Desktop computer disappearing and reappearing on network (from Laptop)

Hello,

I have trawled the forums and have googled and can't seem to find anything that seems to be able to resolve the situtation.

I have a windows7 home laptop and a Windows XP desktop.
There are connected through a wireless modem. For ages the laptop could find the desktop no worries, and then for the last month or so, the desktop disappears and reappears from the network on the laptop. At the moment I can't find the desktop from the laptop.

I have gone ahead and created the same workgroup name for both computers but this has not resolved the issue.

As you can tell, I'm not network minded but I am doing my best to do due diligence but can't seem to resolve the issue. Simple n00b instructions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Trilby

There can be issues with XP machines accessing Windows 7 shares because of the version of SMB used. I suppose it could also work in the reverse. The "fix", if you can call it that, is to force the Windows 7 box to use the older version (and less secure?) version of the SMB protocal. There is a registry setting, sorry I don't know what it is.