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Windows 7 won't see Windows Xp on network

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boybrown

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Posted September 4, 2011 at 11:18PM

Hi Folks,

I've previously had a desktop and laptop both running XP and happily sharing on a network. I've upgraded the desktop to Windows 7 and now the network won't work properly. My XP machine can recognise the Windows 7 although access is denied when I try to go into the files (I have set the appropriate sharing settings on Windows 7). Windows 7 will not see my XP machine at all on the network. I've spent hours tonight trying to find a solution although with no luck. The network is working in some respects as I can print on my XP which networks through the Windows 7. I need to be able to share files for both and so this is an important issue (ps I have turned off both firewalls to see if that was the issue).

I'm pulling out what (very) little hair I have left over this!

Cheers

Tom

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mgmcc

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Posted September 5, 2011 at 8:03AM

In Windows 7, if you go into the "Network and Sharing Center" and click the link at the left "Change advanced sharing settings", have you set:

? Turn on network discovery

? Turn on File and Printer sharing

? Turn on sharing so anyone with network access can read and write files in the public folders

? Enable file sharing for devices that use 40 or 56-bit encryption

? Turn off password protected sharing (at least until you get it working)

If you're not logged into both computers with the same Username/Password, I'd suggest you at least have an account set up in XP with a Username/Password that matches that of the Win7 PC.

In XP, if you don't already have it, download and install the link layer topology discovery responder

In Windows 7's Network (My Network Places), what happens if you type the path to the XP PC into the address bar, ether by IP address or Computer Name?

\\192.168.x.x

\\computername

\\computername\sharedfolder

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boybrown

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Posted September 5, 2011 at 7:37PM

Hi there MGMCC. I've done all the above in terms of the changes to the accounts and also the things in Windows 7. I can see the computer on XP although it won't let me access 'Our Documents' in it, it will however let me access "Users" folder although this contains nothing of interest. The Windows 7 machine still does not appear to see my XP machine at all

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boybrown

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Posted September 5, 2011 at 8:51PM

I've made progress with getting access to the Windows 7 Machine and can now access it fine from XP. My Windows 7 machine however is still not playing ball in terms of being able to see my XP machine though. Any suggestions?

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boybrown

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Posted September 5, 2011 at 9:17PM

And I can ping the XP machine from the W7 Machine and response appears fine (4 packets sent, 4 received, lost 0) so it seems it knows it's out there!

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boybrown

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Posted September 5, 2011 at 9:33PM

when I try to connect to the XP IP address the W7 diagnoses that the XP won't accept the connection....Sorry about all the posts but i'm updating as I go to save people putting ideas on that I've tried!

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mgmcc

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Posted September 5, 2011 at 10:30PM

Are you using any third-party firewall software? I note your initial comment about turning off firewalls, but this isn't always sufficient - background processes can still be running. Firewall software should be configured properly to allow access to the networked computers, which might involve adding their IP addresses in a trusted area.

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boybrown

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Posted September 5, 2011 at 10:53PM

Hi there mgmcc,

I'm running zonealarm on both machines and have turned both off and also checked the settings when on, neither make any difference. I can ping but cannot locate through the IP address. The W7 just won't recognise it!

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mgmcc

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Posted September 6, 2011 at 8:29AM

How have you configured Zone Alarm? I always recommend adding the Subnet in the Trusted Zone rather than individual IP addresses or a range. This allows access to all LAN addresses from 192.168.x.1 to 192.168.x.254

I don't have Zone Alarm currently installed so from memory go into the Zones tab, click Add and select Subnet. The Subnet address is 192.168.x.0 with Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0 and where the third octet "x" matches that of your router's IP address. I found this to be the most reliable way of allowing access to networked computers.

With Windows 7, I only use its own firewall which, unlike early XP, should be adequate.

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boybrown

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Posted September 6, 2011 at 6:51PM

Hello there mgmcc. I've removed Zonealarm from the W7 computer and checked the settings on my XP machine, I've allowed the IP address from the W7 computer although how do I check the router's IP address?

Cheers

Tom

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mgmcc

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Posted September 6, 2011 at 11:16PM

If you know the IP address of the Windows 7 PC, the Subnet address will have the same first three octets (numbers) and zero for the last one, e.g. 192.168.1.0

Running ipconfig /all in a Command Prompt window will show details of all network adapters in the PC. The Default Gateway address is the router's IP address. Run this anyway in the XP PC and let me know what it shows for the Node Type.

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