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PC_User321

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Vista PC can't explore another computer on home network

A Vista PC used to be able to print on the printer connected to another computer (called 250gig, running XP), but now it can't find the printer.  Perhaps it was caused by an automatic Windows update.
Another Vista computer can still print on the XP's printer, so I know the fault is not on the XP.

The Vista computer used to be able to explore 250gig's shared files, but now when I try to "explore" 250gig I get the message "\\250gig is not accessible. You may not have permission to use this network resource. .... The Server service is not started".
I found that the Server service _was_ running, but for good measure I stopped it and started it again -- no difference.

The settings in Control Panel \ Network and Sharing Center are:
   Network discovery -- On
   File sharing -- On
   Public folder sharing -- On
   Printer sharing -- On
   Password protected sharing -- On
   Media sharing -- Off

The user is an Administrator.

I would be grateful for any help.  Thanks.
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gbhbga

An XP update disables sharing at the firewall. Make sure Windows Firewall is set to allow the connection.
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Thanks.
I turned off Windows firewall on the XP and the Vista machines but the situation was unchanged.
The XP machine also has Comodo firewall but I could not find a way of stopping it.  But the other Vista machine can read the XP's shared files so presumably there is no blocking being done on the XP machine.
"ping 250gig" works correctly
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mjabim1

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Or you can try the following as well as it may be permission issues:

Add the user as the owner for the XP machines hard disks. properties of EACH hard disc (from "My Computer") and under Sharing, add the user with full access permissions WITH subfolders, etc. selected. Then go tothe Security Tab, the Advanced... button and make the user the OWNER of the disk, again WITH subfolders, etc. This can take some time..
Also for the printer give the user FULL ownership
Thanks for your suggestions, mjabim1.
I got it working somehow.  I tried many things - here is a summary of the things that are probably relevant:
  o  Restarted the Vista computer - no good
  o  Added a guest user - no good
  o  Added IRPStackSize as you suggested and restarted computer - good
  o  Disabled the guest user then restarted - still good
  o  Removed IRPStackSize then restarted - still good

So in effect I did nothing, but it stayed working!  Very strange.
Thanks mjabim1