parajrn
asked on
Windows 7 and Windows XP Networking
I'm trying to setup a small office network between a Windows 7 Professional and two Windows XP machines and while in the past I was able to do an ad-hoc network simply by doing a group, with Windows 7 despite entering the same workgroup name I'm unable to detect any of the other machines.
Currently all our machines have static IP addresses and are connected directly to a modem however our prior setup worked fine without a router or hub so I was wondering if the same can be done despite not having homegroup capabilities.
Any assistance is greatly appreciated.
Currently all our machines have static IP addresses and are connected directly to a modem however our prior setup worked fine without a router or hub so I was wondering if the same can be done despite not having homegroup capabilities.
Any assistance is greatly appreciated.
Do you have network discovery turned on in Windows 7?
Ensure that the Windows 7 machines have their network location set to "Home Network". Also check your sharing settings from the Network Center; confirm that computers are allowed to access local resources.
I think it would be prudent to invest in a simple router. It would make your life quite a bit easier when it comes to network sharing and configuration.
Just my personal preference, but I'm not a big fan of the Homegroup function. I've found that it's still relatively easy to share the resources between WinXP and Win7 machines by confirming that they are in the same workgroup, ensuring that you have an identical set of userid/password combinations on each machine, and adjusting the appropriate share & NTFS permissions accordingly. Once you're done, everything works seamlessly without ever being queried for password authentication! This article seems to summarize that scenario rather well:
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-7/share-files-and-printers-between-windows-7-and-xp/
On the other hand, if you really want to use the Homegroup function this Microsoft document is really beneficial:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=80B1AA5D-1B5A-4447-8036-ACC918BA7AF2
Just my personal preference, but I'm not a big fan of the Homegroup function. I've found that it's still relatively easy to share the resources between WinXP and Win7 machines by confirming that they are in the same workgroup, ensuring that you have an identical set of userid/password combinations on each machine, and adjusting the appropriate share & NTFS permissions accordingly. Once you're done, everything works seamlessly without ever being queried for password authentication! This article seems to summarize that scenario rather well:
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-7/share-files-and-printers-between-windows-7-and-xp/
On the other hand, if you really want to use the Homegroup function this Microsoft document is really beneficial:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=80B1AA5D-1B5A-4447-8036-ACC918BA7AF2
Homegroup networking is only for an all-Windows-7 environment. For XP and Windows 7, this page should be of help:
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/15247/complete-guide-to-networking-windows-7-with-xp-and-vista/
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/15247/complete-guide-to-networking-windows-7-with-xp-and-vista/
Makes ure teh firewall is off on the machines.
ASKER
Hi Everyone,
Thanks so far for the responses. I'm just posting to let you all know I haven't forgotten about this thread, and that I haven't yet been able to setup our network here due to a few other matters which came up during our migration.
Thanks so far for the responses. I'm just posting to let you all know I haven't forgotten about this thread, and that I haven't yet been able to setup our network here due to a few other matters which came up during our migration.
ASKER
Hi Everyone,
Just an update. I accidentally posted the current state of my situation in another new thread which I'm about to close, but below is what I wrote. Also, it turns out we currently have a Cisco 800 series router which we've had for a couple years without issue on the XP systems.
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For the past few days I've been trying to get my 32 bit Windows XP Professional Machine to connect to my Windows 7 64bit system and despite trying every tip I could find I haven't been able to solve the issue.
Currently I have my computers connected through a wired Cisco router, each of which has a static IP through our ISP, and both computers are configured through a "work" network setting, and I have file/printer sharing enabled, the workgroup set as the same name on the XP and 7 systems (I didn't enable the homegroup feature) and I currently have the 48bit encryption setup for compatibility.
My main issue is that while both machines appear on the Windows network map in Windows 7, and I even can view the XP machine name in my network places, my XP machine is constantly unable to view anything, including when I try adding the network places through the static IP.
For some reason, a few minutes after getting Windows 7 to display the XP machine, after a reboot it disappeared (despite having the correct workgroup) and now when viewing workgroup computers on XP or Win 7, all I see is the machine I'm on and nothing else.
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Just an update. I accidentally posted the current state of my situation in another new thread which I'm about to close, but below is what I wrote. Also, it turns out we currently have a Cisco 800 series router which we've had for a couple years without issue on the XP systems.
----------------------
For the past few days I've been trying to get my 32 bit Windows XP Professional Machine to connect to my Windows 7 64bit system and despite trying every tip I could find I haven't been able to solve the issue.
Currently I have my computers connected through a wired Cisco router, each of which has a static IP through our ISP, and both computers are configured through a "work" network setting, and I have file/printer sharing enabled, the workgroup set as the same name on the XP and 7 systems (I didn't enable the homegroup feature) and I currently have the 48bit encryption setup for compatibility.
My main issue is that while both machines appear on the Windows network map in Windows 7, and I even can view the XP machine name in my network places, my XP machine is constantly unable to view anything, including when I try adding the network places through the static IP.
For some reason, a few minutes after getting Windows 7 to display the XP machine, after a reboot it disappeared (despite having the correct workgroup) and now when viewing workgroup computers on XP or Win 7, all I see is the machine I'm on and nothing else.
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It sounds like it might be a networking issue... TCP/IP settings, or something similar. Take a look at this Microsoft article and see if it helps:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/903267/
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/903267/
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ASKER
Solution is located in my accidentally split thread.
I'm certainly glad that Jackieman was able to help you... he is definitely one of the EE community's very best.
While I don't object to the question being closed, for future reference it will help us a great deal if you can provide us with a bit more feedback on our proposed solutions. You mentioned that you discovered you needed to utilize a password to work with the network, and I essentially told you something very similar when I emphasized userid/password combinations in my original post. We could have potentially solved this for you several days sooner!
Ultimately, it's nice that everything worked out for you. Best of luck in the future!
While I don't object to the question being closed, for future reference it will help us a great deal if you can provide us with a bit more feedback on our proposed solutions. You mentioned that you discovered you needed to utilize a password to work with the network, and I essentially told you something very similar when I emphasized userid/password combinations in my original post. We could have potentially solved this for you several days sooner!
Ultimately, it's nice that everything worked out for you. Best of luck in the future!
Also, did you happen to notice that the Microsoft hyperlink that Jackieman posted in the other thread is the exact same link that I posted above?
Please, don't get me wrong... I really don't care about the points. My primary goal is to help you solve your problem! However, without any feedback timely feedback from the author it's a bit difficult to help you ascertain the proper answer.
Just some food for thought when you have additional questions in the future. Take care!
Please, don't get me wrong... I really don't care about the points. My primary goal is to help you solve your problem! However, without any feedback timely feedback from the author it's a bit difficult to help you ascertain the proper answer.
Just some food for thought when you have additional questions in the future. Take care!