Win 7 on mixed network

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I just added a Toshiba netbook running Win 7 starter to a small network with a mix of XP and Vista machines can have run into problems. All of the XP (home) machines and Vista (both 32 & 64 bit) can see the Win 7 machine on the, but none of them can access the netbook. The usual message is “…netbook is not available. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions. The network path was not found.”

I can access the Vista machines from the netbook but cannot access the XP machines from the netbook. The XP computers appear in the network map after I right click on Network, then on Properties, then on “see full map,” but there is no finger when I hover the mouse over the XP icons, although an info box shows the correct computer name, IP address, and MAC address. When I try clicking on an XP icon on the network map, nothing happens, but I can access the Vista machines with no delay from the network map. The XP machines do not appear in the list of network machines when I go to the network through Computer.

If I try to connect manually to an XP machine from the netbook, the error message is “Windows cannot access \….” and network troubleshooting cannot identify the problem.

The netbook can ping the Vista and XP machines, the Vista machines can ping the netbook and XP machines, the XP machines can ping the Vista machines, but the XP machines cannot pint the netbook. The XP machines can access the Vista machines on the network and vice versa, the netbook can access the Vista machines and vice versa, but neither the XP nor the netbook can access each other.

I’m running a Linksys WRT110 router with a mix of Ethernet and wireless, but the problems are the same whichever connection I use. I’ve also tried using only wireless or only Ethernet and still can’t connect the netbook and XP machines. All of the computers can access the Internet without a hitch. The diagnostic on the primary XP machine is attached; the diagnostic wouldn’t run on the netbook–some sort of messaged flashed past too quickly to read.

Any suggestions on what to try next?

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I am not familiar with Windows 7 Starter edition, and I assume that it supports network shares. I had a look on the Microsoft web site but I couldn’t really tell, as I did not know what it meant by

[*]Ad hoc networking. A computer running Windows 7 Starter can’t create an ad hoc network (also called a computer-to-computer network), but it can be part of an ad hoc network. Ad hoc networks are often used for a specific purpose, such as playing a multiplayer computer game.

Assuming that it is supposed to work, the most likely cause is a mismatch of usernames and passwords between the various computers.

Try following the instructions in Troubleshooting file shares on a home network and let us know what happens.

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Or Windows firewall on the W7 machine is blocking access?

cheers, Paul

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Thanks for the suggestions, which pushed me to look at the netbook firewall. Norton Internet Security comes presinstalled, which I had forgotten, and was blocking network communications. Thanks for a better start to the holidays!

Fred

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Hi and welcome

Just as an FYI when you install win 7 it uses homegroup and IPv6. Mixed networks need to be set up using IPv4 and the workgroup model.

One of the biggest Problems for the average user is when they set it up they use Homegroup and then wonder why they cant get the xp machine to see or share with the win 7 machine I post on 5 or 6 other boards and hundreds of times I have seen that

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I have set up several “Workgroup” networks of MIXED OS’s and have yet to mess with any setting that involve IPv6 or IPv4 changes.

I do tend NOT to use any of the “Default” names for the Workgroups, as they are easily found when using wireless. But names like “HairysPlace” (by the way Harry is very bald) most snoopers are clueless. I also do NOT use the default computer names and give a name that just might be usable by some one.

It appears to me that there has NOT been any shares defined on the different machines. The OP needs to go to “Troubleshooting file shares on a home network” link in the above post 5, and walk themselves through it.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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I tend not to use default workgroup names either. Plus a big thing I do with my wireless router is I set up MAC address filter so that only those PC’s I want to access my router are listed in the filter. That tends to prevent those outside PC’s who may in some way have discovered your password in your router from connecting to your router.

You can determine your MAC address for any PC quite easily. Open a cmd window. at the > type ipconfig /all and hit enter. This will give you the info you need. You will need the address for your wireless lan. Each wireless router has different methods to enter this data so you will have to fool around in there a little to find the appropriate area.

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It is so easy for a hacker to change their MAC address to match one that they have seen on your network, that MAC address filtering causes more problems than it solves.

The most important thing to do to preserve the security of your wireless network is to use WPA or WPA2 encryption, to protect your network password, and to change the password occassionally.

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