How to Network & Enable File Sharing Between Windows Vista and XP

How to Properly Setup Windows Vista to XP Network

Somebody called me up today and asked what to do to his 2 PCs. One of his computer has Windows Xp on it, the other one has Windows Vista installed. The Vista computer can access shared files from WinXp but he cannot access the files on Vista computer using the computer with Windows XP.

This is a common problem for those networks that has a mixture of Vista and XP PC. Before i was having a hard time configuring the Vista Machine because it is a fairly new OS. Once, i spent 4 hours to solve this problem to no avail.

But right now, I already know the solution. Actually it's so simple when you read it. On the Vista machine, right-click the folder that you want to share, and select Share. If Vista responds with the message "This folder is already shared," click Change sharing permissions. A dialog box will appear, type everyone into the unnamed field next to the Add button, and press Enter. The word "Everyone" will appear in the list of people with whom you can share the folder. On the right side of the dialog box, select the permission level you want to assign to people sharing the data. Now click Share to close the dialog box, and that's it.

If you're looking for procedures to setup your home/office network, check this post: How to Setup Your Own Network