Have a read below.
AFAIK, with you also using 2000 Pro, you will have to set up exact same name
user accounts and passwords on all machines.
At home Networks, with XP and Vista, and people not wanting the drama of
Passwords/accounts, it gets turned off in vista, but with 2000, you require
User accounts
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../bb727037.aspx
Have a read of the above link re Vista File and Printer Sharing.
Permissions/Share info is there as well.
If using Norton, McAfee, Trend Micro I.S., make sure file and printer
sharing is enabled in THEIR firewall (or LAN allowed, depending on how their
Exceptions are worded in their Firewall)
1st thing to do is make sure that the Workgroup Name of ALL the computers is
the SAME.
In Vista Network and Sharing:
Network Discovery: ON (So it can see the other computers)
Network set to Private (Public is for hotspots, airports, etc)
File Sharing: ON
Public Folder Sharing: ON (Vista’s Public Folder is the same as XP’s Shared
Docs)
Password Protected: OFF (unless you want to set up identical usernames and
passwords (passwords can be different) on ALL computers in your Network) If
you have it ON, you will be asked for a username and password when you try to
access a Vista computer from an XP computer, or a Vista computer.
Also, run the XP’s Home or Small Office Network File and Printer Sharing
Wizard to include Vista in your “New” Network, even if you had an XP Network
set up prior to adding a Vista computer to it(redoing the Wizard seems to
work for XP machines!).
In “My Network Places”: “Set up a Home or Small Office Network”
OR under Accessories > Communications > Network Setup Wizard > Allow File
and Printer Sharing.
--
Mick Murphy - Qld - Australia
"Ian" wrote:
> Hey group! A REAL NOVICE HERE. As we say in Afrikaans, "vreemdeling in
> gebied, wees asb geduldig" which means "stranger in these parts,
> please be patient". My main production machine is Windows 2000 Pro
> SP4, my wife's desktop is XP Home, and we have two Vista Business 32
> laptops that work via the WLAN very well when connecting to the
> internet etc. But, I want a REAL EASY WAY to connect ALL my computers
> to each other. There has to be some procedure somewhere and looking
> for it via Microsoft's search facility is like looking for a white
> peson in Africa - or the proverbial needle in a haystack. I have tried
> to make sense of the do this, do that, from the knowledgebases and
> TechNet, but it doesn't work. I can see my desktop machine from my
> laptop, but I cannot connect to it, not even with the administrator's
> login. I cannot see the XP Home machine from either my desktop or my
> laptop, and only occasionally can I see the other laptop from my
> laptop. Unfortunately I have to go to each and every machine, ensure
> the WORKGROUP is the same (which it is) and then add a SHARE to Drive
> C of each machine (already done) but I still cannot log in to these
> other machines.
>
> So, is there a networking genius out there who has tried to connect
> all these different operating systems together and succeeded? If so,
> please send me the recipe. It's driving me silver haired, and I don't
> have that many years left on this planet to figure it out myself. In
> February 2009, I will be replacing the two desktop machines with two
> new desktop machines running Vista Home Premium, or compatible -
> possibly Linux (Ubuntu) with Vista in a box somewhere on the hard
> disk, but I haven't decided about this yet.
>
> First things first, can someone please help me get these computers to
> see one another?!
>
> Thanks.
> Ian Samson
>