The following are a few hints and tips on getting Windows XP and other Windows operating systems to communicate over the network. We've actually had very few problems getting Windows XP to work with Win95/98/ME, Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000. Here are some things to consider that might make life a bit easier.

1. Windows XP doesn't support NetBEUI right out of the box. Make sure all the machines on the network are using the TCP/IP Protocol.
2. Windows 2000, Windows XP and Win98/ME computers can assign themselves IP addresses. Win95 computers auto-assign themselves an IP address. If you have Win95 and Windows XP computers on the same network, make sure the IP addresses are on the same network ID. If your Win95 computer is using an IP address like 192.168.1.x, make sure your Windows XP computer has a similar type of address.
3. For some reason, NetBIOS is sometimes disabled on a Windows XP computer. Go into the Advanced TCP/IP Properties dialog box and then click on the WINS tab. Make sure that the Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP option is selected.
4. The My Network Places applet allows you to see all the computers on your network. However, this feature depends on the Browser service working correctly. There are many reasons why the Browser service won't work correctly, which explains why it often does not work. If you need to connect to another computer on the network, open the Run dialog box and type \\computername and click OK (replace computername with the name of the computer you want to connect to).
5. Windows 95/98/ME allowed you to set a per-user access control on shared folders. The "new and improved" Windows XP Home broke this and you can't set such granular share permissions anymore.
6. Windows XP may turn on the Internet Connection Firewall on your network interface. You don't need it on your private network interface! Well maybe you do, but if your network computer isn't directly connected to the Internet, it's pretty safe to turn this off. If you can't connect to a Win9x computer on your network, check that the Internet Connection Firewall is turned off on your network interface.