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You can download the Link Layer Topology Discovery Responder from the Microsoft website to install on Windows XP PCs. I am running Win7 Pro 64bit (My Grandson's PC). The problem is that when he opens Chrome he can get Google & Gmail but gets an error when he tries to go anywhere else. The error tells me that I can't connect to the proxy server.
Password Protected Sharing must be turned off. If it is not, the computers running XP and Vista will be asked to enter a name and password before they can connect. After you have created a Homegroup on Windows 7, go into the computers running Windows XP and Vista and set up a new network. Microsoft really went through a lot of trouble to improve and streamline the process of creating a network. However, most of the best features are only available to other Windows 7 machines. To connect with computers that are running Windows XP or Vista, you will have to do a little bit more work.
Setting up Your Workgroup
On the Windows 7 PC, pick Start, Devices and Printers, and click Add a printer. Enter the pathname back to your Mac and printer. In my case, my Mac is named “Felix,” and the printer is an Epson Stylus Photo R1800. So I entered FelixEpson Stylus Photo R1800 and clicked Next. Follow the prompts to finish the installation; this should be just like installing a network printer connected to a Windows system.
Click the button to add a network printer, and click Next. Click the Connect to this printer button, and type the path to the network printer. In Windows 7, open Devices and Printers from the Start Menu, and pick Add a printer.
Why does my SSID have a 2 after it Windows 7?
With different combinations of 32- and 64-bit Vista, Windows 7, and XP PCs, it’s more hassle than it’s worth to try to plan ahead here. Approve the options and close the Properties window. Click on the network icon present in the system notification area to see all available networks and their signal strengths. If you can’t see a wireless network, make sure that the Wireless adapter is turned on in Windows Mobility Center. Also click the refresh button to refresh the available network connections list. When you switch to a home network type, Windows invites you to either start a new HomeGroup or, if a HomeGroup exists, join it.
With Windows 7, you can more easily share files and printers across a network via the new HomeGroups feature. HomeGroups lets you connect to files and printers with a group password–if all the PCs have Windows 7. But I’ll show you how to get your Windows 7 PC to play nicely on a network that also has Macs and XP/Vista PCs. The Manage Wireless Networks window will appear, and you can see all the wireless network connection profiles that have been configured on this computer. Select the profile you don’t use anymore, and click on Remove to delete the selected profile.
Starting a Podcast: What Do You Need to Start a Podcast?
Now, on all of the other computers, you will have to go to Networks and Internet and select Homegroup. Windows will tell you that a Homegroup is already available and asks if you'd like to join. Go ahead and join it on those other computers, and enter the Homegroup password when asked. You will also be given the opportunity to select which files and printers you'd like to share on each of those other computers. Click the checkbox for “Share this folder on the network” and then type a “Share name” to share a folder.Here’s how to prepare Windows XP and Vista to share files and folders with Windows 7.
Like I said at the beginning of this article, Windows 7 makes this process incredibly easy. On the OS X Mac, open the Print & Fax System Preference. Right-click the toolbar, and pick Customize Toolbar. Then drag the Advanced button up into the toolbar and click Done. For example, my PC with the printer is named “SLOTH,” and the printer is called “EPSON_R1800,” so the path I typed was SLOTHEPSON_R1800.
In addition to writing several books in the For Dummies series, Woody is a Contributing Editor for Windows Secrets newsletter. By checking this box, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from Dummies.com, which may include marketing promotions, news and updates. To fix this, move your mouse to the bottom of the screen so you can see the task bar. Now right-click on it and select "Properties."
Now, click Continue, then Share this printer. In this case, we’ll click the Public Network link to change a public network to a home network, so we click the Public Network link. Windows shows you the Set Network Location dialog box.
Windows 7 couldn’t automatically locate the printer driver for my aging-but-strong Epson Stylus Photo R1800 on my network. If you face the same problem, manually download the driver from the printer company’s Website, and browse to it when prompted. Choose a deletion time range or the specific items you want to delete.
In XP, you can share files on the network by dragging them into the Shared Documents folder. Or, you can activate sharing manually at the file locations. Here’s how to set up this sharing in Windows 7.
If you're dead set on printing a copy of the screen, you can open a program like Microsoft Paint or MS Word and paste the image into it, then print it from that program. A router is the central device that all computers on a network connect to. It's like a bus terminal-all the busses must come to the same location to pick up passengers, before trundling off to different parts of the city. This is a much more efficient system than simply connecting one computer to another in a big circle. In the past, setting up one of these networks, and actually sharing anything, could be a frustrating process, but with Windows 7, Microsoft has made the process incredibly easy. Open the Network System Preference, click your network connection on the left pane, and press Advanced.
In this case, click Home so we can create a HomeGroup. In this view you may notice an area at the bottom of the screen that shows devices that cannot be placed on the map. Windows 7 can also connect to a Mac OS X printer over the network. On the Mac, open the Sharing System Preference, and pick Printer Sharing.
If the Print Screen Key Doesn't Work
A network is just a bunch of computers connected to each other so that they can communicate with each other and share things like pictures or printers or internet connections. In Windows Vista, open the Printers control panel, and right-click your printer. Click Sharing, and press Change sharing options.
You will need this to connect other computers to your network so write it down. So the next step is to select which computers you want to communicate with. You do this by creating what's called a Homegroup.
