XP and VISTA networking

[bencov3]

Okay, I searched around the forum and did not find quite what I was looking for. I have tried a lot of things and am still stuck...

I have a desktop running Vista connected to a WRT54GS Linksys router via ethernet cable. The router is connected to a Motorola Surfboard.

Internet works fine, all is great...

I bought a netbook with XP Home to have downstairs and I am trying to create a network where I can share files, an external hard drive, and a printer that is connected to the Vista desktop. The netbook is connecting to the network wirelessly.

I have the network set-up and from the Vista desktop I can see all the shared files on the XP netbook. All is great from that end. I can also ping the netbook from the desktop.

On the Netbook end I can see the router and access it for configuring just like I can from the desktop. Internet works great. I cannot see the desktop or access any of the shared items. I cannot ping the desktop from the netbook. I get a "request timed out" message when I try to ping the desktop from the netbook. When I try to "View Workgroup Computers" I get a message that says "Workgroup 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."

I have both computers in a workgroup called "Workgroup".

I have McAfee Antivirus and the network map in McAfee on both computers shows all of the components.

I tried to download the LLPT for XP and got a message that XP service pack 3 was installed and that was more current then what I was trying to install.

I have searched the web and tried lots of things. I am probably missing one little switch that will fix everything.

Can anyone help me with this?

Thanks,
Ben

[Shen]

You have mentioned that you have already given the same workgroup name as "Workgroup". Have you given the same Account name to both the machines? I would like to suggest you to do the same. For Example if your are having the ABC account on your desktop, then try to give the ABC account name on your laptop also. I think doing this may fix your problem.