wireless Network Connection (Network Name).
3. Click Details... . Your IP address will appear next to "IPv4 Address".

once you have that address you should be able to make a desktop shortcut on the other machine that points too //192.168.2.4 (or whatever the ip turns out to be)
that shortcut should manage to discover the other machine.