Vista and XP sharing - solved.

I too have been dealing with the issue of XP and Vista playing together, and
believe I have found the overall solution. I would say that I do not know
what the particular issue is, and will also say that I do not think Microsoft
made it easy on us, but thats always part of the learning curve with a new
OS. I would put the solution under what I call best practices, and I need to
do some experimenting yet to remove some of these steps, but if you want to
get XP and Vista to network, here is what I do, and it works:

1. Disable all firewalls - If this is a new Vista pc, from one of the big
box guys, then make sure not only Windows Firewall is off, but also Norton,
etc.
2. Turn on everything in Vista that has to do with sharing, basically all
the fields in the Network and Sharing Center, if it has to do with sharing,
enable it, make it wide open.
3. Make sure each pc has a user account that requires a password logon, and
has the same user name.Yes, I know this causes issues with a users current
configuration and documents location, but again, were trying to get the end
product, which is XP and Vista to play together.
4. On the XP machine, google and download the patch for the LLTD protocol
and bind it to all network adaptors on the XP machine. This is Logical Link
Topology Discovery protocol, that Vista uses to map the network, it does not
come with XP.

With more experimenting, I think the real issue is with the LLTD protocol,
and steps 1-3 are not necessary, but who knows. Also, I think this is a
versioning issue, as I purchased a pc with Vista Home Basic, never had any
problems, did not have this protocol on my XP machines, but it seems like the
issue suddenly came up hard lately on new machines with Vista for my
customers. Hope this helps.

Oh I fotgot, make sure the workgroup names are the same, XP had default
MSHome, vista changed default to workgroup, why, why, why, I cant say.

"lazerfixer" wrote:

> I too have been dealing with the issue of XP and Vista playing together, and
> believe I have found the overall solution. I would say that I do not know
> what the particular issue is, and will also say that I do not think Microsoft
> made it easy on us, but thats always part of the learning curve with a new
> OS. I would put the solution under what I call best practices, and I need to
> do some experimenting yet to remove some of these steps, but if you want to
> get XP and Vista to network, here is what I do, and it works:
>
> 1. Disable all firewalls - If this is a new Vista pc, from one of the big
> box guys, then make sure not only Windows Firewall is off, but also Norton,
> etc.
> 2. Turn on everything in Vista that has to do with sharing, basically all
> the fields in the Network and Sharing Center, if it has to do with sharing,
> enable it, make it wide open.
> 3. Make sure each pc has a user account that requires a password logon, and
> has the same user name.Yes, I know this causes issues with a users current
> configuration and documents location, but again, were trying to get the end
> product, which is XP and Vista to play together.
> 4. On the XP machine, google and download the patch for the LLTD protocol
> and bind it to all network adaptors on the XP machine. This is Logical Link
> Topology Discovery protocol, that Vista uses to map the network, it does not
> come with XP.
>
> With more experimenting, I think the real issue is with the LLTD protocol,
> and steps 1-3 are not necessary, but who knows. Also, I think this is a
> versioning issue, as I purchased a pc with Vista Home Basic, never had any
> problems, did not have this protocol on my XP machines, but it seems like the
> issue suddenly came up hard lately on new machines with Vista for my
> customers. Hope this helps.

Thank you very much for the feedback. Some points are very good.

1. Make sure each pc has a user account that requires a password logon.
2. download the patch for the LLTD protocol for XP.
3. make sure the workgroup names are the same, XP had default
> MSHome, vista changed default to workgroup, why, why, why.

--
Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on
http://www.ChicagoTech.net
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on
http://www.HowToNetworking.com


"lazerfixer" <lazerfixer@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:B7C98544-7AA9-4F10-84D9-52C431437DB4@microsoft.com...
> Oh I fotgot, make sure the workgroup names are the same, XP had default
> MSHome, vista changed default to workgroup, why, why, why, I cant say.
>
> "lazerfixer" wrote:
>
>> I too have been dealing with the issue of XP and Vista playing together,
>> and
>> believe I have found the overall solution. I would say that I do not
>> know
>> what the particular issue is, and will also say that I do not think
>> Microsoft
>> made it easy on us, but thats always part of the learning curve with a
>> new
>> OS. I would put the solution under what I call best practices, and I
>> need to
>> do some experimenting yet to remove some of these steps, but if you want
>> to
>> get XP and Vista to network, here is what I do, and it works:
>>
>> 1. Disable all firewalls - If this is a new Vista pc, from one of the
>> big
>> box guys, then make sure not only Windows Firewall is off, but also
>> Norton,
>> etc.
>> 2. Turn on everything in Vista that has to do with sharing, basically all
>> the fields in the Network and Sharing Center, if it has to do with
>> sharing,
>> enable it, make it wide open.
>> 3. Make sure each pc has a user account that requires a password logon,
>> and
>> has the same user name.Yes, I know this causes issues with a users
>> current
>> configuration and documents location, but again, were trying to get the
>> end
>> product, which is XP and Vista to play together.
>> 4. On the XP machine, google and download the patch for the LLTD protocol
>> and bind it to all network adaptors on the XP machine. This is Logical
>> Link
>> Topology Discovery protocol, that Vista uses to map the network, it does
>> not
>> come with XP.
>>
>> With more experimenting, I think the real issue is with the LLTD
>> protocol,
>> and steps 1-3 are not necessary, but who knows. Also, I think this is a
>> versioning issue, as I purchased a pc with Vista Home Basic, never had
>> any
>> problems, did not have this protocol on my XP machines, but it seems like
>> the
>> issue suddenly came up hard lately on new machines with Vista for my
>> customers. Hope this helps.

"Robert L (MS-MVP)" <noreply@chicagotech.net> wrote in message
news:O763f4rDIHA.5976@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Thank you very much for the feedback. Some points are very good.
>
> 1. Make sure each pc has a user account that requires a password logon.
> 2. download the patch for the LLTD protocol for XP.
> 3. make sure the workgroup names are the same, XP had default
>> MSHome, vista changed default to workgroup, why, why, why.
>

Quick question: My XP can access Vista's Public Folder, but nothing else on
Vista that's marked as "shared." So, do I really need the LLTD patch if I
can access the Public Folder?

BTW, I TOTALLY disagree with having both my computers with the SAME name!
That is really lame.

Thanks.

EW