Sharing between Vista and XP

[pctech]

I don't know if this has been talked about here on FR (I assume it has but I couldn't find a thread on it) but I have been trying to get file sharing to work between Windows XP and Vista. I got all the correct network protocols installed on my XP computer but I couldn't get it to see the lone Vista computer on the network.

Before you ask, my son has to run Vista because of network requirements at Purdue University. When he brings his computer home it messes up the entire network since I'm running XP on all my other computers.

Then it hit me, maybe my anti-virus / firewall is causing the problem. I've been running AVG 8.0 for a year or so now on all my XP computers but I don't remember having the problems before having a Vista computer on the network. Last night I uninstalled AVG from my computer and when I did then all the computers on the network showed up on my XP computer.

So I got online last night and I noticed that there is a setting in AVG to ensure file sharing works correctly. When I set it to ensure file and printer sharing worked correctly, I'm still not seeing the Vista computer unless I do a search for it through the Start/Run command.

During my search online I found out that people are starting to endorse Avast over AVG, and that Avast isn't as complicated to operate as AVG is getting to be and file sharing isn't affected. I wanted to find out what people think about both programs before I make a decision to switch from one to the other. Perhaps someone knows something about AVG that will help me and I won't have to.

Thanks for any input you all can lend me.

Cheers!

[JerseyHighlander]

ping for later

[DaGman]

It may or may not be AVG. I have found AVG 8.0 too big and clumsy. It’s starting to resemble Norton. So I switched to Avast. Runs great, non-intrusive, works well on the lone Vista machine on our network.

[pctech]

Avast doesn’t have a firewall does it?

[DaGman]

"Avast doesn’t have a firewall does it?"

No, not in the free version. I'm not sure about the full version. But you don't need another firewall. The Windows firewall more than suffices. And if you're behind a router, that router is also a firewall. All another software firewall does is fight with the Windows firewall and cause problems. More often than not, people don't know to disable the Windows firewall if they use a virus software firewall. And if the two are able to coexist, a second firewall is redundant to the Windows firewall and especially in addition to the router firewall. This uses memory and other resources that can be better used with other applications if not just plain keep the computer running at it's peak speed. Norton is the worst about this.

[pctech]

Whenever I use the AVG antivirus/firewall the Windows Firewall is always turned off. It never conflicts.

Now, the fact that my router/switch being a firewall honestly didn't even occur to me but you're right; with NAT and SPI I guess I don't need another firewall, especially a software firewall.

But honestly, even with the firewall built in to the router there have been times in the past when AVG has alerted me to a suspected intrusion. I haven't had that happen lately, though, like in the past year or so.

I guess I need to re-evaluate my network and adjust accordingly. I have a Netgear WG614 Wireless Router with NAT and SPI and DoS attack protection. In your honest and humble opinion, do I still need a software firewall?

[pctech]

Oh, and I agree with you about AVG starting to resemble Norton. It is getting bigger and clunkier.

[DaGman]

IMH&HO, No. The Windows firewall suffices. I believe it was in XP SP1 that they redesigned the Windows firewall and made it secure. I think anything else is redundant and you end up paying for something that you already have. So you already have two lines of defense. The router is the first firewall and the Windows firewall is behind that. Between them you’ve got a pretty good defense.

Keep in mind that no matter how good your defense is, if you click “OK” or “Check My System” or anything like that when something pops up on the web and tells you your system is in danger and needs to be scanned, you just did away with any defense you have and gave permission to the intruder to do whatever it pleases. But I think you probably already know that.

[pctech]

Well I'm not convinced about the Windows Firewall but since I already have the firewall built into the router (I really need to read the documentation better huh?) I really am starting to feel that the firewall in AVG isn't needed. And since it is getting bloated like Norton the antivirus and antispam AVG would probably suffice.

Thanks for the information.