file sharing the old fashioned way is a bit of a pita (right click on a folder/share)

win 7 keeps asking me for login info when I try to access other computers

and it's a 50/50 chance if a computer/folder will show up in the workgroup anyway...


so has anyone used the "homegroup" share thing in win7 ? I've always just ignored it... but am considering it now if it's any good :-)

I thought the same thing when I plugged in my laptop, it actually makes sharing really simple again, I've had no problems getting my shared folders to show up as part of the homegroup. Give it a go.

cool, will do :-)


does it let you share drives instead of just the folders inside them?

Don't know about the drives thing, but makes file sharing so much easier, doesn't matter if you use different logins on different PCs, not sure why they just couldn't make the whole sharing thing easier without it, but it definitely works.

Yep you can share drives apart from C: (it's under advanced sharing) I was pleasantly surprised how well it works.

It still makes me shudder when I think about the problems I had with Vista sharing  

Home groups are easy to setup and work very well.

They give you improved security on simple file sharing (help yourself to what you want) and give you the basic file sharing options that most people need, without being over complicated.

I've had nothing but trouble with my home group.

Got the laptop downstairs and the pc upstairs and they can see each other in the homegroup and the shared libraries show up but if you try to open them it is asif they are not there at all.
It just timesout and says: Windows Cannot access \\computer name
the network path was not found

any ideas?

DNS?

Homegroup, like any other services will work on the basis that nothing else is wrong.  Can the laptop actually find the desktop?  Ping the UNC and check the IP is correct.

Homegroup should have taken care of everything else such as windows firewall.  Unless your using your own.

my kids proved how good w7 home-groups are, they both have laptops last night Leila printed a photo using my printer, M/S admitted that Vista was terrible, I'll agree  I hated Vista