WinXP and Vista home network

[mpadova]

I bought an HP with Windows Vista Home Premium that I'm trying to get on my home network wirelessly through a Linksys router. It can see the internet through the router but can't see the Windows XP machine. The Windows XP machine is hard-wired to the the same router. Both machines are able to see the internet but I can't get them to see each other.

I've been to as many help sites as I can find. Both machines have file and print sharing enabled. The workgroup name is the same. I made the network private on the Vista machine. I turned off Norton firewall and Intrusion Protection on the Vista machine (temporarily). Even tried Microsoft's suggestion to update the registry on the Vista machine to change the Vista's DHCP default and that also did nothing.

As far as I can tell, the problem is in the way the IP address were assigned. The first six digits on both machines are the same but the Vista machine ends in .1.107 and the XP machine ends in .15.102. When I change the Vista PC's IP address to match the XP's address (changed the .1.107 to ...15.107) then it couldn't even see the internet and did nothing for seeing the XP machine.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[gpalmer711]

If your router is set up to issue IP addresses (DHCP Server) then there should be no need to manually set the IP addresses. Try setting both the Vista and XP machines to obtain an IP address automatically and see if they both pick up correct addresses.

If you have to set them to manual IP addresses because the router does not have DHCP then I would do this.

Set the routers LAN IP address to 192.168.1.1

On the XP machine set the following

IP address to 192.168.1.2
Subnet Mask to 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway to 192.168.1.1
Prefered DNS to 192.168.1.1

On the Vista machine set the following

IP address to 192.168.1.3
Subnet Mask to 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway to 192.168.1.1
Prefered DNS to 192.168.1.1

Now as long as the workgroup names on both machines are the same and you have set up the firewalls etc as you have stated above you should be fine.

Greg Palmer
Freeware Utilities for Windows Administrators.

http://www.palmersoft.co.uk

 

[linney]

These may be helpful to know about in your Vista XP setup.

File and Printer Sharing in Windows Vista

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/network/evaluate/vista_fp.mspx

Network Map in Windows Vista does not display computers that are running Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922120

 

[dilettante]

It seems unlikely, but your XP machine doesn't have File and Print Sharing bound to IPX or NetBEUI does it?

 

[mpadova]

Thank you all for the ideas. I'm sure I'm missing something and will keep searching and learning. I read up on linney's links, tried the settings recommended by gpalmer (made sure both firewalls were turned off) and I don't have File and Print Sharing bound to IPX or NetBEUI. Why did I let them sell me Vista? I'm pretty good at software but being a networking novice, I'm thinking of getting a more recent wireless router or even trying a long cord to see if wired to the network gives me better results. Anyway, thanks again. I'll post again when I get the two PCs to see each other.

 

[linney]

For the basics these are still recommended reading, and the last link is a pretty good Network troubleshooting and diagnosis link.

Simple File Sharing- enabled

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp/filesharing.htm

Simple File Sharing - disabled

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp_filesharing/index.htm

http://www.michna.com/kb/wxnet.htm

Another thing to remember is that some anti virus software has hidden firewalling components included which sometimes trips up the unwary.