BOOT CAMP 536 (05/08/08)
Networking XP and Vista, part 2
If your home or small office network has a
mixture of XP and Vista PCs and you followed the steps in last week’s episode
of Boot Camp, then the shared files and folders on your Vista computer should
now be accessible from your XP PC. However, as you have probably discovered, it
doesn’t work the other way around and your XP machine remains stubbornly
invisible to Vista.
That’s because in its infinite wisdom Microsoft
has changed a number of networking features and the way Vista PCs recognise
other computers on a network. Fortunately there is a workaround – more about
that in a moment -- but first a quick tour of one of Vista’s more useful
networking features that you will be getting to know if things don’t work out…
It’s called Network Mapping, and as the name
suggests, it creates a map of your network, showing all of the PCs and devices
connected to it. To open the map go to Network on the Start menu and click Network
and Sharing on the Toolbar (or Start > Control Panel > Network and
Sharing, or just type Network in Search on the Start menu), and you will see a
simple diagram showing how your computer connects to the router and the
Internet. This window also has some important settings that you may need to
change; you can do this now or later, but you might as well get it out of the
way whilst you are here.
Immediately below your computer’s icon there’s
the name of the connection and in brackets, either Public or Private network.
It should be set to Private; if it’s not click Customize and change it. Next,
under Sharing and Discover the following settings should all be set to ‘On’:
Network Discovery, File Sharing, Public Folder Sharing (select ‘Read Only,
Password Required), Printer Sharing, Password protected Sharing and Media
Sharing (the latter is only really necessary if you are using Media Centre
versions of XP and Vista). If any of
them need changing click the down-arrow to open that option’s controls, afterwards
reboot the PC.
Open the Network and Sharing Centre again
and this time click the View Full Map link in the top right hand corner and
after a few moments you will find out if your XP computers are visible. At this
stage it is unlikely that they will be and that’s because they do not have the
necessary ‘responder’ that Vista needs to recognise other computers. This is
easy to fix and you can download the necessary Link Layer Topology Discovery
(LLTD) Responder from Microsoft at http://tinyurl.com/ynrkqf
(or just type KB922120 into Google).
Follow the instructions to download the
file. It’s not very large (around 500kb) so it shouldn’t take too long. By the
way, this requires Windows Validation and Firefox users note that like many MS
downloads, it’s much less hassle to use Internet Explorer. Once the file has
finished downloading click Run, agree to everything and if asked, reboot the
PC.
That’s pretty much all there is to it, you
should now be able to go back to the Network Map on your Vista machine, click
the Refresh button and with a bit of luck your XP computer’s icon will appear,
showing its connection to the router (or Switch). If your luck is holding you
can access the shared folders it contains by double clicking the icon, though
if password protection is enabled you will be asked to enter the Username and
Password needed to access that machine’s User accounts.
If the XP machine icon appears on the map but
you get a message that says something like ‘Windows cannot access \\XX’ (where
XX is the name of your XP computer), then you still have a little work to do.
Begin by rebooting the entire network. Switch
everything off, and that includes all PCs and the router, modem and anything
else connected to it. Restart the router and if it’s a combi modem/router, wait
until the broadband connection has stabilised and all the lights that should be
steady have stopped winking, or changed to the ‘ready’ colour. Now boot up the
PCs one at a time and try again.
Re-check the settings mentioned earlier in
Windows Network and Sharing Centre, especially the one about Public and Private
Networks. Also, make sure that you actually have some files marked for sharing
on your XP computer (see last week’s Top Tip).
It is possible that one or both firewalls on
the two machines are blocking access; Window’s own firewalls are usually okay
and automatically configured for network operation but if you are using a
third-party firewall then temporarily disable it and try again. If the Firewall
is responsible there’s some useful advice about which Ports need to be open in
a Microsoft KB article, which you will find at: http://tinyurl.com/359u6s.
The router is another possibility and some models,
more than a couple of years old, are unable to communicate with Vista, though
it may be possible to update the Firmware. A trip to the support section of the
manufacturer’s website will normally tell you if there are any issues with
Vista.
Next Week – Freeware Top Tens
JARGON FILTER
NETWORK
DISCOVERY
Configuration
setting that determines whether or not a computer can see, and be seen on a
network
PORT
A virtual
pathway or data connection used by PCs and programs to exchange data
PUBLIC/PRIVATE
NETWORK
Public
networks allow very limited access, generally the safest option; PCs on a
Private network can see and be seen by other computers, allowing files and
resources to be shared
TOP TIP
Here’s another quick troubleshooting tip if you
still can’t make a connection. Establish that both computers can see each other
by opening a Command window (type ‘cmd’ in Run or Search on the Start menu) and
at the flashing prompt type ‘ping’ followed by the IP address of the computer
you are trying to reach. To determine the IP address of a computer open a
command window and type ‘ipconfig’. If you can ‘ping’ the other computer then
the problem is usually connected to the Firewall; if you can’t then there may
be a problem with the network connections.
Don't forget, there's a
full archive of previous Boot Camp Top Tips at www.pctoptips.co.uk
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© R. Maybury 2008, 0908
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