Re: Two Vista machine on the same network can't see each other.

Risingfish wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I have two Vista machines on the same network. Neither one can see the
> other. They are both in the same workgroup (WORKGROUP), same subnet...
> everything appears setup properly. The funny thing is is my XP
> computer can see both of them. Any idea what's going on?

Probably you have XP Home or XP Pro set to use Simple File Sharing (connect
as guest). Particularly see items A and C.

Here are general network troubleshooting steps. Not everything may be
applicable to your situation, so just take the bits that are. It may look
daunting, but if you follow the steps at the links and suggestions below
systematically and calmly, you will have no difficulty in setting up your
sharing.

Excellent, thorough, yet easy to understand article about File/Printer
Sharing in Vista. Includes details about sharing printers as well as files
and folders:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../bb727037.aspx

Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally caused by
1) a misconfigured firewall or overlooked firewall (including a stateful
firewall in a VPN); or 2) inadvertently running two firewalls such as the
built-in Windows Firewall and a third-party firewall; and/or 3) not having
identical user accounts and passwords on all Workgroup machines; 4) trying
to create shares where the operating system does not permit it.

A. Configure firewalls on all machines to allow the Local Area Network (LAN)
traffic as trusted. With Windows Firewall, this means allowing File/Printer
Sharing on the Exceptions tab. Normally running the Network Setup Wizard on
XP will take care of this for those machines.The only "gotcha" is that this
will turn on the XPSP2 Windows Firewall. If you aren't running a third-party
firewall or have an antivirus/security program with its own firewall
component, then you're fine. With third-party firewalls, I usually configure
the LAN allowance with an IP range. Ex. would be 192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254.
Obviously you would substitute your correct subnet. Refer to any third party
security program's Help or user forums for how to properly configure its
firewall. Do not run more than one firewall. DO NOT TURN OFF FIREWALLS;
CONFIGURE THEM CORRECTLY.

B. For ease of organization, put all computers in the same Workgroup. This
is done from the System applet in Control Panel, Computer Name tab.

C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. In Vista,
turn Password Protected Sharing ON. You do not need to be logged into the
same account on all machines and the passwords assigned to each user account
can be different; the accounts/passwords just need to exist and match on all
machines. DO NOT NEGLECT TO CREATE PASSWORDS, EVEN IF ONLY SIMPLE ONES. If
you wish a machine to boot directly to the Desktop (into one particular
user's account) for convenience, you can do this:

XP - Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm

Vista - Start Orb>Search box>type: netplwiz [enter]
Click on Continue (or supply an administrator's password) when prompted by
UAC

Uncheck the option "Users must enter a user name and password to use this
computer". Select a user account to automatically log on by clicking on the
desired account to highlight it and then hit OK. Enter the correct password
for that user account (if there is one) when prompted. Leave it blank if
there is no password (null).

D. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center, turn off Simple
File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab).

E. Create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users' home
directories or Program Files, but you can share folders inside those
directories. A better choice is to simply use the Shared Documents folder.
See the first link above for details about Vista sharing.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

Hello:

Sorry to bring up an old post, but I am having the same issues and have
tried everything you recommended Malke. For the life of me, I cannot get my
Vista Ultimate 32bit desktop and Vista 64bit Home Premium laptop to see each
other on the network.

A list of things that I have checked:

-Workgroup is the same on each computer ("WORKGROUP")
-No 3rd part firewall running on either computer
-User ID and passwords set up on both machines
-Network set to "Private Network" on both machines
-Network discovery on on both machines
-File sharing on on both machines
-Public sharing ON on both machines
-Printer sharing ON on both machines
-Password protected sharing OFF on both machines
-Media sharing ON on both machines
-Both machines have folders correctly shared

I have logged into the router web interface, and the DHCP list shows both
computers with their correct IP addresses. However, when I try to ping either
computer from the other one, either by IP address or computer name, the ping
reply says "Destination host unreachable." The router's firmware is up to
date.

I am at a loss now as I have no idea what I should do to continue
troubleshooting this issue. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Greg

"Malke" wrote:

> Risingfish wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > I have two Vista machines on the same network. Neither one can see the
> > other. They are both in the same workgroup (WORKGROUP), same subnet...
> > everything appears setup properly. The funny thing is is my XP
> > computer can see both of them. Any idea what's going on?
>
> Probably you have XP Home or XP Pro set to use Simple File Sharing (connect
> as guest). Particularly see items A and C.
>
> Here are general network troubleshooting steps. Not everything may be
> applicable to your situation, so just take the bits that are. It may look
> daunting, but if you follow the steps at the links and suggestions below
> systematically and calmly, you will have no difficulty in setting up your
> sharing.
>
> Excellent, thorough, yet easy to understand article about File/Printer
> Sharing in Vista. Includes details about sharing printers as well as files
> and folders:
>
> http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../bb727037.aspx
>
> Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally caused by
> 1) a misconfigured firewall or overlooked firewall (including a stateful
> firewall in a VPN); or 2) inadvertently running two firewalls such as the
> built-in Windows Firewall and a third-party firewall; and/or 3) not having
> identical user accounts and passwords on all Workgroup machines; 4) trying
> to create shares where the operating system does not permit it.
>
> A. Configure firewalls on all machines to allow the Local Area Network (LAN)
> traffic as trusted. With Windows Firewall, this means allowing File/Printer
> Sharing on the Exceptions tab. Normally running the Network Setup Wizard on
> XP will take care of this for those machines.The only "gotcha" is that this
> will turn on the XPSP2 Windows Firewall. If you aren't running a third-party
> firewall or have an antivirus/security program with its own firewall
> component, then you're fine. With third-party firewalls, I usually configure
> the LAN allowance with an IP range. Ex. would be 192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254.
> Obviously you would substitute your correct subnet. Refer to any third party
> security program's Help or user forums for how to properly configure its
> firewall. Do not run more than one firewall. DO NOT TURN OFF FIREWALLS;
> CONFIGURE THEM CORRECTLY.
>
> B. For ease of organization, put all computers in the same Workgroup. This
> is done from the System applet in Control Panel, Computer Name tab.
>
> C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. In Vista,
> turn Password Protected Sharing ON. You do not need to be logged into the
> same account on all machines and the passwords assigned to each user account
> can be different; the accounts/passwords just need to exist and match on all
> machines. DO NOT NEGLECT TO CREATE PASSWORDS, EVEN IF ONLY SIMPLE ONES. If
> you wish a machine to boot directly to the Desktop (into one particular
> user's account) for convenience, you can do this:
>
> XP - Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
> http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm
>
> Vista - Start Orb>Search box>type: netplwiz [enter]
> Click on Continue (or supply an administrator's password) when prompted by
> UAC
>
> Uncheck the option "Users must enter a user name and password to use this
> computer". Select a user account to automatically log on by clicking on the
> desired account to highlight it and then hit OK. Enter the correct password
> for that user account (if there is one) when prompted. Leave it blank if
> there is no password (null).
>
> D. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center, turn off Simple
> File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab).
>
> E. Create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users' home
> directories or Program Files, but you can share folders inside those
> directories. A better choice is to simply use the Shared Documents folder.
> See the first link above for details about Vista sharing.
>
> Malke
> --
> MS-MVP
> Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ
>
>