Share Files and Printers between Windows 7 and XP

If you have a home network and are running Windows 7 and have XP on
other PC(s) you might want to share files between them. Today we will
look at the steps to share files and hardware devices like a printer.

Sharing Files In Windows 7 and XP

Sharing folders between two Windows 7 machines with the new HomeGroup
feature is an easy process, but the HomeGroup feature is not compatible
with Vista or XP. For this tutorial we are using Windows 7 x64 RC1 and
XP Professional SP3 connected through a basic Linksys home wireless
router.

First make sure both machines are members of the same Workgroup which by default is named Workgroup.











On the Windows 7 machine go into Control Panel \ All Control Panel
Items \ Network and Sharing Center then click on Change advanced sharing
settings.











You will want to verify the following settings under Advanced Sharing Settings for the Home or Work and Public profile.









If you want any user to have access the public shares turn off
password protection. This is located in Advanced Sharing Settings
toward the bottom of the list.










If you want to keep it enabled make sure there is a log in account for the other XP machines and they have a password.









Now if you go into Network in Windows 7 you should see your XP
machine and the Windows 7 as well which in this case is Mysticgeek-PC.









To share the printer on the Windows 7 machine go into Devices and
Printers from the Start menu and double click on the printer icon.









Next double click on “Customize your printer”.








In the Properties screen click on the Sharing Tab and check the box to share the printer and type in its share name.









If your XP machine is an x86 OS you can install Additional Drivers before setting up the XP machine.










To find the shared folders and devices double click on the Windows 7
machine icon under Network. Here you can see the printer connected to
my Windows 7 machine is shared and also the Users Folder.









Continue into the Users folder and Public to see the shared folders,
here I also created a folder called XP Share just to keep everything in
central location.









Over on your XP machine open up My Network Places to find the Windows 7 (mysticgeek-pc) shared folder.









Double click on the Share folder to find a list of shared folders in
the Public folder on Windows 7. If you have password protection enabled
you will need to type in the username and password of the user account
on the Windows 7 machine first.










Setup XP With Shared Printer

To set up the shared printer in XP you will need to go into Printers
and Faxes from the Start menu and kick off the Add Printer Wizard.










Now select “A network printer, or a printer attached to another computer” then hit Next.









Next select “Connect to this printer…” and type in the path for the printer connected to the Windows 7 machine and click next.








Now click Yes to the confirmation message.









Then click Finish the printer to install and complete the Wizard.









In some cases you will need to install the x86 XP drivers for the
shared printer because the Windows 7 drivers are not compatible with
XP. When everything is installed open up Printers and Faxes to find the
shared printer.