How do I get my workgroup computers to communicate the way they should?

Okay, Microsoft: you have me stumped. I have fiddled with every permission, have changed every setting, have turned my firewall off and set my workgroup up again from scratch, and nothing has worked: I still cannot give myself permission to access my own computer from another of my own computers.

All computers are in the same workgroup.

File and print sharing is turned on.

All computers are connected through the same router.

There are no passwords on any of the computers.

1 computer is Windows 7; the rest are Windows XP.

The Windoxs XP computers all see each other in full detail, and I can access all files and drives on any computer from any other computer. The Windows 7 computer can see and access all drives and files on all the XP computers.

However, the XP computers can only access the Public folders on the Windows 7 computer. I can see, but not access, the external hard drive, where all important files are stored -- which means the new computer is basically non-functional for my home networking purposes. I need to be able to open any file on any drive on every computer from any other computer.

I have set permissions to "Everybody," but that only seems to mean "everybody who uses the Windows 7 computer." It does not mean "everybody" with access to my home network/workgroup -- who would be only me.

Is Windows 7 Home Premium just inherently crippled, or is this some goofy "innovation" that was added to Windows 7 just to make my life more difficult?

Why doesn't sharing in Windows 7 have the same elegance, ease, comprehensibility, and functionality as in Windows XP? The Public folder is silly and mostly useless, as I can't even drag a shortcut to the external drive into it and have it work. It's less functional than the olde "shared files" folder in XP that I never bothered with.

What setting am I missing? What do I have to do to set up my Windows 7 computer so that my other computers can read all the files and drives?

This has been a terribly frustrating and headache-inducing issue. Having to physically go back and forth between the computers means that I've had to cram another work station into the limited space in my home office, just to have ready access to the Windows 7 computer. Networking one's own computers should be the easiest thing an end user does, not the one that turns her hair gray and reduces her to tears and nervous breakdowns. Why has it been made so difficult in Windows 7?

And more to the point, what do I have to do to make it work properly?

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