In this example of 'sharing' in help .... click on [specific people] and type (your name)\\XP-machine
Norton's firewall may also be hindering Windows 7, so you could add the IP#'s of both XP machines to the firewall on your Windows 7 or vice-versa.
I'am not sure why you posted a homegroup connection page when XP can't connect using "Homegroups" nor can XP share library's. Only Win 7 machines can use homegroup as a network sharing connection.
You would think that disabling the Norton firewall or allowing the XP machines through the Norton file wall would be the first thing to do but maybe he didn't think of that.
In either event, there is zero chance it would work if all the machines were using the same user name.
Ok. I believe I have exceptions in both the XP desktop Norton firewall and the Win7 Norton firewall. But for arguement's sake, I've shut off both firewalls for one hour just to see if it makes a difference. I've done this already before, but I cannot be sure of every step, so I am doing it again to make it official.
Lastly, because this is your major concern, I need to make absolutely certain of one detail. When you say "all machines have the same user name" do you mean all the PCs have the same Full Computer Name or are you talking about individual user account names (like my account, my wife's account on each PC). In my network, the Full Computer Names have never been the same, and I have now changed the individual user names on all three PCs.
thanks.
Hey
I have roughly the same problem, a win-7 PC that's connected by hub to a win-XP laptop.. and neither one sees the other!!!
I've done all the mentioned settings.. all in vain
I suspect the so-named HomeGroup is causing issues! have anyone checked this?
This is why I ask. Your advice to use different user accounts and passwords with each machine contradicts much of what I've read elsewhere so I need to make sure we are saying the same thing. From another conversation elsewhere comes this:
"As of Windows Vista, you must have a password associated with an account. Having an account sans password will generate the problems you are experiencing.
On both computers, the XP and Windows 7 system, create a username and password that is consistent between both computers. Using that account and password combination will then allow you to access both computer shares—providing you granted the passworded account proper access and permissions."
Now for me this doesn't solve alot, because I still cannot see the XPs from Win7 at all. Therefore I never get to the User Account level when I try and connect with the Win7 PC.
You heard wrong. That was an old fable that was floating around and it is completely and utterly incorrect. You also do not need to set up a password on any of the machines in the network if you don't want too. More false information I see. In any event you can also turn off password protected sharing if you need too.
I tested this on my own machines over 10 months ago when I first started using Windows 7, and also on the new 7600 build just to make sure. There is absolutly no way another machine will show up if it has the same name as the Windows 7 machine or any other machine on your network.
They need to be part of the same "workgroup" but cannot use the same name. Each machine needs it's own machine name,... Tom's-PC and so on. They can't and won't show up unless they have different names. Where you have to option to use a different machine name and user name on the same machine, both of those should be the same also.
I'am not sure why Msoft does that but it makes it way more complicated than it needs to be.
It is important to be sure and enable all file sharing and network discovery on the XP machine. This is an easy mistake to make, trust me on this.
You've confused "machine name" with "user name". The poster explained that he had identical users on each computer, not identical computer names.
There is a reason why it's recommended to create the same users on all computers. When you create files and folders on a machine, you can set permissions based on a particular user. Then, when a person is logged into one computer and accesses files on another computer, the permissions are already set. I can safely share files with my oldest son, and not have to worry about my youngest son accidentally deleting/accessing/etc those same files. A granular permissions system is very powerful and very useful for family situations (as well as in business/network situations). It also means that, since the user is part of the authenticated users group, you do not need to use the guest account (which, in all professional networking circles, is always disabled and renamed).
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