Sharing folders between two Windows 7 machines with the new HomeGroup feature
is an easy process, but the HomeGroup feature is not compatible with XP.
First make sure both machines are members of the same Workgroup which by
default is named Workgroup.
workgroup
On the Windows 7 machine go into Control Panel \ All Control Panel Items \
Network and Sharing Center then click on Change advanced sharing settings.
network and sharing
advanced
You will want to verify the following settings under Advanced Sharing
Settings for the Home or Work and Public profile.
home or work settings
If you want any user to have access the public shares turn off password
protection. This is located in Advanced Sharing Settings toward the bottom
of the list.
turn off pw
If you want to keep it enabled make sure there is a log in account for the
other XP machines and they have a password.
create pw
Now if you go into Network in Windows 7 you should see your XP machine and
the Windows 7 as well which in this case is Mysticgeek-PC.
Explorer
To share the printer on the Windows 7 machine go into Devices and Printers
from the Start menu and double click on the printer icon.
devices
Next double click on “Customize your printerâ€Â.
1 Printer
In the Properties screen click on the Sharing Tab and check the box to share
the printer and type in its share name.
2 printer share
If your XP machine is an x86 OS you can install Additional Drivers before
setting up the XP machine.
3 Printer add drivers
To find the shared folders and devices double click on the Windows 7 machine
icon under Network. Here you can see the printer connected to my Windows 7
machine is shared and also the Users Folder.
shared device and users
Continue into the Users folder and Public to see the shared folders, here I
also created a folder called XP Share just to keep everything in central
location.
xpshare
Over on your XP machine open up My Network Places to find the Windows 7
(mysticgeek-pc) shared folder.
My Network Places
Double click on the Share folder to find a list of shared folders in the
Public folder on Windows 7. If you have password protection enabled you will
need to type in the username and password of the user account on the Windows
7 machine first.
folders
Setup XP With Shared Printer
To set up the shared printer in XP you will need to go into Printers and
Faxes from the Start menu and kick off the Add Printer Wizard.
add Printer
Now select “A network printer, or a printer attached to another computerâ€Â
then hit Next.
network option
Next select “Connect to this printer…†and type in the path for the printer
connected to the Windows 7 machine and click next.
print
Now click Yes to the confirmation message.
confirm msg
Then click Finish the printer to install and complete the Wizard.
Complete
In some cases you will need to install the x86 XP drivers for the shared
printer because the Windows 7 drivers are not compatible with XP. When
everything is installed open up Printers and Faxes to find the shared printer.
in explorer
This should help you get started with sharing your files and other devices
with your Windows 7 machine. When I first started I was able to see the
printer on XP right away because I had a HomeGroup set up, but once I deleted
it I needed to share the printer like you would for a workgroup. You might
also have to do a couple restarts of the XP machine for it to see the shared
resources on Windows 7.
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