Networking XP and Win 7 machines

[ThunderPants73]

Sorry if this has been posted before and I expect to be admonished for it but can anyone give me a step by step guide to networking an XP desktop and a Win 7 laptop?
I've never done anything like this before and I am having problems.
I have Zone Alarm and Avast Home on both computers.
I have named both my work groups MSHOME (because every time I try to change the XP group to WORKGROUP it keeps reverting to MSHOME every time I exit the network wizard.)
I have enabled file and printer sharing, I have chosen the folder on my XP pc that I want to access via my laptop.
My desktop is hard wired to my router, my lappie is wireless.
I have rebooted all my equipment but I still cannot get my pc's to 'see' each other. What am I doing/not doing? Any kind person who can help will earn my eternal gratitude (and maybe a little hero worship)
I've tried Googling it but it makes very little sense to poor old me.

YAY, DONE IT, FORGOT TO GO INTO EXPLORER AND ALLOW SHARING FOR THAT PARTICULAR HDD.

[Dai]

See the power of this forum. You just have to *post* the problem and the answer arrives as if by magic..

[ThunderPants73]

Heheheh... I have another question now, well, a couple actully!

1. I only have a basic Belkin G router which has been more than adequate for my modest needs, but would a better router provide faster file transfer speeds? I am currently transferring a 10gig file from my desktop to my lappie and its going to take about an hour. Would an N router thingy be any better? Or if I hard wired my lappie to my router instead of wireless?

2. Gawd I've forgotten what my other quest...oh yeah.....I can access files on my lappie from my desktop, but not the other way around, are there any settings I have to tweak on my win 7 machine?

[Graham M]

A Wireless N router would possibly increase the speed over Wireless but not effect Wired-Wired transfers

[Lord Nikon]

Originally Posted by Graham M

A Wireless N router would possibly increase the speed over Wireless but not effect Wired-Wired transfers

Depends, the Dlink 635 has gigabit LAN and WAN ports... heh


Ok, I am assuming the folders are just shared? no passwords set on them?

on the 7 machine go to Network and Sharing Center (I usually go there through control panel, but you can also get there from the network adapter icon in the taskbar)
Click Change Advanced Sharing Settings
Turn Off Password Protected Sharing

but make sure your other network security is strong.

[Graham M]

Of course that depends on wether the connected PCs do or not

[Dai]

Originally Posted by ThunderPants73

1. I only have a basic Belkin G router which has been more than adequate for my modest needs, but would a better router provide faster file transfer speeds? I am currently transferring a 10gig file from my desktop to my lappie and its going to take about an hour. Would an N router thingy be any better? Or if I hard wired my lappie to my router instead of wireless?

2. Gawd I've forgotten what my other quest...oh yeah.....I can access files on my lappie from my desktop, but not the other way around, are there any settings I have to tweak on my win 7 machine?

Item 1: Since you are mixing wired and wireless the bottleneck will be the wireless connection. N would certainly be faster but only if the router and laptop are *both* N-capable.

Item 2: Try making an account on each machine with the same username and password. In the advanced settings on the Win7 machine select 'use user accounts and passwords to connect to other machines'
That works on my mixed-OS network.

[Graham M]

Yep as long as the username and password are the same on both, that helps quash a lot of problems you'll otherwise experience

[ThunderPants73]

Thanks guys, helpful as always. x