Two Win 7 pcs - can only see my XPs from one of them

[MediaMan09]

I have a basic home network with:

• -two Win 7 PCs (Home Premium 64 bit), named PC01 and PC05
• -three XP machines (all SP3), named PC02, PC03 and PC04.
• -all are on the same workgroup
• -all have the same user name and password
• -I do not use homegroups.

On my main Win 7 machine ( PC01), I cannot see any XP machines - I can only see the other Win 7 machine ( PC05). See screenshot.

Yet, on my other Win 7 machine (PC05), I can see all the machines.

So this tells me the issue is with PC01 only.

I compared the obvious settings, and my Win 7 machines appear to be set up the same way (eg Advanced Sharing Serttings), etc. the same as far as I can tell.

Any suggestion where I can start digging deeper ??

 

[thiggins]

Search in Microsoft KB. Found this thread for you. There are others.

 

[MediaMan09]

Thanks for the tip.

Read it top to bottom - unfortunately the suggestions didnt help.. and I compared suggested settings with the working Win 7 machine and they are not required to address this issue ( ie I see all the XP machines without the suggested fixes).

Totally frustrating. This used to work fine. Windows 7 isnt really terrible in this area.

 

[thiggins]

There are other articles. Use the search function.

 

[MediaMan09]

Okay, many thanks for tyring.

I have been at this for many many hours, and tons of searching everywhere. Its pretty hopeless trying to find an explanation as to why its happening or a soluton that really works.

This is an infantile operating system that cannot even share files across Microsofts' own operating systems. What a joke. Those TV commercials are absolutely fraud. Seamless networking - ya right - in 1% of the cases.

I cannot spend anymore time with trial and error solutions for something that should work out of the box. I can access my XP machines as needed via thier ip address, or, thanks to Microsoft, by getting up from my desk and walking across the house with a USB key. Very leading edge techhnology. As I said, what a joke.

I have had nothng but grief with Windows 7 ... and I have been using pc's since 1983 - no stranger to any of it.

But now, I am just totally out of patience. I have real work to do (!!!) and can no longer spend my precious few hours trying to get this nonsese to work.

Sorry for the rant.

 

[thiggins]

No need to apologize. I agree Win 7 networking is unnecessarily complicated and causes hassles like you are experiencing all too often.

As you have found, most reliable way is to set up mapped drives using UNC. At least MS hasn't found a way to break that yet.

 

[MediaMan09]

On PC01, if I manually type in \\pc02 and \\pc03 and \\pc04 , they all appear in thelist under Networks, and they all work... but if I close the window and re-open it, it goes back to only showing me \\pc01 and \\pc05

So there is something off in terms of 'network discovery"

On PC05, it works great, all machines are there all the time.

 

[00Roush]

This worked for me...

First up to be able to properly communicate between all the XP and Windows 7 machines you need to ensure the Lan Manager authentication level is set the same on all machines. This can be accomplished by using the information provided by Microsoft. Section 10 breaks down the different settings. Basically XP defaults to using a lower authentication level than Windows 7. For better security I recommend setting this to "Send NTLMv2 response only" on the XP machines. (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\LmCompatibilityLevel = 3 for those who are using Win XP home and don't have access to the Local Security Policy control panel)

Next up you need to make sure all XP and Windows 7 computers can use the same protocol to access each other by computer name. Basically NetBIOS needs to be enabled on all machines.

For Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows 2000

On the desktop, right-click My Network Places, and then click Properties.
Right-click Local Area Connection, and then click Properties
In the Components checked are used by this connection list, double-click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), click Advanced, and then click the WINS tab.

Note In Windows XP and in Windows Server 2003, you must double-click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in the This connection uses the following items list.
Click Use NetBIOS setting from the DHCP server, and then click OK three times.

For Windows Vista

On the desktop, right-click Network, and then click Properties.
Under Tasks, click Manage network connections.
Right-click Local Area Connection, and then click Properties
In the This connection uses the following items list, double-click Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4), click Advanced, and then click the WINS tab.
Click Use NetBIOS setting from the DHCP server, and then click OK three times.

For Windows 7

Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
Under Network and Internet, click View network status and tasks.
Click Change adapter settings.
Right-click Local Area Connection, and then click Properties.
In the This connection uses the following items list, double-click Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4), click Advanced, and then click the WINS tab.
Click Use NetBIOS setting from the DHCP server, and then click OK three times.

Last make sure Windows 7 machines are setup as follows under the advanced sharing settings for Home/Work networks:
Delete any Homegroups
Network Discovery on
File/Print Sharing on
Public Folder sharing off (you can probably try both settings)
Media Streaming off (I don't think this one really will make a difference)
Use 128-Bit encryption on
Password Protected sharing off (I would try this setting first but a more secure setting would probably be on)
HomeGroup Connections "Use user accounts ..."

Once all of these settings are changed turn off all the computers and then start turning back on computers. I recommend the computer that stays on the most be the first one you turn back on. This might help keep one computer as the "Master Browser" and maintain a current list of computers on the network.

Let me know if this works for you or not.
00Roush

 

[MediaMan09]

This worked for me...
...Let me know if this works for you or not.
00Roush

Many thanks for putting all that together. Its a great resoruce/summary on the topic. I will double check my XP settings acccrodingly.

On the XP side, I am assuming I have the Netbios set up correctly as my other Win 7 machine has no issues talking to them.

On the Win 7 side, I have tried the options/settings you suggested, and others, but it did not result in any change.

I was playing with the issue on/off during the day yesterday, mainly googling and did come across one setting under Services that did the trick. It was Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator - which was off and now on. Once i made the change, VOILA - the XP computer poppped up.. I suspect it was that, in combination with other prior changes/settings that got me back on track.

So my current configuration, which now works on both Win 7 machines is the following Services on Automatic:

• Computer Browser (one machine only)
• DHCP Client
• DNS Client
• Network Location Awareness
• Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
• Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator
• Server
• TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
• Workstation

and the following Advanced Network Settings

• Network Discovery on
• File/Print Sharing on
• Public Folder sharing on
• Media Streaming off
• Use 128-Bit encryption off
• Password Protected sharing off
• HomeGroup Connections "Use user accounts ..."

 

[00Roush]

Glad to hear things are working correctly for you now.

FYI the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) and Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator shouldn't really affect the network at all. On my machine the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) is set to automatic and the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator is set to manual by default. With these settings I haven't had any problems with XP machines connecting on my network. Then again I generally just use IP addresses to access computers. All of the network discovery/NetBIOS stuff is usually disabled and I never seem to have issues.

Just remember than in many cases you need to restart the computer or at least the server and workstation services for network setting changes to take affect. I should also mention that I said to set the "Use NetBIOS setting from the DHCP server" setting but really the best way to ensure NetBIOS is enabled is to use the "Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP" setting.

00Roush

 

[MediaMan09]

• All of the network discovery/NetBIOS stuff is usually disabled and I never seem to have issues.
  ..
• the best way to ensure NetBIOS is enabled is to use the "Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP" setting.
  ..

Thanks for the followup. Got everything "mostly" working, except for one XP machine that I need to re-check settings on - it cannot see the network - its an old XP laptop that I reformatted recently, so it very likely the required settings need to be revisited.

However, can you clarify your comments re what you have disabled vs enabled?

 

[00Roush]

I should probably clarify as you said... For the most part in my network here at home I normally don't use computer names to access computers on the network. Instead I just use the IP addresses. So instead of //computer I use //192.168.0.2. Since I am no longer using computer names to access computers on the network I do not need NetBIOS or LLMNR (Link Local Multicast Name Resolution) enabled on any of my computers. So I have disabled NetBIOS and all of the network discovery stuff as I don't need it and also to reduce the amount of network traffic.

In the interest of getting an answer for you in this thread I set everything back to defaults and came up with the steps I outline in my previous post. So under that scenario I had the following settings:

Lan Manager authentication level: "Send NTLMv2 response only" on all computers
NetBIOS: "Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP" box checked on all computers
Services were all left at default settings on all computers

Windows 7 advanced sharing settings:
Network Discovery on
File/Print Sharing on
Public Folder sharing off
Media Streaming off
Use 128-Bit encryption on
Password Protected sharing off
HomeGroup Connections "Use user accounts ..."


I hope that helps.

00Roush

 

[MediaMan09]

In the interest of getting an answer for you in this thread I set everything back to defaults and came up with the steps I outline in my previous post.....

Above and beyond! Many thankd again ( and for the calrification).