Windows 7 includes improved networking in the form of HomeGroups
One of the most useful features of having a network is the ability it gives you to share files and other resources (such as printers) between PCs. New features in Windows 7 have made this process even easier than before – thanks to the HomeGroup option combined with the Library feature you can quickly decide what you want to share with other systems on your LAN. Having created a HomeGroup, the password enables you to add other Windows 7 machines to the group. You can then choose which libraries you want to share simply by ticking the boxes. This content will then be shared with all the other machines in the group, so you need to be sure that you’re happy to make the entire library contents available.
If you don’t want to share all of the items in a library you can use the Share with menu to quickly share individual files instead (this is more like the sharing method used in earlier versions of Windows). You can also choose to make shared items read-only so that users of other machines can view them but are not able to make changes.
One of the most useful aspects of sharing files is the ability to stream media. Once you’ve opted to share your music or video library it will appear in Windows Media Player on other machines. You can also use file sharing in Media Centre, so if you use a PC with a tuner card to record TV programmes you’ll be able to watch them on other machines in the HomeGroup. As sharing uses the Library feature you don’t need to know where the files are located on the other machine, as long as the library is shared. You can opt to share from within Media Player too, though this is limited to streaming rather than sharing.
If you’re using the Home Premium or higher versions of Windows 7 you now have the ability to create a HomeGroup – this is a group of trusted machines on the same network that you can use to share not only files and libraries but also resources such as printers and scanners. Make sure you’ve selected Home network on the network location screen, then you can create a HomeGroup. When you first set up a HomeGroup you’ll be given a password which you can then use to add other Windows 7 machines to the group – you can print this out or change it to something easier to remember of you wish. You can only be a member of one HomeGroup at a time but if you visit different locations you can leave one group and join another. Once you’ve set up a group you can choose which libraries you want to share simply by ticking the appropriate boxes (music and video, for example) – these libraries will then be available to all the other grouped machines. Note that the Starter editions of Windows 7 will let you join an existing HomeGroup but not create a new one.
(For a complete step-by-step guide to sharing files in Windows 7, look out for The Essential Windows 7 Handbook, on sale from Magnesium Media and newsagents now).
