Windows 7 / Networking

Setting Up a Homegroup

One of the major innovations that Windows 7 brings to the networking table is the idea of a homegroup. This is a collection of computers on a peer-to-peer network that use a single password to share data between them. The idea is that once you join a homegroup by entering the homegroup password, you never need to worry about networking again because Windows 7 handles all the connections for you automatically. This is in contrast with the more traditional way of managing networking connections and sharing resources, which is by setting up user accounts and passwords and then assigning user permissions for each shared resource.

In other words, homegroups are designed to make networking easier and less problematic for new and inexperienced users. Of course, any Windows feature aimed at making life easier for novices is almost always worse for experienced or power users, because simpler always means fewer features, options, and settings.

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In this tutorial:

  1. Setting a Small Network
  2. Setting Up a Peer-to-Peer Network
  3. Changing the Computer and Workgroup Name
  4. Connecting to a Wireless Network
  5. Working with Windows 7's Basic Network Tools and Tasks
  6. Accessing the Network and Sharing Center
  7. Setting Up a Homegroup
  8. Activating Homegroup Connections
  9. Creating a Homegroup
  10. Joining a Homegroup
  11. Accessing the Homegroup
  12. Changing Homegroup Settings
  13. Turning Off Homegroup Connections
  14. Viewing Network Computers and Devices
  15. Displaying a Network Map
  16. Viewing Network Status Details
  17. Customizing Your Network
  18. Managing Network Connections
  19. Opening the Network Connections Window
  20. Renaming a Network Connection
  21. Enabling Automatic IP Addressing
  22. Confirming That Windows 7 Is Configured for Dynamic IP Addressing
  23. Displaying the Computer's Current IP Address
  24. Setting Up a Static IP Address
  25. Displaying the Current DNS Addresses
  26. Specifying the Static IP Address
  27. Using a Network Connection to Wake Up a Sleeping Computer
  28. Disabling a Network Connection
  29. Managing Wireless Network Connections
  30. Opening the Manage Wireless Networks Window
  31. Creating an Ad Hoc Wireless Network
  32. Working with Wireless Connection Properties
  33. Modifying Connection Properties
  34. Modifying Security Properties
  35. Renaming Wireless Connections
  36. Reordering Wireless Connections
  37. Creating User-Specific Wireless Connections
  38. Removing Wireless Connections