Trouble with file sharing on Wired/Wireless network between XP and Vista

[rasena]

I am having a Windows XP desktop. I had connected that to my router through ethernet port. The router has 4 ports available. There is one more laptop which is connected to the router through wifi. Now I want share file among the two systems but I do not know how to do that. One system is no wired connection and one is on the wifi. So to share file do I have to connect the laptop to the router with ethernet cable. I tried to find some guide on it but there is no detail available. Many says that I have to hook the laptop on the router and then share files.

[Chapal]

There is on need to connect the laptop to the ethernet port. You have to share the files in Windows XP system and then find that in Windows Vista. Both are connected to a single device which is a router. A router act as the central mode to transfer files among the systems. It is not at all complicated. I am using a Windows XP desktop. There is a laptop also available. I had shared the file and allowed everyone on the network to access my files. It is visible in Vista network. Just try that. If you face any issue then disable your security settings and check again.

[Wooody]

It will not cost you much to buy a small patch cord. You can connect your laptop with that and share files. I am not sure about wifi connectivity. I never worked on that. I am also having a router at my office. There are 4 computers connected to the router and all files are shared. When I go in Network Places I can see all the shared computers in it and the files. I can copy them at faster rate. On Wifi I think you will get a very less amount of transfer speed. You can just go in Vista network and sharing center and enable it. That's all it is going to work well.

[Myra]

I had purchased a new Gateway laptop for my office work. It has Windows Vista home edition it. The model number of the laptop is GM 5420. I was trying the same thing what you were doing. There is a router which is connected to the network switch. The wifi is on. Now when I am on the lan connection I can view files but when I am no the wifi I cannot view anything. This becomes a bit complicated for me to find the files shared. A number of time when I tried to login in the router I got a authentication failure error. I am bit confused what can be the actual issue behind the same.

[Amosz]

It is your firewall or antivirus which is causing the connectivity failure. You must turn off that and then check whether things are fine or not. Just enable your router connection and simply turn of your firewall. You can configure the network connectivity through your system also. There is a possibility of sharing files with the system on wifi. But for that you will need appropriate tools. I had did this before at my local office where people access the reports on wifi. But the firewall blocks the connection.

[Stuartl]

It is possible without any error only if you are on a public network. But on that your shared folders will be accessible to other also. You just need a good router for that. Connect that to the modem and turn it on. Later on go in Windows XP or Vista computer. Both have different process. In XP you just need to right click on the folder and then choose share. You have to enable that and manage the settings while in Windows Vista you have to work with Network and Sharing. You can configure the connectivity through that and it really works well.

[edthec]

Put both the system on common workgroup and then see. It will work. If both the systems are on a different work group then shared files will not be accessible at any cost. I do not really rely on the lan connectivity. You must ensure that you are on a common network plus you are able to see the wifi connection also. There is a file manager type software which is capable of detecting shared folders on Wifi. I did not remember the name. I had used this long time ago and it worked fine.

[Lucile]

When you turn on file sharing you can see all the public folders configured. They are visible on the network and you will be able to access the files. This is a kind of common bug with Vista. You will need to move the files in the shared folder to access it or it will not work. While if you share other files and folders you will have to manage the file permission. It is one of the most annoying job. I had seen a number of time even giving full write permission it does not work well.

[Javalr]

I was getting the same issue. There are 4 computers on lan which are connected and there are 2 systems which are on wifi. At start the system that were on the lan are able to access my shared file but the system which were on wifi does not find anything. I had removed my antivirus and the problem was solved. I think the antivirus and firewall puts restriction on the files from getting shared on the web. Due to which we get this kind of issue. It is better we must configure everything manually or else the problem remains common.

[Tim Taylor]

Thanks for the replies I am struggling to find a working answer for this thing and I had tried number of thing. Later on I configured the router by adding the ip address in web browser and it worked. For a local area network there is a requirement of proper settings and configuration. The setup is not complicated but somehow needs appropriate steps. It becomes a bit irritating when your settings failed to work. It is better if Vista comes with some more internal tools to manage file sharing on lan.