Problem joining XP to Windows 7

[mau64]

I done a bit of research on this but still stumbled into a problem. I couldn't get windows XP and 7 to find each other. You can ping the XP from 7 but not the other way around.

Started playing around with homework group and know that it needs to be changed to workgroup. As I was disconnecting it from the home group it froze up on me, to the point I needed to restart. Once restarted, I load up network share and it always freezes up.

How could this have happened? It didn't seem like I changed anything drastic yet I cannot get it to load correctly. Anyone run into this issue. I thought joining them would be easier but I keep running into dumb issues.

Thanks in advance guys.

 

[N E Day Pc Repair]

My wife was running XP when I got 7, I just plugged in the ethernet cord, rebooted the modem and router , ran the internet setup wizard, and had no issues. Had sharing setup AMD I was able to access hers and vice versa.

 

[mau64]

My wife was running XP when I got 7, I just plugged in the ethernet cord, rebooted the modem and router , ran the internet setup wizard, and had no issues. Had sharing setup AMD I was able to access hers and vice versa.

Man, I wish it was that simple for me. I couldn't get them to communicate with each other at all. Followed all sorts of google finds and still nothing. Now network sharing keeps locking up on the 7 machine.

 

[Gabzor]

you gotta remember xp doesn't have a homegroup.. go to my computer, properties, change the workgroup name both to the same,
try sharing a file

make sure windows 7 has network discovery on

i provided a pic just in case, this is in windows 7 to change the workgroup name btw

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Enable netbios over IP on each computer.
For temporary troubleshooting...completely turn off the firewall on both rigs.

Workgroup names have nothing to do with being able to browse other computers....it is only a way of organizing them in visual levels in network places. Computers with different network names can still find each others shares...it's just that you won't see them both on the top level of network places. You'll have to drill through another layer or two in network places. But mapping a drive or dragging a shortcut to a share still works.

Is it XP Pro or XP Homeless?

 

[mau64]

It's XP Pro and Windows 7 Pro. Have you ran into an issue where network and sharing center won't load? It just gives me the blue spinning wait. Will configuring it in safe mode help this little problem out?

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

I can't recall an issue with Win7 and network center. Vista first release had some glitches..but I don't remember running across it in Win7.

 

[Martyn]

What YeOldStonecat said in his previous post. Are they all on dhcp, if not check the subnet masks if they are incorrect they can give you strange situations like this. Also on the Win 7 machine check you have no firewall software on there if there is remove it, I mean Norton etc. The very least you should be able to ping both ways as a start. These software firewalls can cause problems so it's better to take them completely out of the equation. Once you have it working then reinstall the firewall software, it will learn what you have then.

 

[mau64]

Awesome, thanks for the tips. I'm going back this evening and will implement these ideas.

 

[nlinecomputers]

If Network and sharing will not load then you may have network driver issues. Also any firewall esp. third party firewalls can cause issues. You might want to remove any antivirus on the system until you fix this.

The final possibility is that the system is infected and causing network connection issues.

And last have you checked the event logs on both machines. It is amazing what windows will tell you if you bother to look.

 

[computergeek]

I done a bit of research on this but still stumbled into a problem. I couldn't get windows XP and 7 to find each other. You can ping the XP from 7 but not the other way around.

Started playing around with homework group and know that it needs to be changed to workgroup. As I was disconnecting it from the home group it froze up on me, to the point I needed to restart. Once restarted, I load up network share and it always freezes up.

How could this have happened? It didn't seem like I changed anything drastic yet I cannot get it to load correctly. Anyone run into this issue. I thought joining them would be easier but I keep running into dumb issues.

Thanks in advance guys.

I have found issues like this to be related to the windows firewall.

However windows 7 networking is closely intergrated with its firewall services and by disabling the firewall it stops certain features from working in the Network Shares type of features.

Sounds like there a issue with a windows 7 service. Check the services and you will probably see a broken service.. you could repair it by a sfc scan or copying files off the windows 7 cd

 

[NETWizz]

What YeOldStonecat said in his previous post. Are they all on dhcp, if not check the subnet masks if they are incorrect they can give you strange situations like this. Also on the Win 7 machine check you have no firewall software on there if there is remove it, I mean Norton etc. The very least you should be able to ping both ways as a start. These software firewalls can cause problems so it's better to take them completely out of the equation. Once you have it working then reinstall the firewall software, it will learn what you have then.

If they can ping each other (or rather if at least one can ping the other like in this case), they ARE on the same subnet... OR the router is doing some Layer-3 Networking of directly connected networks.


As for the firewalls, I agree turn them off temporarily THEN after it works turn them on with the sharing exemption.

At this point, you SHOULD be able to ping by IP Address (both ways)! If you cannot you have something wrong with a software firewall, different subsets and no layer-3 routing/switching, or a swithing problem. Regardless, you SHOLD be able to ping both ways if you don't have anything drooping ICMP.

1. On 7 turn OFF "Home Network" and turn on "Work Network" to do this go to Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center... Change the network location to "Work Network" and that should assist in disabling HomeGroup and enabling WorkGroup.

2. Confirm that Network Discovery is ON and that both computers have a DIFFERENT name (this is critical) and that the name is NOT the same as the username that logs onto the computer!

3. Set the workgroup names to be the same (simply to help with browsing), and it really should work!


Troubleshooting to try if everything flakes out:

1. Reboot the router/switch and reboot the computers.

2. Uninstall Security Software (i.e. Zone Alarm or Symantec Internet Insecurity)

3. Delete the Network adapters and refresh device manager...

^^^^ Something should WORK!

Try \\192.168.1.15 vs \\computername to troubleshoot a problem with DNS or NETBIOS


Regardless, you should be able to make it work. If not perhaps a clean install of Windows is in order.

 

[Martyn]

If they can ping each other (or rather if at least one can ping the other like in this case), they ARE on the same subnet... OR the router is doing some Layer-3 Networking of directly connected networks.

I meant that one of the subnet masks was wrong and can cause a strange problem like this. I've had exactly this problem, many tyears ago.