File sharing amongst 4 computers

[Mallomar]

I got a new Win 7 desktop PC, and haven't had much luck setting up file sharing with my old XP desktop PC, an XP laptop, and a MacBook.

Most important thing is to get it to work with the two desktop PCs. The FiOS router's connected to the Win 7 box. XP box is wired to the router, the laptops are wireless.

I set up a shared folder on the Win 7 and it worked perfectly -- all of the computers could see it, write to it, get files from it, etc. A couple of hours later, my other computers could no longer access the Win 7 shared folder.

I worked around this by setting up a shared folder on the XP box. That worked for a while -- the Win 7 box could access it -- but then it stopped working. I can no longer see that shared folder on the Win 7 box.

Can someone point me in the right direction? I need to copy thousands (literally) of files from one PC to the other, so I really need them to shake hands and play nice.

And yes, I know I could google this (I did, but didn't get anywhere), but I've already lost three full days of work dealing with a catastrophic system failure (two drives in a RAID 5 died at the same time, and of the two spare drives I had in a box, one was bad -- what are the odds?) and I'm already overwhelmed with all of the hours of work it is to reinstall/reconfigure everything and restore files from backups. So I'm hoping someone knows the secret of file sharing, or can direct me to a good source of info.

I am NOT a technical person, so please don't assume I know what I'm doing!

Thanks.

 

[JackMDS]

Win7 when configured on peer-to-peer Network Win 7 has three types of sharing configurations.

HomeGroup Network = Works only between Win 7 computers. This type of configuration makes it very easy to Entry Level Users to start Network sharing.

Work Network = Basically similar to the previous methods of sharing that let you control what, how, and to whom folders would be shared with.

Public Sharing = Public Network (like Internet cafe) to reduce security risks.

For best results log to each computer's System Screen and set all the computers to be on a Network with the same name while each computer has its own unique name.

http://www.ezlan.net/Win7/net_name.jpg

Make sure that the Software Firewall on each computer allows free local traffic. If you use 3rd party Firewall On, Vista/XP Native Firewall should be Off, and the active Firewall has to adjusted to your Network IP numbers on what is some time called the Trusted Zone (consult your 3rd Party Firewall instructions.

General example, http://www.ezlan.net/faq#trusted

Please Note that some 3rd party Software Firewalls keep blocking aspects of Local Traffic even it they are turned Off (disabled). If possible configure the Firewall corretly, or totally uninstall it to allow clean flow of local network traffic.

Win7 - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/...mputers-running-different-versions-of-Windows

Win7 Work Network specific folder sharing - http://www.onecomputerguy.com/windows7/windows7_sharing.htm

Vista File and Printer Sharing- http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727037.aspx

Windows XP File Sharing - http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;304040

Printer Sharing XP - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/expert/honeycutt_july2.mspx

Windows Native Firewall setting for Sharing XP - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/875357

Windows XP patch for Sharing with Vista (Not need for XP-SP3) - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922120

MacBook - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1812

When finished with the setting of the system it is advisable to Reboot all the hardware including the Router and all computers involved.

*Note. Some of the processes described above are done Not for Windows sake but to compensate for different Routers and the way their firmware works and stores the info about the computers that are Networked.

 

[Mallomar]

Thanks!!

I'm going to print this out, roll up my sleeves, and see if I can get it to work.

When I read your mention of Vista, it reminded me that the laptop PC is running Vista, not XP. I'm so frazzled I can't even remember how many OSes I have!
I'll probably just try to network my two desktop PC, since that's a critical need right now.

This is so weird -- I just check the network folder on the Win 7 PC, and now the shared folder from the XP PC is showing up! Don't know why it decided to talk to the old PC again. That folder was missing in action for most of the day. Hmmm.