Hi,I have windows 7 on the client and xp pro on the "server", I have changed all netoworking protections to allow access to both PC's hardrives for copying files etc. From the client machine I get as follows;"Windows cannot access\\XXX. You do not have permission to access \\. Contact your network administrator to request access"File sharing it turned on, also secrurity settings for the harddrive locations are set to shared. As above i have done the same for many years with access being granted.What to I have to do to have my network access work correctly?I followed these steps: 1. Assure the two machines are in the same Workgroup or domain. 2. Temporarily turn off firewall on each machine and router (if it has). 3. Add the "Everyone" in the Security tab of the shared folder and grant the "Full Control" permission. 4. Enable Guest account on each machine and enable "Simple File Sharing" option on Windows XP machine. For your reference, I have enclosed the detail steps below: Enable simple file sharing and Guest account on Windows XP machine ========================= a. Click "Start" -> "Run", type "control folders" (without quotation marks) and press "OK". b. Switch to "View" tab. c. Tick the check box of "Use simple file sharing (Recommended)" option and then press "OK" to exit. (Note: The option "Use simple file sharing (Recommended)" is only available on Windows XP Professional Edition. By default it is located in the bottom of the "Folder Options" -> "View" -> "Advanced settings" list.) d. Click "Start" -> "Run", type "control userpasswords" (without quotation marks) and press "OK". e. Check the status of "Guest" account. f. Make sure the "Guest" account has been enabled. For more information to share a folder, please refer to the following article. File and Printer Sharing in Windows Vista If issue still occurs, please perform following steps to capture a log file. Collect the Netmon trace ========================= a. Download NetMon3.3 from the following website and install it on the computer http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=983b941d-06cb-4658-b7f6-3088333d062f b. Launch NetMon3.3. c. In the Microsoft Network Monitor 3.3 window, click Create a new capture tab d. In the new tab, select all the Network Adapters in the Select Networks window. e. Then, switch to Network Monitor, press F5 to start NetMon. f. Try to access the network shared folder again. When it failed, go to step g. g. Go back to the NetMon window and press F7 to stop the NetMon. h. Press Ctrl+S to save the Netmon file named test.https://cid-53414ff704a26dd3.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/network/Test.cap xxx

Try accessing it using it's IP instead as in follow \\202.177.22.xxx (example) and ensure there isn't any third party firewall on both rig like ZA or stuff.

Hi, I would like to confirm if you can access the Windows XP machine from Windows 7. Does the ping from Windows 7 to XP work? Please try the steps on the following link: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/913628 Hope it helps.Vivian Xing - MSFT