Can't get my netbook on my home network

[taosaur]

I'd mostly given up trying, but this came up in another thread and I thought I'd see if anyone can help me.

I have a Vista x64 desktop and an XP netbook (MSI Wind), and while I have no trouble connecting to the internet via my wireless router, I can't get the Wind to show up in the desktop's network devices or vice versa, so I can't share files and drives between them.

When I try "Add a wireless device" on the desktop, there's nothing on the list, and when I use the option to set up a flash drive and run it on the Wind, it tells me "you are now connected to the wireless network [x]," but I'm still just using it as a wireless access point and nothing changes on the Vista machine.

XP's Network Setup Wizard doesn't seem to have any relevant options. I have zero experience setting up these kinds of networks--is there something I'm missing here?

[ilovejedd]

You don't "Add a wireless device" on the desktop. That's not how file sharing works. I can't exactly recall all the steps for Vista or XP but if you have Yahoo Messenger, I'll be happy to help you try to set it up.

For Vista, you'd set-up the network via Control Panel » Network and Sharing Center
For XP, you'd set-up the network via Control Panel » Network Setup Wizard

[taosaur]

Well, I'm making progress. I think roadblock #1 was that the two machines had different workgroups. Now I can see the Wind on the Vista machine (though Vista can't place it on the Network Map) and see the shared folders from the Vista machine in My Network Places on the Wind.

When I try to access those folders from the Wind, though, it tells me "not accessible. You may not have permissions to access this network resource."

Under the folder's Properties>Advanced Sharing>Permissions>Locations, I only see the Vista machine listed--does this have to do with the Wind not being placed on the Network Map? As a result, I can't see any way to grant the Wind permissions.

[taosaur]

Perhaps also relevant, when I ping the Wind from the Vista PC, ping is all over the place--as high as 520ms--and one request often times out, whereas the Wind can ping the PC within 3-26ms. I have no idea what to make of it, if anything.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by taosaur

Perhaps also relevant, when I ping the Wind from the Vista PC, ping is all over the place--as high as 520ms--and one request often times out, whereas the Wind can ping the PC within 3-26ms. I have no idea what to make of it, if anything.

The MSI Wind is using wifi so that's somewhat expected.

Steps on the Netbook (share files from netbook to desktop)

• go to Control Panel » Network Setup Wizard
• click Next on Welcome and Checklist screen
• select Yes, use the existing shared connection for this computer's Internet access then click Next
• type in a computer name then click Next
• type in Workgroup name (must be the same as the one in Vista) then click Next
• select Turn on file and printer sharing then click Next
• review the settings, if everything is correct, click Next
• select Just finish the wizard; I don't need to run the wizard on other computers, click Next
• click on Finish then restart

Notes:
If you have McAfee or similar installed on your netbook, make sure you add a firewall exception for File and Printer Sharing or just disable the software firewall. I've found most included in "internet security suites" don't work all that well anyway.

[taosaur]

Victory!

ilovejedd, I'd taken all those steps, but it turns out there are some counterintuitive aspects to sharing from Vista (at least to XP). First, right click and "share" is irrelevant; second, Properties>Share will be grayed out, you have to click Advanced Sharing; once you've set the it to share with Everyone, YOU'RE STILL NOT DONE; in the Security tab, Edit and manually add Everyone.

I'm still not sure how to get the drives to share, but I'll leave that for another day (it would only be proof of concept anyway--not sure when I'll ever need it).

Thanks for prodding me to attack the problem again