Windows 7 Virtual PC and home network

My saga of Windows 7 on a newly assembled PC continues. I have already posted a couple of messages here about various incompatibilities. The (hardly elegant but usually effective) solution has been to install and use Virtual PC in XP Mode. However, now I have encountered a problem with networking in XP mode. I have a typical small home network with four other computers running Windows XP (and temporarily my old computer running Windows 98 SE until it can be permanently retired). I have an application that will run only in XP mode that needs to access a shared folder on one of the XP computers. I can't seem to see any of the other computers on the home network from XP Mode, although I have no problem accessing the Internet (cable modem and wired router). I joined the home workgroup by name, and it told me I had joined successfully, but I still can't see any of the other computers (or a standalone shared network printer). What's the trick to get Virtual PC to see other computers on the network?

I found out how to install a network printer from within XP Mode (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2346464,00.asp). Excuse me for being a malcontent, but the method is so clunky it has to be experienced to be believed. It makes you think XP Mode is half-baked. However, I will admit it works if you're willing to put up with the guessing game of "find the printer port."

That still leaves recognizing computers and other shard network resources, which continues to baffle me.

I'm still trying to get this to work (I don't give up). Curiously, I find that I am able to ping the other computers on the network when in XP Mode. However, I am unable to address them by name. Is there perhaps a bug in XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC in terms of resolving network names? That seems unlikely, but why else would I be able to ping them (it recognizes their addresses) but not see their names?

Well, I achieved a victory of sorts (my favorite corollary of Murphy's Law is that if you fool with something long enough either you will fix it or break it). I should have realized that if I could ping the other computers on my home network I could also reference them by IP address (thank goodness I use fixed IP addresses on the network rather than DHCP). The solution was to reference the shared folder by the computer's IP address. I could add a Network Place for the shared folder and reference it as \\192.168.1.105\SharedDocs. Now I have no problem running my incompatible application in XP Mode.

I have to say that in some ways XP Mode still isn't quite ready for prime time.

Edited by Bill Pierce, 24 June 2009 - 08:26 AM.