Networking Questions and Answers - Windows XP and Vista won't Communicate Over Network

Michael writes in with a networking question
Question:I have 3 computers. One desktop is using Windows XP and two notebooks are using Windows Vista. My notebooks can access files on my desktop but not each other, and my desktop cannot access either of the notebooks.

I have shared each drive I want shared and set there permissions to full control, and I have entered the IP Address of each computer in my Zone Alarm's Fire Wall/Zones tab. I have done this on all three computers but still the notebooks will not access files on each other, they will on the other hand access files on the desk top. The desk top cannot access files on either of the notebooks either. What have I done wrong, or have I missed something? I just recently reset both Notebooks to Factory Default. So I'm starting from scratch on the notebooks.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Answer: One thing I have noticed that is touchy with Vista networking is that it likes to have the same user accounts on every computer you are trying to connect to. I would make the same user accounts on each computer with the same user name and password so they have permission to each computer. If you log in with Michael on your XP machine then create a Michael account with the same password on both Vista machines etc. Give them administrator access as well so you will be able to access all your files on each computer. If you use different user names on each computer then make that same user and password on the other computers that don't use that login.

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