Networking Between Win7, Vista and WinXP-Pro - HELP Pls

Hi,
And thanks for reading my question.
I ahve the following setup.
2x Win7 RC systems, hardwired.
2x WinXP-Pro systems, hardwired
1x WinXP-Pro Laptop, wireless
1x Vista Laptop, wireless.

No home server installed.

The problem I have is that none of my computers can access either of the Win7 computers. The win7 computers can access the Vista and WinXP computers, but not the 2nd Win7 computer (asks for a user and password).
When trying to access the Win7 computers all ask for a user and password, I had set the Win7 computer to be open access for networking, but this does not seem to of happened (I've done something wrong).

I had installed Link Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) Responder on my XP machine as advised but I got an error message saying I had a newer update so this was not installed.

I am now at a total loss as to where to go now, I have done heaps of google searches and these tried to help but still did not slove my problem. (I'm not computer dumb, so do understand 90% of what is required).

I would be very grateful to anyone for any information.
I hope I have put enough information in?

Regards Kevin.

sparcnz said:

Hi,
And thanks for reading my question.
I ahve the following setup.
2x Win7 RC systems, hardwired.
2x WinXP-Pro systems, hardwired
1x WinXP-Pro Laptop, wireless
1x Vista Laptop, wireless.

No home server installed.

The problem I have is that none of my computers can access either of the Win7 computers. The win7 computers can access the Vista and WinXP computers, but not the 2nd Win7 computer (asks for a user and password).
When trying to access the Win7 computers all ask for a user and password, I had set the Win7 computer to be open access for networking, but this does not seem to of happened (I've done something wrong).

I had installed Link Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) Responder on my XP machine as advised but I got an error message saying I had a newer update so this was not installed.

I am now at a total loss as to where to go now, I have done heaps of google searches and these tried to help but still did not slove my problem. (I'm not computer dumb, so do understand 90% of what is required).

I would be very grateful to anyone for any information.
I hope I have put enough information in?

Regards Kevin.

Have you checked the advanced sharing settings, accessible form the "Network and Sharing Center"? Check that the first 3 settings under "Home or Work" profile are set accordingly, and make sure "Password protected sharing" is set to off, if that is the desired setting.

Dam13n

Dam13n

Thanks for the reply, your advice allowed me to see the drives on my Win7 systems through the network on the other computers.
However it still is preventing me to access the drive.
I have checked the advanced settings for each shared drive and these are set for full access for everyone. This still does not allow se to access them, I am going to try and un-share them and try sharing again.

Still now have to look at why the two Win7 computers are not showing up under the homegroup. They both say they are joined, but could be because of the way I set each up.

Regards
Kevin.

sparcnz said:

I have checked the advanced settings for each shared drive and these are set for full access for everyone. This still does not allow se to access them

This is where most people get confused, and understandably so.

If password protected sharing is disabled, then in order to access shares without a username and password the "Everyone" group needs to exist under BOTH the sharing tab AND the security tab under folder properties*.

Keep in mind that whoever is under the security tab will take precedence. For example, if "Everyone" is NOT under the security tab, then "Everyone" being in the sharing won't make any difference. Everyone will NOT be able to access the share because the security tab never specified they could access it in the first place.

*There is an exception to this rule. If both computers have the same user account and password then the computer accessing the share will be automatically authenticated using the credentials of the currently logged on user. Therefore "Everyone" does not need to exist under the security tab if that username was there instead.