How Do I Join Xp Network to Win7 network

I have bitten the bullet & switched my primary computer from XP to Win 7.
My home network which includes wife's computer & several other computers are all using WinXP for OS. Since I have changed the OS on my primary, I can no longer access the other computers & visa versa. What must I do to fix this.
A step-by-step would sure be appreciated as I am totally illiterate to Win 7.
Also I think that I am going to have to purchase a manual on Win7 in order to get the best use from same. Any suggestions on a book?
Thanks much & a "HAPPY NEW YEAR" to all.................

One thing that will help-> Make sure all machines are required to log into the pc's. Windows 7's more strick security requirements like the logins...

Steve; thanks for the reply. However I am uncertain as to what you are stating? The machines with xp communicate with each other ok.
Could you be a little more specific? Thanks again.............

You need to explicitly set a password on all machines, even if you then set the PC to logon automatically. If any of the machines don't have a password it will cause problems with file sharing.

Ok on setting a password. None of the machines have ever been set to use a password for log-on & I cannot seem to find just where to do that. I do not find it in the Security Center nor User Accnts . Could you enlighten me, please?

Control Panel>User Accounts, and you should see a link to set a PW in there.

Thanks SuperSparks;
I found it so hopefully now they can smile & talk to each other :))

Perhaps someone has a clue for this : The computer with XP can see the computer with windows 7 but win 7 cannot see the computer with XP. All have been set with passwords & are in the file share mode.
The XP computer shows win 7 pc in workgroup & shows itself in Mshome. Could that be why it cannot be seen in win7? And if so how would I correct it ?

Quote:

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The XP computer shows win 7 pc in workgroup & shows itself in Mshome.

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The workgroup name should be the same on all systems. Either change the Win7 pcs to MSHOME or the xp pcs to WORKGROUP.

Thanks Midknyte for the reply. I kind of thought that maybe it needed to be done that way. I am not sure how to change XP to workgroup. Can you give me a steer in that direction? Thanks ....

Right-click on My Computer, select Properties, then click the Computer Name tab. There should be a button labelled Change.

Thanks for the reply. I have now changed the XP computers to wokgroup. Still only one way communication. The XP PCs sees the Win7 PC but the Win7 PC still cannot see the XP PC. However the XP PC's see each other. What next ?

Can you at least ping each system's IP from each other?

Are you running any firewall apps?

Your getting "high Tech" on me now Midknyte :)) . I haven't pinged anything in years. Please tell me how to do that .. And No, I don't run any firewall apps. The only apps I run other than what's basic in windows is Avast, CCcleanerm, and Malwarebytes...

To ping an IP address, open a Command Prompt and enter the following command. Replace the xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx with the IP address of the computer you want to ping.

ping xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

In your case, it will likely be:

ping 192.168.xxx.yyy

with the xxx.yyy being replaced with the correct numbers for your computer(s).