I have two networks with XP and Win98 machines co-existing...

In one, two 98SE (FAT32) machines and an XP Pro (NTFS) box are on a Netgear hub. Workgroup name is the same, machine names are different, IPX and TCP/IP are installed, and each machine has been assigned different hard IPs. Then the NetSetup disk made on the XP Pro machine was run on each 98SE box.

The XP box will recognise all three machines in Network Places, but only exchange files with one of the 98 machines. The 98 machine that the XP machine shares with, also recognises and shares both ways with both other machines. The other 98 machine cannot browse the network at all.

In this LAN, there is no shared Internet access. Each machine accesses the Internet with its own modem.

In the second situation, I have 2 Windows XP (NTFS) machines and a Win98SE (FAT32) machine on a Linksys wired router with a common broadband Internet access. Each machine has a third party firewall (ZoneAlarm or Sygate) set to accept 192.168.1.x as the trusted LAN, and is set to the same workgroup and unique machine names with TCP/IP, IPX, DLC32, and NetBIOS installed.

The two XP machines share without a problem, but neither sees the Win98SE machine. The Win98SE machine can sometimes be set to find and share with the XPs, but it's iffy at best. I can get Internet from all 3 machines, and I can access the folders on the ServU FTP server on one of the XP machines from the Win98 box with no problems, but I would like to access the printers as shared network devices and share files too.

Is this just a stupid 'M$ trying to force an unnecessary or inappropriate upgrade' thing, or is there something I'm missing? I havce set up several other WinXP and Win98SE mixed networks and they seem to share out just fine.I recall that quite a while ago, we used to try to link my Windows 98 (Not SE) machine to an XP machine via a hub. According to the store we bought our equipment at, this was not possible. (They were a professional store.) However, this has been at least 2 years ago.

I donot know if this is of use to you, only passing on what has been said to us.http://www.wown.com/articles_tutorials/wxptcpa.htmlThere is no problem networking W98 and XP.

All machines are must be in the same subnet, i.e. 192.168.0.x where x is any number. The subnet mask should be 255.255.255.0 for most small networks.

Turn off any firewalls for debugging. If the firewall is the problem, you'll have to configure it to allow access to "trusted zone" addresses.

PING each computer by IP address, and if successful, PING by name. You can obtain the IP address of a computer by opening a command PROMPT (DOS window) and typing IPCONFIG. This should work for any Windows version.

All computers should be in the same workgroup for computer browsing to function properly. File & Print Sharing has to be enabled on any computer you wish to share files or printers from. You also need to actually share the resource in question from My Computer, right click on the drive/printer/folder, and select sharing.

If you encounter difficulties accessing computers that are visible in Network Neighborhood, make sure the computer being accessed has an account with the same name/password as the SYSTEM connecting to it uses to login.

There continues to be a lot of misinformation about changing the NetBIOS over TCP/IP setting. While the default NetBIOS setting is correct for normal network configurations, it's possible for it to be altered, and it costs nothing to make sure it's correct. NETBIOS over TCP/IP must be on for normal network browsing.
Oddly, the network with the one XP Pro box and the two Win98SE's has started to co-operate. The two XP Home boxes still ignore the 98SE box on the other...

I'm looking for additional ideas on getting it all to communicate, short of replacing the 98 machine (which I will not do for a while yet anyway...). I installed the network PROTOCOLS (IPX, TCP, NetBEUI, NetBIOS, DLC32, File and Printer Sharing) and set them right (machines use the router for DHCP server and Internet access), and all three units get online fine, and the 98SE box shares don't show up on the XPs' Network Places, nor do the XPs show on the 98SE Network Neighbourhood.You might try this WINSOCK Fix: http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm
Thanks to all who replied to this... When I updated the firewall on the Win98Se box on the second system again (last few days), I got more controls and could properly set the LAN IDS so it allows the other machines on the LAN to see the Win98SE box and vice versa. It seems to have been a bad update to ZoneAlarm; it seems to work OK now.

The first system (2 98s and an XP Pro) has its other problems. But the network troubles seem to have cleared for now...All's well that ends well...