Sharing Printer without a Password (Vista-XP)

Greetings,

I have a home network that includes a Vista Home Premium machine and a
Windows XP machine in the same workgroup. Each can see the other PC but
cannot access files or printers on it. The Vista user gets "access denied"
to a shared folder on the XP machine, and the XP user is asked for a user
name & password when trying to access a folder or printer on the Vista
machine. This worked fine in both directions when the two machines were both
running XP.

On the Vista machine, Network & Sharing Center says that file sharing is ON
but the options are grayed out and I'm referred to my firewall to change
these settings. Printer sharing is also ON, with Password Required; my only
other option is OFF. Windows Help and Support ("Share a Printer" topic) says
that there should be an option to turn off password protection, "if you want
anyone on the network to be able to access the printer you are sharing", but
I don't have that choice, to share a printer with everyone on the network
without a password, which is exactly what I'm looking for. (I don't other
user to have an account on the Vista PC, only access to its printer.)

Network & Sharing Center also says that my firewall settings must match the
settings in the "Sharing and Discovery" section. I'm running McAfee Security
Center but even when I turn off its firewall, I don't see the option to share
a printer without requiring a password.

Any suggestions?

I'm having a similiar issue, all the PC's on the workgroup can see each
other, vista can attached to shared devices on the XP PC's but the XP PC's
can attached to the Vista shared printer. I even am using a valid Vista logon
when asked for it.
So, it seems if you get your answer I should have mine too.

Air :-)

"Nevet" wrote:

> Greetings,
>
> I have a home network that includes a Vista Home Premium machine and a
> Windows XP machine in the same workgroup. Each can see the other PC but
> cannot access files or printers on it. The Vista user gets "access denied"
> to a shared folder on the XP machine, and the XP user is asked for a user
> name & password when trying to access a folder or printer on the Vista
> machine. This worked fine in both directions when the two machines were both
> running XP.
>
> On the Vista machine, Network & Sharing Center says that file sharing is ON
> but the options are grayed out and I'm referred to my firewall to change
> these settings. Printer sharing is also ON, with Password Required; my only
> other option is OFF. Windows Help and Support ("Share a Printer" topic) says
> that there should be an option to turn off password protection, "if you want
> anyone on the network to be able to access the printer you are sharing", but
> I don't have that choice, to share a printer with everyone on the network
> without a password, which is exactly what I'm looking for. (I don't other
> user to have an account on the Vista PC, only access to its printer.)
>
> Network & Sharing Center also says that my firewall settings must match the
> settings in the "Sharing and Discovery" section. I'm running McAfee Security
> Center but even when I turn off its firewall, I don't see the option to share
> a printer without requiring a password.
>
> Any suggestions?

Problems solved!

For printer sharing, I found that "Password protected sharing" is a separate
item in the Network & Sharing Center. Once I turn password protection OFF,
the Printer Sharing options are ON and OFF, no password required.

File sharing in the other direction turned out to be some configuration
issue on the XP machine. Everything is fully connected now.

--Nevet

Thank you for sharing your experience with us.

Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on http://www.ChicagoTech.net
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on http://www.HowToNetworking.com
"Nevet" <Nevet@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:1E4FA5DF-6AD7-4C11-A177-F7C240E31AF2@microsoft.com...
Problems solved!

For printer sharing, I found that "Password protected sharing" is a separate
item in the Network & Sharing Center. Once I turn password protection OFF,
the Printer Sharing options are ON and OFF, no password required.

File sharing in the other direction turned out to be some configuration
issue on the XP machine. Everything is fully connected now.

--Nevet