networking vista premium to xp

[jonathan1]

I have a network with 4 other computers, all xp
This computer sees 3 out of 4. I can't figure out why sometimes I loose connectivity with one computer. I checked all my settings and they look correct. However when I reboot my computer I am able to see the computer that I couldn't before. I have no clue why this happens

[jonathan1]

I have c, which is my computer. It connects to a compaq computer with xp, a student computer with xp and mine own computer. However it will not connect to a computer called Lisa unless I reboot. This happen maybe once a week. I am trying to find out why it happens, its so aggravating. I tried to change setting on lisa's computer...reshared the printer...made sure the network was correct and nothing helped.
no firewalls are on.

[jonathan1]

This is driving me crazy..just rebooted and I can connect to Lisa's computer. I just realized that I have zone alarm firewall and she has pc firewall. Maybe for some weird reason that could be causing a problem...but who knows.

[jonathan1]

To make things even more bizarre, when I went to student1, I couldn't see the vista computer until I disabled Zone Alarm. Student1 has pc tools firewall also I know its not pc tools firewall. My feeling is that maybe its zone alarm, so I'm uninstalling it and putting in another firewall. I'm trying to troubleshoot the problem.

[jonathan1]

I uninstalled Zone Alarm and put in Sunbelt Firewall. With Sunbelt Firewall, there were no computers showing in network neighborhood. I'm thinking of trying a better firewall or getting a hardware firewall instead.