[brbrown]

I use an XPsp2 desktop connected to a Smartax MT882 router with an ethernet cable and a Vista laptop connected to the router with a USB cable. Both can access the internet satisfactorily. Should it be possible to network the two together to allow print and file sharing? If so, what is the procedure please?
I think I have tried everything but I cannot get it to work. I've tried pinging each computer from one another but a message tells me that the address not recognised in both cases. Other postings on this forum do not help even though the problems are similar.

[JohnWill]

Turn off any firewalls for debugging. If the firewall is the problem, you'll have to configure it to allow access to "trusted zone" addresses. Note that some firewalls must be completely uninstalled to stop them from affecting your networking.

Hold the Windows key and press R, then type CMD to open a command prompt.

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands:

PING each remote computer by IP address, and if successful, PING by name. Open a command prompt as described above and type.

PING <ip address>
or
PING <computer name>

Where:
<ip address> - is the x.x.x.x IP address
<computer name> - is the computer name

A failure to PING is almost always a firewall configuration issue. Any failure to PING needs to be corrected before you go any farther.

Note: You can obtain the IP address and computer name of a computer by opening a command prompt (DOS window) and typing IPCONFIG /ALL. This should work for any Windows version. The IPCONFIG /ALL display will provide a wealth of useful information for debugging your network connection.

Check your Services are Started on all PCs:

• Computer Browser
• DHCP Client
• DNS Client
• Network Connections
• Network Location Awareness
• Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
• Server
• TCP/IP Netbios helper
• Workstation

Note: You can check the services in Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services.

All of these services should be started, and their startup type should be automatic.

All computers should be in the same workgroup for computer browsing to function properly. File & Print Sharing has to be enabled on any computer you wish to share files or printers from. You also need to actually share the resource in question from My Computer, right click on the drive/printer/folder, and select sharing.

If you encounter difficulties accessing computers that are visible in Network Neighborhood, make sure the computer being accessed has an account with the same name/password as the system connecting to it uses to login.

While the default NetBIOS setting is correct for normal network configurations, it's possible for it to be altered, and it costs nothing to make sure it's correct. NETBIOS over TCP/IP must be enabled for normal network browsing.

[brbrown]

Many thanks John. I'll give that a try. It's different from what I have already tried. I'll keep you posted. Thanks again. Brian

[brbrown]

Hello John. Yes, my firewall was a problem on the XP using Zonealarm and it is now reset. Now I can ping to and from both computers but I cannot set File and Printer Sharing in Vista. The On/Off options are greyed out. Any ideas please?

[JohnWill]

Are all the network services started? Let's see the network properties of that connection

Here's some information about Vista File/Print sharing.

Windows XP And Vista On The LAN Together

See if this site: File and Printer Sharing in Windows Vista helps you.

[TerryNet]

On the Vista is your network designated 'Private'?

[brbrown]

Hello Terry. Yes I have it set to Private and I have already tried it as Public which did not work either.

[brbrown]

Hello John. I have just managed to check all my Services via ipconfig/all. All services are running except the Remote Procedure Call (RPC). I can't change it to Running as the Enable button is greyed out. Is this the problem?

[JohnWill]

Look at the dependencies for RPC and see why it can't start. It's in the properties of that service. FWIW, it's started on all of my XP & Vista machines.

[brbrown]

Hello John. Sorry about the delay in reporting back only I had some troubles elswhere. I have checked the Dependancies but there are none shown in the Remote Procedure Call Location Properties. I notice also that the DHCP is not enabled in IPCONFIG/ALL.

John, I have just discovered how to set all the dependencies so they are all now set to automatic but that has made no difference. I have tried printing a document from the Vista laptop but all that happens is the Save dialogue box pops up telling me to save it as an XPS file which it is already saved as.

[brbrown]

John, following my last post, I could not get back onto the internet on either computer. Stupidly, I forgot to do a system restore before altering the settings. on the laptop and the last one was after the big download of Vista Sp1 which I did not want to loose. Is it possible to set the defaults in the Services, only I can't remember what the original settings were. I managed to do a system restore on the XP and I can now get back on the internet with XP but not Vista.

[JohnWill]

What's the current state of the services on Vista?

[brbrown]

Computer browser - automatic
DHCP Client - manual
DNS Client - automatic
Network Cnnections - manual
Network Location Awareness - automatic
Remote Contol Call - automatic
Server - automatic
TCP/IP Netbios - automatic
Workstation - automatic

By trial and error, altering the settings, I get the internet connected again but it keeps disconnecting then if I do a repair, it comes back on again. The service settings above are those after the repair. When the internet is connected, I can still ping both computers from one another

[jmwills]

Any reason for using a USB cable to connect to the router?

http://willsit.com/XP_Vista.aspx

[JohnWill]

You are talking about the settings, but are all of those services actually running as well? Just because they're set to automatic, that doesn't mean they're actually running.