Cannot get new Win 7 to see existing networked XP PCs

kegobeer said:

chev65 said:

tcurt said:

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.

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).

As I just stated there is more confusion in the naming than there needs to be. You can set up permissions for every one after the network is set up. How the heck can you set up seperate permissions for users when they are all using the same user name????

There is no reason to set the same user name on all machines. Permissions for users can be set and work perfectly without having to use the same user name on all my machines. Sorry but that false tale was started just to make networked computers appear on the network which by the way, does not work!

And using the same machine name will make it impossible to see the other machines with the same name on the network. This fact is true beyond any shadow of a doubt. I tested this out on different builds.

This is also true. Quote: "They need to be part of the same "workgroup" but cannot use the same name. Each machine needs it's own machine name,..." Notice that part that is underlined in bold italics.

Why on earth would someone use the same user name for all machines when you can easily set up permissions for each user AFTER you get the machines to see each other? I certainly never had to do that and I can set permissions for anyone on the network.

We are trying to get the machines connected so they can see each other, but we are not worried about if your son can get to a certain file or not. Try to understand that. He just wants it to work at this point. You can agrue the merits of using the same user name all you want but I see no practical reason to do so and it's certainly not advised by microsoft in any official capacity.

Besides that, you can easily set up permissions for each user after you get the LAN network up and running.

Perhaps the Op can run the XP Network wizard again on the XP machines and make sure that all machines are on the same workgroup. When all else fails the public file sharing option always seems to work.

I'm sharing files and 2 printers between XP, Vista and Windows 7. They all have the same 'workgroup' name.
I did have to manually allow my Vista computer to use my XP printer by adding the IP# to access XP.
I also had to manually allow my XP computer to acess my Windows 7 computer by allowing.... *name*\\XP-Computer to share.


*name* equals the name I log on with.

chev - every user doesn't share the same user name! If you have three users, each of them has a different user name, and each computer has all three user accounts! Geez, I hope you understand how this works now!