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Home Network Setup connecting windows 7, xp and vista

 July 7, 2010 No Comment

Do you want set up home network connecting computers running windows 7, xp and vista? Here is a tutorial on windows 7 network sharing with xp, vista and other versions of windows.

If all your computers run windows 7, then the easiest way to set up a home network is to create a homegroup. When you install windows 7, a homegroup is created automatically. If a homegroup already exists on your home network, you can join it.

To join or add a computer to homegroup, click Start >> Control Panel and type HomeGroup in the search box. Then click HomeGroup >> Click Join now and then complete the wizard.

If you don’t see the Join now button, there might not be a homegroup available. Make sure that someone has created a homegroup first or you can choose to create a homegroup yourself on your computer. But it is important to remember that in Windows 7 Starter and Windows 7 Home Basic, you can join a homegroup and you can’t create one.

A homegroup links all computers on your network running windows 7 and sets it up for file and printer sharing i.e. you can share files, documents, pictures, music, videos and printers with other computers on the network. You can even protect your homegroup with a password, which you can change at any time. The other computers can then join this homegroup only if they are joined using this password.

Home Network Setup connecting computers running windows 7, xp and vista

Quite often, not all computers that you run may have the same windows OS. Some computers may be running windows xp, a few may be running vista and a few others may be running windows 7. so, how do you network these computers to enable network file sharing.

First you need to set up the physical network.I am not going to detail how to set up the physical network here and there will be a seperate tutorial on it.

Assuming that your physical network is setup connecting all the computers, the following needs to be done so that all the computers can find each other on your network. If a few computers in the network run windows xp, it is important to use the same workgroup name for all other computers on your network. You must also keep in mind that the default workgroup name is not the same in all versions of Windows.

Change Workgroup name on computers running Windows xp

The first step is to ascertain the workgroup name on a computer running windows xp. This is how you can find it.

  • Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
  • In System Properties window, click the Computer Name tab to see the workgroup name. You computer name is what you had given, when you installed windows xp. To change the name, click Change, type the new name in Computer name, and then click OK.

Make sure that you give the same workgroup name on all other computers (in the network) running windows xp.

Change Workgroup name on computers running Windows Vista or Windows 7

The next step is to find and change the workgroup name on all other computers running Windows Vista or Windows 7.Follow the steps outlined below on all such computers, to change them to the same workgroup name as on computers running windows xp.

  • 1. Click the Start button , right-click Computer, and then click Properties.
  • 2. Under Computer name, domain, and workgroup settings, you will find the current computer name and workgroup. Click Change settings. A System Properties windows will pop up. In the Computer Name tab, click Change. In the Computer Name/Domain Changes window, type the name of the workgroup you want to use, under Workgroup and then click OK. You will then be prompted to restart your computer, for the new workgroup name to take effect.

Change Network location on computers running Windows Vista or Windows 7

Now that you given the same workgroup name to all computers, check the network location on all computers running Windows Vista or Windows 7. It should be “Home” for your Home network.

Open Network and Sharing Center by clicking Start >> Control Panel >> Network and internet >> Network and Sharing Center. The network location type is displayed below or next to the network name. If it is “Public“, it implies that the computer is connected to a network that’s available for public use. If it is “Work“, it implies that the he computer is connected to a network that has some level of protection from the Internet and contains known or trusted computers. If it is “Domain“, the computer is connected to a network that contains an Active Directory domain controller. Domain is used in large enterprises while small businesses use “Work“.

To change the network location, click the network location link (for eg.,Public network) or the customize link, and then select the network location you want.

By changing your network location to Home or Work, network discovery is automatically turned on. You can also turn on these sharing options individually.

Turn on network discovery, file sharing, public folder sharing, and printer sharing

To turn on network discovery, file and printer sharing, and public folder sharing in Windows 7, do the following.

  • 1. Open Advanced sharing settings by clicking Start >> Control Panel. In the search box, type network, click Network and Sharing Center, and then in the left pane, click Change advanced sharing settings.
  • 2. Click the dropdown icon (chevron) to expand the Home or Work network profile.
  • 3. Select the options to turn on network discovery and file sharing.
  • 4. Under Public folder sharing, do one of the following.
    • To share your Public folders so that people on other computers on the network can open files in them but can’t create or change files, click Turn on sharing so anyone with network access can open files.
    • To share your Public folders so that people on other computers on the network can open files in them and also create or change files, click Turn on sharing so anyone with network access can open, change, and create files.

Finally, Click Save changes. If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

To turn on network discovery, file sharing, public folder sharing, and printer sharing in Windows Vista, do the following

  • 1. Open Network and Sharing Center by clicking Start >> Control Panel >> Network and internet >> Network and Sharing Center
  • 2. Under Sharing and Discovery, click the drop-down icon (chevron) next to File sharing to expand the section. click Turn on file sharing, and then click Apply. If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
  • 3. Click the drop-down icon (chevron) next to Public folder sharing to expand the section, and then do one of the following.
    • To share the Public folder so that people on other computers on the network can open files in it but can’t create or change files, click Turn on sharing so anyone with network access can open files, and then click Apply. If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. This is the default setting.
    • To share the Public folder so that people on other computers on the network can open files in it and also create or change files, click Turn on sharing so anyone with network access can open, change, and create files, and then click Apply. If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
  • 4, Next, click the drop-down icon (chevron) next to Printer sharing to expand the section, click Turn on printer sharing, and then click Apply. If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

If you’re using any firewall other than Windows Firewall, make sure you open up the following ports.

  • To find other computers running Windows Vista or Windows 7, open these ports – UDP 3702, UDP 5355, TCP 5357, TCP 5358.
  • To find other computers running earlier versions of Windows, and to use file and printer sharing on any version of Windows, open these ports – UDP 137, UDP 138, TCP 139, TCP 445, UDP 5355
  • To find network devices, open these ports – UDP 1900, TCP 2869, UDP 3702, UDP 5355, TCP 5357, TCP 5358
  • To make HomeGroup work correctly between computers running Windows 7, open these ports – UDP 137, UDP 138, TCP 139, TCP 445, UDP 1900, TCP 2869, UDP 3540, TCP 3587, UDP 3702, UDP 5355, TCP 5357, TCP 5358

That is it. Enjoy networking computers running windows 7, xp and vista. You can also turn on password-protected sharing in computers running windows 7 and vista.

This is a detailed guide on setting up a home network connecting computers running windows 7, xp and vista.This enables network sharing to share files and more.