Windows 7 machine can't connect to XP and Linux shared drives

[GaryReggae]

Hi folks, I'm new here. I'm fairly good with computers in general but I'm stuck on this issue.

I have a Windows XP machine that I have shared on my home network. I also have a machine I use as a server; this has Ubuntu (Linux) on it. I have shared a couple of folders on this so that I can access the files from any machine and this has worked well without any problems.

However, I recently bought a new laptop with Windows 7 Home Premium (with SP1) and I cannot get this to see any of the other devices on the network. On my other machines, I just go to 'My Network Places' and whatever that's called on Linux and I can see the other machines' shared folders. I just cannot see these in the Windows 7 equivalent. I have tried typing in \\servername and the response implies that they don't exist. I'm pretty sure it's not a network issue, as I can successfully ping the IP address of both other machines from the Windows 7 one.

Having looked into this, I haven't found much help with this. All the Microsoft help suggests is that I set up a 'Homegroup', which it claims is an excellent way of connecting Windows 7 machines together but that is no use as I only have one!

If you need any more info, such as detailed specs, please let me know. Here is what I think may be useful to you:
Windows XP Professional machine with SP3: HDD is FAT 32. Connected to Sky broadband D-Link router via Ethernet cable.
Ubuntu 10.4 LTS HDD appears to have NTFS file system but I think it's just the default Linux file system. Sharing is done via the pretty standard 'Samba' system; the network drives I have mapped to it from the XP machine say 'Samba-Ubuntu'. Again this is connected to the Sky router via Ethernet.
The laptop is an HP one with 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium. All pretty standard stuff but let me know if you need any further details. This is usually connected via Wi-Fi to the Sky router. It can connect to the Internet with no problems. I have tried to access the other machines with this one plugged into the router via Ethernet but it makes no difference.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

[RandyL]

Microsoft help suggests is that I set up a 'Homegroup', which it claims is an excellent way of connecting Windows 7 machines together but that is no use as I only have one!

You're right. Since one is XP you will need to use Workgroup.

You will also need to make sure that both workgroups have the same name. In 7 the name is WORKGROUP. In XP the name is MSHOME. Change the XP name to WORKGROUP.

You will also need to edit sharing, security and security advanced to add EVERYONE to the list of permissions on the folders you want to share.

And if you have an AV suite that manages networks it may over ride your settings.

It's a real nightmare.

Here are three links to get you started. Keep in mind though you will also need to change the security settings to EVERYONE not just the sharing settings. Most articles fail to include the folder security and sharing settings. You will need to right click and select properties to do this.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-7/share-files-and-printers-between-windows-7-and-xp/

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/15247/complete-guide-to-networking-windows-7-with-xp-and-vista/

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/...mputers-running-different-versions-of-Windows