Network only goes one way
 

I can move or open files from the Ubuntu box into the XP Pro box but not the other way around. When I try to open files I have just moved to Ubuntu from the XP I get a request for user and password. I have tried every combination I can think of but nothing works. Installed Samba but it made no difference.

It's because Ubuntu uses a different account for regular shares. There's 2 ways to solve this problem:
1) Create a username/password using smbpasswd and then use it to log in from the Windows station.
2) Change the line security = user to security = share in the file /etc/samba/smb.conf

I must have missed something, I am very new to Ubuntu. When I try to open smbpasswd it will not respond. When I go the other route and type in the command to view the file I get a response alon the lines of bash: file not found. Thanks

It seems that I can't make a change because I'm not logged in as owner but as a user, how do I log in as owner? I only set up one user and password and that does not come up as owner, I tried root and my password but it rejects that. So new it hurts.

Use the same password that you settup with. Make sure you type quit when you are done so you log out of root(owner).
You can also use sudo command - replace command with what you want to do:

I'm just not getting it I guess, I got into root and when I start smbpasswd I enter a new password but I think that associates to root? I then try the password with root as the user and fred as the user both are denied.

Let's create an account called fred which will be used to authenticating remote shares:
sudo -a fred
First, you'll get asked for your administrator password (used for sudo). After that you'll be asked to enter the password for fred as a samba user. Enter it twice (for confirmation) and then use this newly created account to log in from the Windows box into Ubuntu.
I should add that for this to work, fred has to be a valid Ubuntu user.

When running a GUI application when root/admin access is required you will be usually prompted for your personal password. In truth, you gain access to root items by being in the admin group. First account established is by default in the admin group. If root access is required for a terminal command, precede the comand with sudo as in "sudo ifconfig". You will be prompted for your personal password. Subsequent use of sudo in that terminal session will remember your password and not ask for it.

I must still be missing something, in addition to the above I used the graphical interface, since I'm still a newbie, and I get no access. I create a new user, give him a password and make him the owner and still no access from the windowsxp computer. I changed the user group to admin and no access, the only thing I havn't done is restart the computer but none of you guys mention it so I assume it isn't necessary.

The problem is some posts tend to mislead a bit. There's 2 sets of accounts: one for the computer (Ubuntu accounts) and another one for windows networking (Samba accounts).
When you get asked for a password when accessing shares from a windows account, it refers to Samba account users/passwords.
If it's a home network and security is not a problem, I suggest you change the security type to share instead of user. That will "just work", although not as secure.

Hey Redeye by now you should have figured out I'm a newbie, not your regular newbie buy a very analog newbie. I'm willing to make the change from user to share but who where and how come to mind. If you have the time, thanks. So new it hurts.

It's no problem, asking is the right way to go :)
Type gksudo gedit /etc/samba/smb.conf to open the configuration file.
Look for the following line: security = user and change it to security = share
After the change reboot or restart the service with sudo /etc/init.d/samba restart
Now the shares should be easily accessible with no password needed.