file sharing windows 7 laptop + xp desktop

claire07

I've recently had a windows 7 laptop and this and the xp desktop upstairs are on a netgear router for internet access. Can I share and alter the files (plus the printer) between the laptop and desktop and, if so, I would appreciate suggestions on the best way to do this.

enigma52

read this article http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-7/share-files-and-printers-between-windows-7-and-xp/ should sort it for you

claire07

Many thanks, that's a great article. I've printed it out and will give it a go today. I was originally just going to transfer all the files I needed on both to a flash drive but this will be much better if I can get it to work.

claire07

Having problems file sharing. Followed the article and can see the windows 7 laptop on the xp desktop but get message "you might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact administrator to find out if you have access permission." Also cannot see xp desktop listed on windows 7 network although both have same workgroup name. Any suggestions where I could be going wrong.

The_Mighty_Gusset

Good Luck with that !
I hope it works better than trying the same trick with XP and Vista.
Even once I got my PC (XP), Laptop (XP) and Work Laptop (Vista) to talk to each other, every time I installed an update they'd go off each other and refuse to talk again.

claire07

Still trying to get my 2 computers to file share but looking on the internet I see many having similar problems. As all I want to do is access and alter files on my xp desktop from my windows 7 laptop wondered if logmein would do the job just as well without sending my blood pressure sky high? Anyone else tried this?

itwiz

I have XP, Vista and Win7 all happily talking to each other and sharing files. Bit tricky to diagnose without being in front of it, I've usually found most problems come from having the wrong username/password but if you can't even see your XP machine, it sounds like something more fundamental is wrong. Have you tried temporarily disabling any firewall/security software to see if that's interfering?

You could use "remote control" software like Gotomypc, but that's not really going to copy files from one to the other or share printing, if that's what you need.

enigma52

do both machines have the same logon username and password? Have you created the shares on each pc.