Question

my XP pc not isnt showing up in my home network anymore but I can still connect to it from a folder I mapped earlier (using "map a network drive"). I can also ping it no troubles. I have the same workgroup name so thats not the problem. (other pcs on network are vista and windows 7) Any other ideas?

Answer 1

See if this Microsoft update to XP fixes the problem.

Answer 2

Go to the Folders control panel and toggle Simple File Sharing.

Share a folder or two.

You can map a drive other ways, like from the Tools menu in Explorer, or the NET USE command.

Answer 3

Microsoft has made it almost impossible for XP to coexist with Vista/Win7 on the same network.

See this thread : Vista pc hidden from XP?.
We have worked very hard here to integrate XP into the network, but have not succeeded.
You might try all the advice given in this thread. It might work for you (at least for some time).

The last-ditch solution is to refer to the XP machine by its IP address. You might make its address fixed (not DHCP) and add it to the hosts files on the other machine.