[lumi]

I'm helping my sister and one of her roommates to set up a workgroup with their computers so that they can share files. Here's the setup: a computer with Windows 2000 and one with a Windows XP (media center edition) are both plugged into a router. I have basically the same setup at home but both computers have XP Professional.

I was able to setup sharing on my home setup, but I've run into trouble with my sister's. One the W2K desktop I can see the other computer listed in the workgroup, but it denies me access to look at it. On the XP desktop I can't see the workgroup and it pops up a random message about checking permissions.

What could be going wrong with it?

[Talas]

I think you have some problem with the way Win2K manages network accounts.

You could try this, click on Start/Programs/Administrative Tools/Computer Management. Look for Local Users and Groups under System Tools (on the left side), and expand it to show the two folders, Users and Groups. Highlight the Users folder, and then you'll see the Administrator and Guest account. Highlight the Guest account, and click on Action. Go down to properties, and on the General Tab for Guest Properties, you'll see the box checked for Account is Disabled. Uncheck it, and you should be good to go.

That way, the WinXp machine can use the Guest account to log in the Win2K network.

[bysmitty]

Try turning off windows firewall and see if that helps. If it works after, play around with the firewall settings page to allow for smooth filesharing. Also, are you using simple file sharing? To check open your 'folder options' control panel and click the tab labled 'view'. Scroll to the bottom.

...bysmitty