i can access his shared files but when he tries to access mine a box comes up with my computer name in the user name and asks for a password, but i know of no password for it. We are both running XP. any ideas anyone? itd be most appreciated.

1. Your computer name appears in the logon window, or is it the user name of the/an account on that computer that appears?


3. Which version of XP are both computers running; Home or Pro?

The box that appears has my Full Computer Name (listed under computer name tab in System Properties) I am running xp home, I'm not sure what he is running until he gets back from work.

roommate has xp home also.... thanks

OK, hang in there- I have to log off right now, but I'll get back this as soon as I can.

I added another roommate onto the network now, same deal again... he can access my other roommates shared files and can see mine but not access them...really frustrating

Double check the sharing properties on the folder you are trying ot share. XP home has some sharing protection turned on the first time you try to do it. Initially, on the sharing tab of a folders properties, a hyperlink will say something like "if you understand the security risk and want to share files without running the wizard, click here"

It then displays another prompt asking you if you want to run the network setup wizard of just enable file sharing. After that, then you have to check the box to enable the folder to be shared.

The first time I did that(when I knew almost nothing about file sharing), one of the prompts said "just enable file sharing". I clicked that and thought all was well. But when I tried to access a shared folder, I got the username/password prompt that you were getting. I looked at the sharing properties again and saw there were was another hoop to jump through. Once I did that, all was fine.

I hate that xp home does not let you turn off simple file sharing.

I think Squires is on the right track:

- Make sure the Internet Connection Filewall is disabled if your machines are connected through a broadband gateway router. ICS is meant to be used on a computer which is acting as an Internet gateway via Internet Connection Sharing, but if it is enabled on a machine which is simply a workstation on the LAN, it can interfere with local filesharing on the LAN. Unfortunatley, the network wizard will automatically enable ICS, which is why it's better to choose the "just enable file sharing" option and make any changes manually after that. Turn of ICS on all machines and let the hardware router take care of firewalling the WAN (Internet) connection.

- In the sharing properties of your shared folder, make sure the "Allow network users to change my files" option is checked; your share will be read-only otherwise.

My firewall is off, can't say if roommates' firewall is on (at work again), when i click the sharing tab the hyperlink at the bottom says "learn more about sharing and security", i click on it, and it just tells me to click on the "share folder on network" box and thats it...users are allowed to change my files...also, now that everything is set up and was done so with the network wizard, how do i set up the "just allow file sharing" thing, do i get rid of the existing network entirely and start over again or what???

The network wizard turns on the firewall by default. Go to the control panel, double click network connections, go to the properties of the network card you are using. On the advanced tab, make sure the box for the firewall is unchecked.

For the folder you are trying to share, it should look like this:

sharing properties