If you have two or more Windows 7 computers, you can set up a homegroup to simplify sharing libraries, folders, and printers. The HomeGroup system is based on regular Windows file sharing, so computers running other operating systems can also participate in your network.
The easiest way to make XP and Vista fit in is to disable password protected sharing on all your computers. (Password protected sharing is discussed in the previous section.) Here are the instructions for doing this on various versions of Windows:
• Windows 7—Click Start, Control Panel, View Network Status and Tasks (under Network and Internet), Change Advanced Sharing Settings. Scroll down, select Turn Off Password Protected Sharing, and then click Save Settings.
• Windows Vista—Click Start, Control Panel, Set Up File Sharing (under Network and Internet). Click the circular icon to the right of Password Protected sharing, click Turn Off Password Protected Sharing, and then click Apply. You might need to confirm a user account control prompt.
• Windows XP Professional—Log on as a computer administrator. Click Start, My Computer. In the menu, select Tools, Folder Options, and then select the View tab. Scroll the list down to the bottom, check Simple File Sharing, and then click OK.
• Windows XP Home Edition—No adjustments are necessary. Now Windows 7 computers will connect to other Windows 7 computers using the special HomeGroupUser$ account, but all other combinations will use the Guest account. This means you need to make sure that resources are shared so that “Everyone” can use them. In particular, the file security settings for the shared folder and its contents must be set so that Everyone has read or
read and write permission.
To ensure that this happens, use the following procedures when you’re sharing folders on various versions of Windows:
• Windows 7—Right-click a folder or library and select Share With, Share with Homegroup (Read) or Share with Homegroup (Read/Write). Then, right-click it again and select Share With, Specific People. Type or select Everyone in the drop-down list, and click Add. If you want other users to
be able to change the contents of the folder, next to Everyone, click the word Read in the Permissions column and select Read/Write. Click Share to finish.
• Windows Vista—Right-click a folder and select Share. Type or select Everyone in the drop-down list, and click Add. If you want other users to be able to change the contents of the folder, next to Everyone, click the word Reader in the Permissions column and select Contributor. Click Share to finish.
• Windows XP Professional or Home Edition—Right-click a folder and select Sharing and Security. Select Sharing This Folder and click Apply. Select the Security tab. Under Group or User Names, if there is an entry for Everyone, select it; otherwise, click Add, type the word Everyone, press Enter, and select the entry for Everyone. In the lower section, in the
Allow column, Read & Execute, List Folder Contents, and Read should be checked. If you would like to let other network users modify the contents of the folder, check Modify. Click OK to finish.
If you want to use passwords to protect access to shared folders, you should leave password-protected sharing turned on. There are two ways in which you can deal with the Windows XP and Vista computers:
• Set up accounts on every computer using the same account name and password for each person, on each computer. This will give you complete control over who has access to which folders shared by Windows 7, Vista, and XP Professional. (Per-user security is not available on folders shared by XP Home.)
• Set up a single account that you’ll use for file sharing, perhaps named share, on every computer, with the same password on every computer. Use this account when you set the permissions on shared folders, and use this account when Windows asks for an account and password when you connect to another computer.
If you share your printer, it’s enough just to enable sharing. By default, all versions of Windows enable Everyone to print to every installed printer, so anyone on the network should be able to print to any shared printer without changing the security settings.
