I have a rather strange and unique problem. It is only happening with one computer, and I am struggling to figure it out. Our work network is basically a peer-to-peer network of 9 computers. There is a mix of XP Home (4), XP Pro (3), Vista (1), and 7 (1). There are printers connected to a few of the machines (one XP home, one Pro, one 7) that are all accessible and usable by everyone else on the network without any issue. The problem is related to the shared printer on the Windows 7 machine and ONE of the XP Home machines. The Windows 7 machine has password protection on it, and a shared printer. Everyone is able to add this printer to their machines without any problems at all. One of the machines that is running XP Home has a problem. When you try to add that printer, is prompts for the username and password for the user on the 7 machine. If you enter it, you get access to the printer just like everyone else until the XP Home machine needs to be rebooted, then you have to delete the printer and add it again, and give the username/password. This is the case even if you select the "remember username/password box". To the best of my ability, I cannot determine a software conflict, hardware issue or difference, anything at all that is different on this machine versus any of the other machines (including other XP Home or XP Pro machines) that would cause this problem. Apparently it was a problem back when the 7 machine was running XP Pro, but somehow it got resolved (that was before my time and the prior workplace guru didn't know how it got fixed either). When she upgraded to Win 7 it came back. So it HAS to be something local on that computer. It is also an e-Machine but please don't hold that against the computer. EDIT: The access to all shared folders and information is also denied. The user on the XP Home PC cannot access any shared resources on the Windows 7 machine without a username and password, while everyone else on the network does not have this problem. I have tried uninstalling the NIC and re-installing it, tried a different IP address, etc. Nothing works!!!

Hi, Since other Windows XP machines can access the shared printer and information normally, we can eliminate the Windows 7 cause. This issue can occur by incorrect settings on the Windows XP Home machine. To add the network printer on Windows XP Home Edition, I suggest you perform the following steps for a test. 1. Open Control Panel and Click “Printers and Faxes”. 2. Click “Add a printer” in the left panel and click Next button. 3. Choose “Add a local printer” and clear the “Automatically detect and install my plug and Play printer” option, and then click Next. 4. Click on “Create a new port”. 4. Select “Local Port” and click “Next”. 5. Type in "[\\computer name\printer name]" (without quotation marks) for the Port Name and click “OK”. Example: If the computer you wish to connect to is named ComputerA and the printer is called PrinterA then the path would be \\ComputerA\PrinterA 6. Please select a correct driver from the list. If the model is not listed, please click the “Windows Update” button. Wait for the process finishes and try to find the driver again. In addition, you can also contact our Windows XP support engineer or create a new thread in Windows XP forum for detail suggestions. Thanks, Novak Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

I have tried this, and it does not work either. I still get an 'access denied' error code after about 30 seconds, but it does not prompt for a username or password. I have started another thread in the suggested XP Forum. Thanks for the link, I couldn't find that forum. http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/xpnetwork/thread/89a3149f-a9a0-481a-a2da-32916dfb2ab0 ...this is the other thread...