We've got a small peer-to-peer network, 3 XP machines. Two are Home, one Pro. We're using a real estate appraisal program that requires one to act as a server to the others. Right now, we run the appraisal software on the two Home computers only, one the server, the other the client. We're having to upgrade to a newer version of the apppraisal software soon and plan on making the Pro machine the server since it's our strongest computer. Are we going to have problems sharing folders between the Home and Pro versions? The reason I ask is that a couple of years back, we tried having a Windows 2000 Pro machine act as the server only to find it didn't play well with XP Home, which couldn't see the shared drives. What kind of issues are we going to have? Ugh, I wish M$ had their OS's networking capabilities up to snuff like Samba. :(

"Ugh, I wish M$ had their OS's networking capabilities up to snuff like Samba. :(" First off, please keep in mind XP Home was never intended to be a robust networking OS. Should you ever move to a domain, you must upgrade XP Home. "Are we going to have problems sharing folders between the Home and Pro versions?" You shouldn't. Run the network setup wizard, and be sure to select the turn on file and print sharing on all three. If Windows Firewall is being used, this will configure the firewall to allow for file and print sharing. Enter the same workgroup name during the wizard as well. Next, be sure all three clients have identical sets of accounts with identical passwords. Finally, share the proper folders with the correct permissions. Please help survivors of Hurricane Katrina. www.redcross.org

Thanks, I'm well aware XP Home is neutered in regards to domains.

There are known issues with having Windows 2000 and XP seeing each other on a network. (thank you, Bill Gates). This usually applies to Windows 2000 Server and XP on a domain. Cannot really tell from your post whether you were using Windows 2000 Server or Windows 2000 Professional. If it was just Win2000 Pro, you may have had an issue with NetBEUI protocol not being loaded on XP. Internet search engines are your friends. Morpheus: There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path. "The Matrix"

"There are known issues with having Windows 2000 and XP seeing each other on a network. (thank you, Bill Gates)." Where are these documented? "If it was just Win2000 Pro, you may have had an issue with NetBEUI protocol not being loaded on XP." It used NetBIOS over TCP/IP. Please help survivors of Hurricane Katrina. www.redcross.org

We were running Windows 2000 PRO, as previously stated. The one thing I may have missed in setting that up a couple of years back was this: "Next, be sure all three clients have identical sets of accounts with identical passwords." I had had NetBIOS enabled on those systems in my earlier attempt to network the W2K Pro machine as the app server. It was odd: the XP Home machines saw each other and their shared drives, and the W2K Pro machine saw and accessed the XP machines, I simply couldn't get to the W2K Pro machine from the Home machines. Thanks, I've got some new tricks. :)

Funny how folks confuse netbios with netbeui. Home wasn't neutered but designed for...home use. Since you are in a Business, XP Professional should have been the correct choice. Be aware Home only allows 5 concurrent connections whereas Pro allows 10. Sharing between MS OS's can be done no matter the version from Windows 3.11 to 03 server. Golly gee wilerkers everyone. Learn to Internet Search