# Connecting Vista Laptop to existing file/printer sharring network



## Tr0x (Oct 31, 2005)

This is probably a common question but I'm unable to find the answer I'm looking for.

I'm trying to connect my new laptop (running Vista) to a wireless network already in place between my two desktop computers. These two computers are able to share the printer and files between each other.

the laptop has no problems connecting to the internet offered by the same wireless router but I can't find/connect to the file and printer sharing part of it all. 

Vista is new to me and I know very little about setting up networks (someone came into set up the current one) so step-by-step help would be much appreciated. 

Let me know if there are any specs that are required. The router is a Linksys WRT54G wireless-G broadband


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

Vista is a bit different, take a look at this page: File and Printer Sharing in Windows Vista


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## Tr0x (Oct 31, 2005)

thanks you SO much for that link. looks like it has everything I was looking for. Going through it now and I'll post back with results/questions

EDIT: Currently, the name of my workgroup is very vague. Is it possible to change the name of the workgroup? What are the risks involved?

alright, a few issues.

I've added the laptop to the right workgroup and I'm able to see the icon for the computer on one of my desktops. however, when I try to access it, I get the message: 

\\Benslaptop is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions. The network path was not found

Also, I'm unable to see either of the desktops on my laptop. I've tried going into the "Network and Sharing Center" of my laptop to enable everything but that doesnt seem to do anything. Any suggestions?


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

Let's run through the basic network debugging steps.

Turn off any firewalls for debugging. If the firewall is the problem, you'll have to configure it to allow access to "trusted zone" addresses. Note that some firewalls must be completely uninstalled to stop them from affecting your networking.

PING each computer by IP address, and if successful, PING by name. You can obtain the IP address of a computer by opening a command prompt (DOS window) and typing IPCONFIG. This should work for any Windows version. *A failure here needs to be corrected before you go any farther.*

Check your Services are Started on all PCs: Workstation, DHCP Client, DNS Client, Server, TCP/IP Netbios helper, Computer Browser. 

All computers should be in the same workgroup for computer browsing to function properly. File & Print Sharing has to be enabled on any computer you wish to share files or printers from. You also need to actually share the resource in question from My Computer, right click on the drive/printer/folder, and select sharing.

If you encounter difficulties accessing computers that are visible in Network Neighborhood, make sure the computer being accessed has an account with the same name/password as the system connecting to it uses to login.

While the default NetBIOS setting is correct for normal network configurations, it's possible for it to be altered, and it costs nothing to make sure it's correct. NETBIOS over TCP/IP must be enabled for normal network browsing.


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## Tr0x (Oct 31, 2005)

I've pinged each computer from each other and that works fine. I've added them to the same workgroup and enabled printer/file sharing yet nothing shows up in the workgroup (other than the router)

what else could I be doing?

EDIT: i think I've figured everything out. just needed to change the settings in norton internet security. thanks for your help!


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