How To Create Workgroup In Windows Xp

Azeez N

Hi dave.ch,

Thanks for posting in Microsoft answers!

Try this on your Windows Xp machine and check if it helps

1. Click Start , and then type cmd in the Start Search box .
2. Right-click cmd in the Programs list, and then click Run as administrator . If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type your password or click Continue
3. At the command prompt , type the following command, and then press ENTER : net use
4. Click on the icon at the top left portion of the window, click Edit , then click Select All , press Enter key.
5. Paste the content into your reply by pressing CTRL+V on your Keyboard.

If this does not help then, Considering you are close to the last known good configuration , you may choose to run System Restore:

Open System Restore by clicking the Start button , clicking All Programs , clicking Accessories , clicking System Tools , and then clicking System Restore .‌ If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

The differences in file and printer sharing in Windows 7 are the following:

The default workgroup name in Windows 7 has been changed to WORKGROUP. In Windows® XP Home Edition, the default workgroup name is MSHOME. If you upgrade a computer running Windows XP Home Edition to Windows 7, it will keep its existing workgroup name. However, new computers with Windows 7 can have a different workgroup name than the other computers on your network. With different workgroups, it takes more time and effort to view all of the computers on the network.

Windows 7 uses the Public folder, rather than the Shared Documents folder in Windows XP, to simplify file sharing. With Public folder sharing enabled, the public folders and all of the folders within the Public folder are automatically shared with the name Public. You do not have to configure file sharing on separate folders. You only have to either move or copy the file or folder you want to share on the network to the Public folder.

Windows 7 by default does not allow simple file sharing. Access to shared folders, including the public folder (if shared), requires a user name and password. Simple file sharing is enabled by default in Windows XP Home Edition.

For more information on File Sharing between Windows 7 and XP, please go to the link below.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727037.aspx

Hope this helps!
Azeez Nadeem – Microsoft Support

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thanks for your reply

but i could not solve the problem yet.

command net use on the xp machine does not show any connection.
if i try to show the workgroup on the xp machine, i get a message telling me, that i'm not allowed to access the workgroup.

the strange thing is, that if i first reboot the xp machine, and then the windows 7 machine, the connection are working normaly and i can access the shared folder on the windows 7 machine from the xp machine.

but abrupty - sometimes after a few minutes, sometimes after hours, the connection is lost. i still can access the shared folders on the xp machine from the windows 7 machine, but not the other way.

i found out, that if i shut down both computers, then first boot the windows xp machine, create a new workgroup name, reboot it in order to activate the settings, then reboot the windows 7 machine, set the new workgroup name here also and reboot to activate the new settings then this new workgroup will usually work for a few days. normally much longer, then just the normal reboot cycle described above.
(both computers are running all the time - i only reboot them, in case of a problem)

this problem has become a serious issue for me, as i'm not really able to work. i need this shared folders on both machine.
hope anyone can help me soon.

thanks
david

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Azeez N

Hi dave.ch,

If your computer is on a workgroup, you have the option of turning password protection on or off. If password protection is turned on, the person you are sharing with must have a user account and password on your computer in order to access the files and folders you are sharing. You can turn password protection on or off in the Network and Sharing Center.

For information about how to configure file sharing in Windows Vista, visit the following Microsoft Web site: (This is how to turn on network discovery)

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/e2e03106-2546-4085-bd07-6c3ac95003111033.mspx

When you go to Control Panel, Network and Internet, then Network and Sharing, do you see all of the computers in your network? Under Sharing and Discovery, is Network discovery on, is File sharing on?

Check the permissions of the file or folder the file is saved in. Here's how:

Right-click the file or folder, and then click Properties .

Click the Security tab.

Under Group or user names , click your name to see the permissions you have.

To open a file, you need to have read permission.

Password protected sharing is on by default for computers on workgroups. When password protected sharing is enabled, people using other computers on your network can't access your shared folders or printers unless they have a user account on your computer.

There are two ways to enable file or printer sharing:

Create identical user accounts on all computers on the workgroup (recommended).

Turn off password protected sharing. To turn off password protected sharing, follow these steps:

Go to Control Panel

Open Network and Sharing Center

Under Sharing and Discovery , click the arrow button next to Password protected sharing .

Click Turn off password protected sharing , and then click Apply . If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Note

Password protected sharing is not available on computers that are on a domain.

The computers are not in the same workgroup.

As a troubleshooting step, I would test to see if you can share files from the Public folder on your computer.

Share files from the Public folder on your computer
With this method of sharing, you copy or move files to your Public folder and share them from that location. If you turn on file sharing for the Public folder, anyone with a user account and password on your computer, as well as everyone on your network, will be able to see all the files in your Public folder and subfolders. You cannot restrict people to just seeing some files in the Public folder. However, you can set permissions that either restrict people from accessing the Public folder altogether, or that restrict them from changing files or creating new ones.

If you are not on a domain, you can also turn on password-protected sharing. This limits network access to the Public folder to people with a user account and password on your computer. By default, network access to the Public folder is turned off unless you enable it.

For further Information see : http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vistanetworking/thread/c3a02d6c-5944-4938-aede-cc19ff55d123

Hope this information will help with your file sharing issue.

Azeez Nadeem - Microsoft Support

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I have the same problems as described in the original post. I have both machines XP and Win7 in a workgroup called "MY_OFFICE". After some batteling I got both machines to see each other, but then the XP becomes broken and unable to connect of use the shared printer on the win 7 machine.

The problems seems to be related to the XP machine forgetting and then not recognizing the win7 workgroup. When everything is working they both recogize they are on the same workgroup. When its broken the XP machine thinks the Win7 box is on the "WORKGROUP" workgroup yet the win7 box knows it in the XXX_OFFICE workgroup just fine.

My mapped network drive wont connect (mapped in XP to win7 shared folder). My shared network printer wont print and says RPC server is unavailable. One last wacky clue is the if I use the IP of the window 7 machine instead of the machine name then printer and share seem to work ( i.e. \\192.168.0.4\MyShare\ )

this is a major issue for us. PLEASE help.

Thanks
Matt

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creacontech

Following the above instructions, below is the results of the "net use" command on one of the XP PC's.

C:\Documents and Settings\R&D>net use
New connections will be remembered.

Status Local Remote Network

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unavailable Z: \\Towerserver\Raid1_Array Microsoft Windows Network
OK \\Towerserver\IPC$ Microsoft Windows Network
The command completed successfully.

C:\Documents and Settings\R&D>

ALL 4 computers on my LAN (3 w/XP and 1 w/Win7 Ultimate) are on the workgroup named "WORKGROUP"; I checked and rechecked that. I also tried going back to a restore point when the XP computer could access the Win 7 computer and connect to its shared printer. Now I can't even open the properties of that connection.

I tried the rebooting exercise in the origial post, but it didn't help. I've gone through every post I could find on this forum, and tried every suggestion, but to no avail. I still can't access the Win 7 computer from the XP ones. FWIW, however, I CAN successfully ping the Win 7 PC from the XP PC's.

Could there be some obscure, little known setting somewhere in that Windows 7 Control Panel labrynth?????

creacon

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I have been running into very similar problems accessing a Win7 machine from an XP laptop, including the error message that says I don't have permission to access the workgroup when I try to view computer names on the network. As described by creacontech's post, I have had no problems pinging the Win7 machine by its computer name.

I agree with the comments above concerning the checking of workgroup names and enabling network discovery, but I could still get nowhere. Even complete network paths were rejected (after a very long delay). Under the "Advanced sharing settings", my Win7 machine is configured to use user accounts and passwords instead of having Win7 manage the homegroup connections.

One thing that finally seemed to help (but that does not solve all mysterious behavior) is the password expiration policy.

In "Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy > Account Policies > Password Policy" I changed the "Maximum password age" from the default of 42 to 0, which means user passwords never expire. This expiration has not been a problem with my local machine login, but it does seem to affect the network behavior. Another user's password was definitely expired because of lack of activity.

This expiration change on the Win7 machine (after a reboot) finally provided access to the Win7 machine from the XP laptop when given a network path. An error message no longer appears on the XP machine when trying to view computers in the workgroup, but the XP machine still does not consistently show the computers in the workgroup. The XP password expiration was also set to 42, but changing that to 0 did not have any effect.

Perhaps this is a clue and a partial fix.

UPDATE:

This password expiration change may have helped somewhat, but it failed over time and is not the final solution. After the Win7 machine boots, the access available to the XP laptop deteriorates over time. Eventually, the XP laptop cannot access the Win7 machine and generates an error when trying to view computers in the workgroup. It is starting to look more like this related issue:

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7network/thread/86486c4c-aa3f-4964-8310-2fe716e00701

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I have the same problem but have found a workaround. On the XP computer go to start-run and type in\\192-161.1.xxx (the IP address of the windows 7 computer. On the windows 7 computer go to start and type in\\192.168.1.xxx (the IP address of the XP computer) On both computers this should open a windows explorer with the shared folders of the other computer available to use. It has to be a MICROSOFT network or explorer issue. If you look at the shared computer on the other computer you will notice that the IP address does not show for some reason. This is how I am doing it not. Hopefully Microsoft can figure it out some day.

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Yup same kind of issue here, My network has 3 machines (2 win7 and 1 XP Pro) the crazy thing is one win7 connects just fine, the other win7 and the xp don't play nice at all. I have mapped drives that are attached to the xp machine that remain visible as long as I'm using admin, once I switch to user they disappear.

same error about permission to connect to the workgroup on the xp as everyone above... It SUCKS that this thread has been posted for 3 months with no real answer!!! Thanks again microsoft!

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I'm trying to group Win7 with four XP machines -- one XP machine sees everything, one sees the Win7 and one of the XP machines, the other two see 3/4 of the XP machines but not the Win7, and the new Win7 machine sees the two XP machines that see it.

Hey Microsoft, can you help us ?!?!?!?

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i have the same problem everythings works fine between vista & windows 7 but xp & windows 7 its very strange!!!

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