Password Protection Turn Off Both Vista Machines

Why is Vista asking for a username and password everytime I try to access shares with password protection turned off on both Vista machines? Damn if I know. I can use the XP Pro machine to access the shared files on either Vista machine and don't get asked for a username/password. Vista's networking is flaky to say the least. The whole idea of small office networking is to be simple, Vista has tried to complicate this with password protection. Why should I have to have all users on every machine? That's just more network maintenance I don't want in a small home office. Besides some users may not want other people's accounts on their machines but they'd still like to share files and Vista has made this a nightmare.

Checklist:
File sharing : On (check)
Printer sharing: On (check)
Public sharing: On (check)
Password protection: Off (check)
Workgroup name the same (check)
Private network (check)

Logon to the router and I can see the Vista machines and the XP machine and the network printer. On XP machine access the shared printer on Vista 1, works like a charm. On XP machine open a shared folder on Vista 2, works like a charm. On Vista 1 access a shared folder on XP machine, works like a charm. On Vista 1 access a shared folder on Vista 2, sorry....do not pass go do not collect $200 until you enter a username and password. EXCUSE ME! Oh well, so much for progress. Not a firewall problem, get the same result whether or not a firewall is enabled or not. Haven't tried a crossover cable between the 2 Vista machines to see if it's the router but I have my doubts because XP works fine. Solution: Move all shared printers and files to XP and forget Vista sharing.