Question : Unable to connect to printer in Vista/XP peer-to-peer network

I have a client who has two machines:  an eMachine desktop running XP Pro and a Dell laptop running Vista (I think it's Home Premium, but I'm not sure).  I have tried mightily to get the two to talk to one another in a vain attempt to allow the Dell to print off of a Canon printer attached to the eMachine.  They are using a Netgear WGR614 Wireless G router, if that's of any real importance.

I can see the desktop from the Vista machine, although that seems to get lost on an inconsistent basis.  When I can see the desktop, I can see the printer and even look at the queue, but I can not attach to it.  Furthermore, I can find the desktop and the printer when I try to get to it using the actual address (\\192.168.1.3).  But when I try to connect, it won't let me.

Yes, I have taken down all of the firewalls as well.

I also installed a Netgear wireless print server (it was the only one I had with me), and while it printed while I was there, it failed to print this morning (as I was reminded by the client).  I worked on this for about three to four hours trying everything I could think to do and to no avail.

Is this just Vista being Vista, just a bad combination of hardware/software or is there something very simple that I"m missing?

Thanks!

Answer : Unable to connect to printer in Vista/XP peer-to-peer network

Have you downloaded and installed the LLTD (Link Layer Topology Discovery Responder) on the XP machines?  Without that, the Vista machines will not see the XP machines in the View full map link of Network & Sharing Center:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=4F01A31D-EE46-481E-BA11-37F485FA34EA&displaylang=en

Same workgroup for all pcs?  Actually sharing something, rather than just file sharing turned on?  Same users and passwords entered on all pcs?  Network discovery on?

You might be interested in looking at this question which I asked not long ago, when I was having trouble setting up my home network with XP machines and Vista in it.  It mentions all of the things needed for a wireless network with XP and Vista in it:

http://www.experts-exchange.com/OS/Microsoft_Operating_Systems/Windows/Windows_Vista/Q_22772074.html

In setting up my home network, I found I had to turn off the firewalls temporarily before trying to see the Vista machine in the XP My Network Places, then turn the firewall back on once it succeeded.  See this page:

http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/2007/04/09/vista-networking-problems-try-this/

The following page has a quite good treatment of File and Printer Sharing in Vista, complete with screenshots:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/network/evaluate/vista_fp.mspx
File and Printer Sharing in Windows Vista

Another good article:

http://www.howtonetworking.com/vista/sharingfolders.htm
How to share files from a folder on Windows Vista