Home Network Setup - Multiple Operating Systems

[hlewton]

I am trying to find a good tutorial or set of instructions that gives all the basic steps in setting up a home network that includes a machine running XP, one running Vista, and the third running Windows 7. I know that I don't want to use Windows 7's "HomeGroup" and want to name the network "WORKGROUP" but it has been a long time since I did this and even then it was with the help of my computer builder, who has since passed away, so I am a bit lost on how to go about it. I have searched in this forum and also did a google search and can't come up with anything that helps me. So does anyone have a link to a site that can walk me through this process?

Thanks.

[StuartR]

I will look for something for you, or write some instructions myself. There are a couple of key questions to ask first.

What resources will you be sharing on this network?
Which computers will host these shared resources?

[June Bug]

Check out this and this from the How-To Geek.

You will also need to run the network set-up Wizard on the XP machine.

[hlewton]

I will look for something for you, or write some instructions myself. There are a couple of key questions to ask first.

What resources will you be sharing on this network?
Which computers will host these shared resources?

I only really want to be able to transfer files from one computer to the other and share only the files in the "My Documents" or "Documents" folders. It would be nice to be able to share the printer that is connected to the XP machine but I am sure there are no update drivers that could be installed on the Windows 7 machine so if I could transfer the files to that machine through network connections then it would be possible to print them out on the XP machine.

Not sure what you mean by the second question because each computer has its own software installed on it. Maybe you were asking if I wanted to share an application installed on one machine and I don't. If that is what you meant.

Thanks.

[hlewton]

Check out this and this from the How-To Geek.

You will also need to run the network set-up Wizard on the XP machine.

Thanks but I'm not sure that tells me all I need to know to setup the network. I do know a little about setting up the shares once I have the network up and running but forget exactly how to get to that point. The articles you point to will certainly help me with that. I don't have the computers here so I'm not sure if the Vista and Win 7 machines have a network setup wizard or not.

Thanks.

[June Bug]

Vista and Win7 do not have the network set-up wizard. The Network and Sharing Center takes care of that little problem.

[StuartR]

OK, it sounds like you only want to share files and folders.
Do you only want to share files and folders on one PC, with the other two accessing these, or does every PC need to make files available to the others? It would be much easier to do this with just one computer sharing files, and the others accessing a common shared folder.

Windows makes it very difficult to share files in My Documents, it is much easier to share a folder that is completely outside the My Documents tree. This is because the file protections in My Documents makes these non-shareable EVEN to other users on the same computer.

[hlewton]

OK, it sounds like you only want to share files and folders.
Do you only want to share files and folders on one PC, with the other two accessing these, or does every PC need to make files available to the others? It would be much easier to do this with just one computer sharing files, and the others accessing a common shared folder.

Windows makes it very difficult to share files in My Documents, it is much easier to share a folder that is completely outside the My Documents tree. This is because the file protections in My Documents makes these non-shareable EVEN to other users on the same computer.

The way I have my network in my home is how I want to set this one up. I am able to access any of my computers "My Documents" folders from any other computer. I remember that I first had to share the entire hard drive then after turning on the share for the "My Documents" folders I was able to turn off the share for the "C:" drive itself and still had the ability to access the "My Documents" folders which is still currently working fine. I am not trying to get fancy and have a network like businesses do where everyone can share a file from some network drive. I create a file on one computer and then transfer it to another either for backup or because I want to take it somewhere on a laptop. That is the same thing I want to do for my daughter's home. In addition I want to get the file to the only XP computer she has which unfortunately is the one hooked up to her printer which, as I mentioned, more than likely has no driver for the Win 7 machine and maybe not even the Vista one either. Basically I forget how I renamed my Win 7's network "WORKGROUP" and avoid getting it setup in Win 7's "Home Group." I know it wasn't difficult to do but as I said I did have backup from someone who is no longer with us to help talk me through it when I needed advise.

Thanks.

[StuartR]

To change the name of your Workgroup in Windows 7 you should use

• Control Panel > System and Security > System
• Computer Name tab
• Change...

Please let us know if this is enough to get everything working or you need more assistance

[hlewton]

I'm sorry but I'm not at all sure if that is enough. I won't know until I can get over there and actually try setting it up but I am still not sure how to get to the point of establishing a network at all. I believe I need all the computers up and running and I believe in XP there is a network wizard that may be helpful in setting up a network but I don't know what it is I have to do in Vista or Win 7 to try to setup a network. As I earlier mentioned I can't find any articles that clearly explain it in a step by step fashion and that is probably what I am going to need once I get started.

Thanks.

[Rebel]

You might want to look at some of the excellent articles here.

[DaveA]

With Vista and Windows 7, if there is a network connection (router) then they (windows) will make a network. This is where you will need to change the name of the Workgroup and maybe even the Computer names, per the instructions StuartR posted.

Also note, that Vista and Windows 7 like to have the user accounts passworded and at least one account and password that are the same on ALL machines. I use a "Backdoor" admin account that I only use for this and if my other admin account(s) stop working.

[hlewton]

Thanks to both of you.