Set Up Your Home Network, Windows 7 Edition
Here’s how to share printers along with files from XP and PCs of Vista, not to leave alone the Mac from your Windows 7 System.
It becomes much easier to share files and the printers along a network with the help of the all new feature of HomeGroups. HomeGroups permit you to connect files along with printers by a set of password-in case all the systems are equipped with Windows 7. Here’s how to make your Windows 7 system work effectively along a network that is quipped with the systems of Mac, XP or Vista.
Install Windows 7 for Sharing a Printer
It is now possible for you to share a printer with a number of systems along your network, in order to enable almost anyone in your network to connect till the time your systems and printers are in the active mode. Here’s how to install this kind of sharing in a system quipped with Windows 7.
Open the Devices and Printers on the menu of Start and double-click on the icon of Printer. Select the option of Customize Your Printer and then click on the tab of Sharing on the next window. Thereafter select the checkbox of Share This Printer.
If you are not trying to connect a group of the same systems, it would be better if you skip the option of downloading extra drivers of printer on the main system. Simply invest some time to configure Windows 7 on every client system. It stands to be more of a hindrance to share the printers with your PCs with various amalgamations of 32- and 64-bit Vista, along with the PCs of Windows 7 and XP. Thereafter choose the required options and close the windows of Properties.
Sharing a Printer from the Systems of Vista and XP
In case you attempt to connect the system with Windows 7, XP or Vista with a printer instead, here is the procedure of configuring such operating systems. In case your system is quipped with Windows Vista, click on the control panel and go on the option of Printers. Thereafter, right-click on your printer. Click on the option of Sharing and then hit Change Sharing Options. After this, hit continue and then hit Share This Printer and then hit OK.
Connecting to a Printer that is already shared with a System of Windows 7
Here’s how you can use an already shared printer from your system which is quipped with Windows 7, notwithstanding if the printer is linked to system of Vista, XP or Windows 7.
Select the option of Devices and Printers on the Start Menu in your Windows 7 system and click on the option of Add a Printer. Hit on the second option of adding a network printer and select your printer on the list. Hit Next, and let the system locate the printer driver. If you desire to have this printer to act as your default printer, select the required one and then hit Finish.
Windows 7 was unable to automatically find the printer driver for old-but-sturdy Epson Stylus Photo R 1800 along the network. In case you confront an identical obstacle, download the driver on a manual basis from the website of the company and look through it when incited.
In case, even that does not work, try and install the printer driver prior to connecting your selected network printer.
Using a Printer of Windows 7 from Vista or XP
If you make an attempt to set up a printer on the system of Windows 7, it is yet possible for you to connect a printer from the systems of Vista and XP. Here’s how to do it:
In your system loaded with an OS of Windows XP click on Printers and Faxes in the Control Panel Menu. Thereafter hit on Add Printer and then hit on Next. Press the button in order to add a network printer and hit Next. Hit on the button of Connect to this Printer and then draft the path moving to the printer of the network.
For instance, your system along with your printer is named as “Sloth” and the printer is known as “EPSON_1800”. Your path is \\SLOTH\EPSON_R1800. If you are not sure concerning what your path is, click upon a fresh window on your system quipped with Windows 7 and thereafter click on the menu of Network given onto the left. Look through the name of your system and find the printer to recognize the system and the name of the printer. On the system of Windows XP, hit Next.
Enter the username and the password of your Windows 7 system. Let the box be as it is, checking the option of Remember My Password, in case you want that you should get connected automatically in future. Hit Yes to the warning dialogue box that comes. In case the printer driver is not downloading automatically, try to install or recognize it on a manual basis in the aforesaid manner.
Select this printer driver if you desire to take it up as a default printer and hit Next and thereafter hit Finish. After this, whenever you will be printing a document, use the drill-down menu of Name to connect to the network printer.
For a system of Vista, click on the Printers in the Control Panel menu and double-click on Add Printer. Select the second alternative for adding a network printer and then press Next. Vista would find the required printer. Pick it and press Next.
In case if a dialogue box appears saying that you are skipping the printer drivers hit OK and look through the files of the driver. In case you are still facing problems, set up the printer drivers initially prior to attempting to install the network printer. Or else, select in case you desire to install a new default printer, thereafter press Next and then Finish.
Sharing a Printer of Windows 7 with Mac OS X
A Mac OS X could attain a shared printer in the same way like a PC does. The credit goes to a number of networking design present in Windows 7. So here’s how to go about a LPD, better known as Line Printer Daemon standard for sharing a printer.
On a PC of Windows 7, go to the Control Panel menu and select Turn Windows features on or off. Double-click on Print and Document Services and select LPD Print Service. Thereafter, hit OK.
On the Mac OS X, click on Print and Fax System Preference. Then hit the icon of plus adding a new printer. Right-click on the toolbar and pick Customize Toolbar. Thereafter, pull the button of Advanced into the toolbar and hit Done.
Hit Advanced and then select LDB/LPR Host in the form of Type. Enter your path along with the name of your PC. Thereafter click on Select Printer Software in the pop-up menu of Print Choosing and select the required printer given on the list. Hit OK and then Add.
Sharing a Mac Printer from a PC of Windows 7
It is possible to connect a Windows 7 PC to a Mac Printer along the network. Click on Sharing System Preference on the Mac and select Printer Sharing. Thereafter, pick your printer. On the PC of Windows 7 hit Start, click on Drivers and Printers and then press the button of Add a printer. Hit on the dialogue box “the printer that I want isn’t listed”. Write the path for your Mac and your printer and then hit Next. Go with the prompts to complete the set up. This should be more like setting up a network printer linked to a system of Windows.
Install Windows 7 for Sharing and Connecting to Files
The Windows 7 permits you to share files by an amalgamation of the public folders it has and by manual selection as well. If you desire to share files with almost anyone along your network, simply make them move to a public destination within any one of the Libraries located in a window’s left pane.
One can share folders and files no matter where they stay. Pick an item that you want to share, and select the Share with menu located at the window’s top. Select Homegroup(Read) to permit the people along your network select, but not able to customize the files.
Select Specific people if you desire to limit the access to the accounts of certain number of users. If you have not done this earlier, you may have to make a new login and password to allow the users for accessing the same files. Move to the User Accounts and Family Safety Control Panel and then select Add or Remove User Accounts. Hit on Manage Another Account and select Create a New Account. Tag along the prompts for making a Standard User, select the account, and hit Create a Password. Now in case you select Share with: Specific People, hit the drill-down arrow and include the new account in the list.
Thereafter, make an effort to connect to the files. In case you are on the similar HomeGroup as that of Windows 7 system, simply open a fresh window, and look through the HomeGroup section to the left. Select the system and look through the shared libraries that are there.
In case any other system is not linked with a Windows 7 HomeGroup, you could look along the Network tab.
Install XP and Vista for Sharing Folders and Files
Here’s how to make it possible to share folders and files with Windows 7 by Windows XP and Vista. In a system of XP, it is possible for you to share files along the network by drawing them inside the folder of Shared Documents. Otherwise you can start sharing the files on a manual basis at the locations of file.
For sharing a folder or a file, right-click on it, and select Sharing and Security. Pick the checkbox and hit on “Share this folder on the network”. If you wish that other people should be able to customize, add something to those files or folders, click the dialogue box saying “Allow network users to change my files”. Hit OK then. To turn sharing off, click on the same menu and uncheck the check box.
Sharing Files between Windows 7 and Mac OS X
It is possible to recover and share files between Windows 7 and Mac OS X though some steps need to be taken for the procedure to do so.
Click on Network System Preference, then hit the network connection located to the left pane and hit Advanced. Hit the tab of WINS and enter name of the workgroup of your Windows 7 PC and hit OK. Then click Apply.
Click on Sharing System Preference and click on the checkbox for enabling File Sharing. Hit on Options, and click the checkbox to Share folders and files by means of SMB. Click the checkbox for permitting the task of sharing of the user account that you have. If required, hit the icon of plus under the box of Shared Folders for adding additional locations.
In case your Mac does not come up on the system of Windows 7 in the area of the Network, enter the name of your Mac computer into the Windows file browser.
It is possible for surfing files of Windows 7 in OS X as well. On your Mac, move to the Finder and select Go, then click on Connect to Server and type the SMB file path of the remote system. You are all set with your multi-OS network now.