Question : How to network a Miscrosoft Vista machine with XP & 2000

Hello,

I recently setup shared drives on several computers that were running windows xp & 2000. The issue I am having is setting up shared drives from a windows vista home computer on the other computers. I went into the network wizard of the vista computer and clicked to share everything, but other users still cannot find the vista machine shared drive/folder.

It seems as thought the vista machine just doesn't want to play with anyone. Any ideas?

Thanks,
J

Answer : How to network a Miscrosoft Vista machine with XP & 2000

As SysExpert has pointed out, a common probem is that the default workgroup name in Windows Vista has been changed to WORKGROUP. In Windows XP, the default workgroup name is MSHOME.

You need to change all PCs to the same name.

For instance: to change the name of the workgroup on Windows XP to match the name of your Windows Vista network:

In Windows XP, right-click My Computer,
Click the Computer Name tab,
Then click Change.
In the Workgroup box, type in the name of your Windows Vista network.
If you're leaving it as the default used in Windows Vista, type in "Workgroup".

If you're not using the Windows Vista default, change it to whatever name you've given your Windows Vista network and click OK.

There's an excellent 3 page article here which may help you
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9019179&pageNumber=3

And here is an overview of Sharing in Vista:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/network/evaluate/vista_fp.mspx
which may also help.