>I have connected my XP Home Edition desktop and my Win 2000 Pro laptop via
>cables to a router, with ICS running on the desktop but no firewall as far as
>I know on the laptop.  Each of them  is able to access the web without  any
>problem.
>
>Please tell me in as much detail as you can what I need to do next to enable
>file and printer sharing between them.   Each has a printer connected
>directly to it via its parallel port. 
>
>Note that the desktop has four user accounts on it and the laptop has two
>(none of which  has the same user name as any of the four on the desktop). 
>In addition, the the laptop is set up for use at my office LAN so the login
>prompt includes a Domain field.  What  do I need to do about that when using
>it at home and when I bring it back towork? 
>
>Also, in case it matters,  the desktop has VPN on it for intermittent use
>when I want to connect to my work LAN via my home internet connection. and
>the laptop is set up for intermittent wireless internet access (when I put
>the wireless card in it) at work and elsewhere (but I don't use it at home as
>I don't have a wireless router at home).
>
>I have read the answers to various previoius posts related to mine and
>looked at the web sites they referred to but didn't find this info able to
>help me.  Thanks very much.

>>>I have connected my XP Home Edition desktop and my Win 2000 Pro laptop via
>>>cables to a router, with ICS running on the desktop but no firewall as far as
>>>I know on the laptop.  Each of them  is able to access the web without  any
>>>problem.
>>>
>>>Please tell me in as much detail as you can what I need to do next to enable
>>>file and printer sharing between them.   Each has a printer connected
>>>directly to it via its parallel port. 
>>>
>>>Note that the desktop has four user accounts on it and the laptop has two
>>>(none of which  has the same user name as any of the four on the desktop). 
>>>In addition, the the laptop is set up for use at my office LAN so the login
>>>prompt includes a Domain field.  What  do I need to do about that when using
>>>it at home and when I bring it back towork? 
>>>
>>>Also, in case it matters,  the desktop has VPN on it for intermittent use
>>>when I want to connect to my work LAN via my home internet connection. and
>>>the laptop is set up for intermittent wireless internet access (when I put
>>>the wireless card in it) at work and elsewhere (but I don't use it at home as
>>>I don't have a wireless router at home).
>>
>>Since both computers connect to a router, there's no reason to run ICS
>>on the desktop.  If you've enabled Internet Connection Sharing,
>>disable it.
>>
>>Run the Network Setup Wizard on the desktop, and tell the Wizard that
>>the computer connects to the Internet through a residential gateway
>>(router).  The Wizard will make all the necessary settings for file
>>and printer sharing and will share the attached printer.
>>
>>The Network Setup Wizard won't run on Win 2000, so make the network
>>settings on the laptop manually:
>>
>>1. Go to Control Panel > Network and Dial-up Connections.
>>
>>2. Right-click the LAN connection and click Properties.
>>
>>3. Put check marks in the boxes for "Client for Microsoft Networks"
>>and "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks".
>>
>>4. Click Close.
>>
>>5. Go to Control Panel > System.
>>
>>6. Click Network Identification.
>>
>>7. Click the Properties button.
>>
>>8. Set the workgroup name to the same name that the desktop uses.
>>XP's default name is MSHOME.
>>
>>9. Click OK.
>>
>>After that, you can right-click and share any desired disks, folders,
>>and printers on each computer.
>>
>>To make it easy to access the laptop's shared resources from the
>>desktop, create a user account on the laptop that has the same user
>>name and password that you use to log onto the desktop.  If you don't
>>do that, every time you try to access the laptop from the desktop
>>you'll be prompted to enter the user name and password of one of the
>>laptop's accounts.
>
>Thanks very much for your help.  This definitely is a big help although I
>still have a ways to go.
>
>After  following your  directions, I was able to use the laptop to print on
>the printer connected to the desktop and use the laptop to access the Shared
>Documents sub folder of the All Users subfolder of the desktop's Documents
>and Settings folder.  This is very helpful and I appreciate your showing me
>how to get this done..
>
>I can also access all of the subfolders in one of the four desktop users'
>account . (I wasn't prompted for a password, by the way, even though they
>don't have the same user name.)   However, I can't access any of the other
>three account's folders.  When I logged into each of those accounts and tried
>to put checkmarks next to "Share this folder on the network" and "Allow users
>to change my files" in the Sharing tab of these folders' Properties windows,
>they were grayed out.
>
>Please tell me how to put the checkmarks there so each of these desktop
>folders can be accessed via the laptop.
>
>Also, afterI followed your steps #5-8 to "Set the workgroup name to the same
>name that the desktop uses", I found that I was unable to log in on the
>laptop again using the login credentials  I had previously used, which I need
>to use to log in to access the network domain at the office.   This profile
>is also the only one I have a password for that has "power user" privileges. 
>
>How can I restore that?  Is there a convenient way to go back and forth
>between being set up to use my home network and the office network?

>>Here are three possible ways to get access control in Windows XP Home
>>Edition.  They're not supported or documented by Microsoft.  They've
>>been recommended to me by people I trust, but I haven't tried them and
>>don't know whether they're safe.  If you want to try them, at your own
>>risk, back up your important data and create a system restore point
>>first:
>>
>>1. Start Windows XP in "Safe Mode with Networking", share the desired
>>folder(s), set the permissions, and reboot normally.
>>
>>2. Use the CACLS command, as described here:
>>
>>http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.network_web/msg/6faf782867cba46f
>>
>>3. Follow the procedure shown here:
>>
>>http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_home_sectab.htm
>
>Thansks.  I'll look into giving this a try.