I want to be able to access my DSL from either computer (file sharing would be helpful too, but at the very least I just want to be able to get both online.) Right now I have DSL on the Vista machine. Installed a network card in the 98 and both computers are connected to a router. The router shows both are connected. On the vista machine I can see the 98 (and shared folders) but I can't access them- vista asks for a username/password. On the 98, my Network Neighborhood shows Entire Neighborhood, but when I click, I get an error "Unable to browse the network. The network is not accessible. FMI see help ,etc.." Can someone steer me in the right direction?

First, check and ensure both PC's are using the same workgroup name. On the Vista PC, if it's anything like XP, you would want to create a user account for the 98 PC using the exact same username and password used to login to the 98 PC at bootup. Once you've created the account, add it to the shares you want and grant permissions to the account. Instead of trying to browse the 98 PC, try just mapping a drive directly from Vista . Let's say you've shared a folder called \temp on the root of C: on the 98 PC. In the "map network drive" window type: \\98PCname\temp You could also map the drive from a command prompt window using the "net use" command and the above UNC.

Depending on type of router you have, the permissions may be only configured to let you read but not write. Or, both the OS may not be configured correctly to give access permission from the other OS. Vista will have to be configured to give access permission to 98SE and visa versa. I am not that familiar with Vista, but I hope this helps a little bit.

the lan side of a router has nothing to do with OS permissions. false trail. CurtR has the answer or hit help and support and type in file sharing for more info in vista. Are you ready for where Microsoft wants you to go today?

Thank you for your suggestions. I had the workgroup right. I'm able to get files from the Win98 now without login/passwords by moving things from My Documents into a Shared Documents folder- don't know what the difference is but it's working! Still haven't got the DSL working on the old machine.

Hi, I'm new here, and very excited to find this forum because I've been running up against a wall with symptoms very much like Lindsay90. I am trying to migrate from my older Win98 machine to a new Vista laptop. My Win98 machine was never set up with users, so when Vista asks me for uid and password, all I have to give it is a password. I've tried no uid and uid = guest and other values. I also have an XP machine on my home network, and the 98 and XP machines could exchange files quite well, prior to the addition of the Vista laptop. Now, on the 98 machine, if I click on entire network, I get the "unable to browse the network" message Lindsay90 was getting. One thing I noticed is that on the XP machine, when I want to browse the 98 machine, the box that pops up to accept the password has a greyed out box with a uid value of machine-name/Guest. I tried entering this as uid from the Vista PC and it seemed to work, only the directory/file view is blank. I also get a blank dir/file view of the XP machine from the Vista. All PCs can access the Internet across the network, so basic connectivity has been established. I will be playing with the share folders and account names next time I have some time to work on this. Since discovering the uid values in the greyed out uid field of the XP, I guess I will use those values to set up an account on the Vista. If anybody has guidance for me regards the no-user Win 98 issue, please let me know. This appears to be a great site and I am glad to have found it. Thanks for posting to this thread. Chip Walsh, Gambrills, MD

I still can't get internet access on the Win98 computer, even installed a new network card after a friend looked everything over and said "it should work" and "maybe you got a bad card." The lights on the card are lit, the router shows 98 connected, the Vista computer can access my shared files, I've checked and re-checked all the network settings, but it's still not getting online.(If it matters my DSL is Windstream.) I don't know what I'm missing... Any advice would be greatly appreciated!