Cannot get new Win 7 to see existing networked XP PCs

pallesenw said:

About having the same user accounts (not to be confused with computer name) and passwords on all the computers - that is about transparent authentication (classic file sharing).

Yes but there is NO need to do so in order to share files.
Who cares about classic file sharing when Windows 7 has it's own way of file sharing that works perfectly fine.

Sorry but I see zero reason to use the same user name on all machines and I would also consider it a security risk because you can't lock out individual users as easily.

chev65 said:

For wireless connections there is a key needed to access.
I also never had to use the same user name on any of my machines in order to gain access to the LAN.

I'am not using a password on any of my machines and networking works fine, but thanks for your concern. :)

Huh? There is a difference between network and local access.

Edit: in case you missed the point: in xp/sp2, if you have classic file sharing enabled, you won't be able to gain access over the network with a blank password - unless you change the default policy.

chev65 said:

Yes but there is NO need to do so in order to share files.
Who cares about classic file sharing when Windows 7 has it's own way of file sharing that works perfectly fine.

Who said it was a requirement? The OP said he had the same user accounts and then someone said that by having that, networking between the computers would be impossible.

pallesenw said:

chev65 said:

For wireless connections there is a key needed to access.
I also never had to use the same user name on any of my machines in order to gain access to the LAN.

I'am not using a password on any of my machines and networking works fine, but thanks for your concern. :)

Huh? There is a difference between network and local access.

chev65 said:

Yes but there is NO need to do so in order to share files.
Who cares about classic file sharing when Windows 7 has it's own way of file sharing that works perfectly fine.

Who said it was a requirement? The OP said he had the same user accounts and then someone said that by having that, networking between the computers would be impossible.

I was attempting to eliminate any possiblity that using the same user name on all machines was causing problems. We were trying to get his problem fixed not reinvent the wheel.

Using the same machine account name will indeed prevent networking and it's an easy mistake to make. From his first post it sounded like he was doing that. My mistake if he meant otherwise. I clarified this later if you care to read further, it's in bold letters in case you missed it.

Using the same user name on all machines only creates problems with permissions which is why I was trying to get him to change it. The fact that he could not get his machines to network correctly had more to do with Norton than anything else.

Networking between diff Op systems works perfectly for me doing it my way and I can't believe that so many are having problems with it.

My other point was that networking does indeed work fine without using a password, not exactly a revelation but still true none the less. We aren't talking about XP now are we?
I believe your statement about this was incorrect.

And because you seem to be attempting to start some lame arguement here I'll post this again in case you missed it.
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.

I was just trying to shed some light here, about you claiming that what the OP heard was nothing more than just crap - it was not.

Find me anything posted by Msoft about how using the same user name on all machines will somehow make networking work correctly. It's not needed for networking to work that is for sure and as I already said it only causes problems with individual permissions.

As for the Op's problem, clearly setting up Norton before he had his network up and running was a mistake.

If I log in with username "palle" and password "password" on machine A, and that username and password is also created on machine B, I can log on to machine B without seeing the login prompt. That is called transparant authentication.

Is it a requirement to do this? No. Is it the recommended way to to it? That really depends on the needs.

If you have simple file sharing enabled, network access is granted differently. I assume you know the difference between the two models?

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

I mentioned the blank password policy because of that.

I don't know if it's only me, or win7 does suck in this business !

JonathanWexler said:

From experience, sometimes the "Computer Browser" function just does not work

Have you tried on the W7 machine creating a shortcut on the dekstop using the text \\Name-of-XP-machine

Also have you tried opening a command box on the W7 machine and typing ping Name-of-XP-machine

Jonathan

Hi Jonathan basically by doing this \\computer name its like your mapping it. Thanks

severedsolo said:

sorry if this has already been suggested (i skim read the post) but you HAVE told XP to share the relevant folders right?

Lets hope so because I only mentioned that about fifty times.

This is no doubt a user created problem.