Windows Vista will automatically explore your network, looking for the various computers, devices, and connections on your network. To allow Windows to do this, you must enable Network Discovery, even if you don’t want to share anything from your computer. This type of exploration works well with computers that are running Windows Vista, but it requires computers that are running Windows XP and any other device that’s connected to your network—a stand-alone network printer, for example—to have the LLTD (Link Layer Topology Discovery) protocol installed in order to be detected.

Explore

1. Click the Start button, choose Network from the Start menu to display the Network window, and click Network And Sharing Center to display the Network And Sharing Center window.

2. If Network Discovery isn’t shown as On, click the down arrow to display the options, choose Turn On Network Discovery, and click Apply. When asked, verify that this is what you want to do.

3. Click View Full Map.

4. Examine the computers that are on your network.

5. Click a computer, a device, or the Internet to access each.

Tip

The LLTD protocol for Windows XP is available for download from Windows Update.