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Category: Windows 7 support

  • File Sharing – Windows 7 Tips

    Simple File Sharing in Windows 7



    Simple file sharing in Windows 7 is pretty easy and common to be used to share file/folder with other users that use Windows XP, Vista or 7 in same workgroup. Due to other users are allowed to access the shared file/folder without doing authentication with username and password, and so we call it simple file sharing.

    However please don’t enable this simple file sharing when your computer is connected to public network (at library, airport, restaurant, etc), because the other public users can also access the shared file/folder without authentication after you have enabled it. It’s not safe!
    1) First you need to confirm that you have enabled file and printer sharing on network card. Let’s do a quick check. Go to Start and click on Control Panel. Proceed to click View network status and tasks in Control Panel window.
    2) Network and Sharing Center window will appear, after that click change adapter settings.
    3) Network Connections window will appear. Here you can right click on the network adapter (can be wireless adapter or wired Ethernet adapter) that you are using and click Properties.

    4) Your network card’s properties window will appear, then tick File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks if it’s not tick, finally click OK.

    5) Let’s move back to Network and Sharing Center window, make sure you have selected the appropriate network location type before enabling file sharing, mostly home network or work network type. In this case, my network location type is home network.
    Note: I would also advise you to set the same Workgroup for all computers on the same network in order to ease the file sharing.
    Note: You are also advised to enable network discovery too, so your computer can discover and locate other computers.


    6) Now you can proceed to click on Change advanced sharing settings.


    7) Here you need to locate your current set profile (home or network in this case), and turn on/off following settings. Click on Save changes at last.
    Turn on file and printer sharing
    Turn off password protected sharing


    8) Ok! Let’s start to enable file sharing in Windows 7, right click the file or folder you plan to share, select Share with and click on Specific people
    Note: If you don’t see the Share with menu, you might be trying to share an item on a network or other unsupported location. It also won’t appear when you select files outside your personal folder.

    9) File Sharing window will appear, and here you can select or key in the people you would like to share the file/folder with and click Add. In this case, I added user Guest and also set the Read permission level. Finally click Share to do sharing.
    Note: You can set 2 different permission levels for each people you selected:
    Read – Can open, but not modify or delete the file.
    Read/Write – Can open, modify, or delete the file.

    10) The next window will tell you that your file/folder is shared, click Done to close the window. Basically you have done file sharing in windows 7.

    11) You will notice there is no change on the shared file/folder icon, but if you right click the shared folder and click on Properties. Then go to Sharing tab, it will show that folder is shared. Ok. That folder and content can be accessed from other computers now by referring to that network path. Remember to disable this file sharing after completing your tasks!

    Note: If you just shared a file, right click the file and click on Properties and go to Details tab, it will show you the users that the file shared with.

    Note: You should also click on Security tab. Check the group or user names that are allowed to access this file/folder, and make sure the user/group that you allowed to access during sharing process just now is listed here as well (usually will be added automatically when you do file/folder sharing), if not click Edit to add those missing user/group.
    If the specific user/group you allowed during sharing process does not match the user/group listed here, the missing user might not be able to see that shared file/folder at all! Or the user will get prompt saying that you might not have permission to use this network resource when try to access this shared file/folder from other computer.


  • Disable File Sharing – Windows 7 Tips

    How to Disable File Sharing in Windows 7

    You have shared a few files on your Windows 7 system and now due to some reason you want to disable the share. This article will help you do exactly that.




    Disable All File Sharing:
    1) Go to Start and click on Control Panel.


    2) Proceed to click View network status and tasks in Control Panel window.
    3) Network and Sharing Center window will appear, proceed to click Change advanced sharing settings.

    4) You will be shown Advanced sharing settings window, here you need to locate your current set profile, and turn off following file sharing settings. Click on Save changes at last. That’s it.
    Turn off file and printer sharing
    Turn off Public folder sharing (people logged on to this computer can still access these folders)
    Turn off password protected sharing
    Turn off media streaming


    Turn Off File Sharing on Specific File/Folder Only:
    1) If you just need to turn off file sharing on specific file/folder, just right click that shared file or folder and select Share with and finally click on Nobody.

    Note: After disabling sharing on the folder, if you find out the folder’s properties is still shown shared (because parent folder is still shared). Don’t worry! The files in the folder are not shared anymore. If you don’t believe, test to access from other computers or check the sharing status of file’s properties (detailed tab).

  • Dial Up connection – Windows 7 Tips

    Dial Up Internet Connection Setup in Windows 7

    Although dial up Internet connection is not popular anymore due to slow speed (up to 56Kbps only) if you compare to cable, DSL or wireless Internet connection, but it’s still used in those rural areas that do not have much faster Internet connection. In some cases, it’s also used as back up connection if the primary Internet connection fails. 



    Before we start, make sure your computer has been connected to dial up modem, and also that dial up modem is connected to working phone socket too.
    If you use laptop, most likely it’s built-in with dial up modem, so in this case you can set up dial up connection anytime without additional dial up modem hardware. 
    Let’s start to create dial up connection:
    1) Go to Start and click on Control Panel.
    2) Proceed to click on View network status and tasks to open Network and Sharing Center. 

    Note: If you click on network connection icon on desktop, you can also access to Network and Sharing Center from there.

    3) Proceed to click Set up a new connection or network in Network and Sharing Center window.

    4) As you want to set up dial up connection, then click on Set up a dial-up connection. Click Next.

    5) Ok, here you need to key in the technical details which are provided by ISP when you subscribed to this dial up service. You are required to key in Dial-up phone number, User name and password. Of course you should name your connection too. When you are ready, click Connect to establish the connection.
    Note: If you plan to share this connection with other computer later, click on Allow other people to use this connection. In order to make it works, your computer must be connected with other computer wired or wireless by using wired network adapter or wireless adapter, and also the other computer should be configured to obtain IP address and other network settings automatically. 

    6) It will then dial up the connection. If you are not ready, click on Skip to skip the dialing but create a connection first.

    7) I just skipped the dial up Internet connecting process, and then it tells me that the connection is ready for use. 

    Note: In future, you can dial up this connection by clicking on network connection icon and the connection will be shown in Dial-up and VPN section. If you would like to change the settings, right click that connection and click on Properties to do more configuration. 

  • Windows 7 Tips – Protected File Sharing

    Password Protected File Sharing in Windows 7

    If you are not aware, password protected file sharing in Windows 7 is useful to only allow limited users to access shared file/folder after having successful username and password authentication. This is recommended file sharing method to avoid unauthorized file access.



    1) First you need to confirm that you have enabled file and printer sharing on network card. It’s easy to verify! Go to Start and click on Control Panel. Proceed to click View network status and tasks in Control Panel window.
    2) Network and Sharing Center window will appear, after that click change adapter settings on left panel.
    3) Network Connections window will appear. Here you can right click on the network adapter (can be wireless adapter or wired Ethernet adapter) that you are using and click Properties.

    4) Your network card’s properties window will appear, then tick File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks if it’s not tick, finally click OK.

    5) Let’s move back to Network and Sharing Center window, make sure you have selected the appropriate network location type before enabling file sharing, mostly home network or work network type. In this case, my network location type is home network.
    Note: I would also advise you to set the same Workgroup for all computers on the same network in order to ease the file sharing.
    Note: You are also advised to enable network discovery too, so your computer can discover and locate other computers easily.

    6) Now you can proceed to click on Change advanced sharing settings.

    7) Here you need to locate your current set profile (home or network in this case), and turn on following settings to enable password protected file sharing in Windows 7. Click on Save changes at last.
    Turn on file and printer sharing
    Turn on password protected sharing

    8) Ok, now we are ready to enable password protected file sharing. Right click the file or folder you plan to share, and click on Specific people

    9) File Sharing window will appear, and here you can select or key in the people you would like to share the file/folder with and click Add. In this example, I share this file with nicola only and also give her Read/Write permission. Finally click Share to do sharing.
    Note: You can set 2 different permission levels for each people you selected:
    Read – Can open, but not modify or delete the file
    Read/Write – Can open, modify, or delete the file

    10) The next window will tell you that your file/folder is shared, click Done to close the window. Basically you have done password protected file sharing in Windows 7.

    11) Finally, when Nicola tries to access this password protected shared folder from Vista, XP or other Windows OS, she will be prompted to key in username and password. Here she needs to key in user nicola and correct password to access this folder from other XP computer.

    Note: You will notice there is no change on the shared file/folder icon, but if you right click the shared folder and click on Properties. Then go to Sharing tab, it will show that folder is shared.

    Note: If you just shared a file (not folder), right click the file and click on Properties and go to Details tab, it will show you the users that the file shared with.

    Note: You should also click on Security tab. Check the group or user names that are allowed to access this file/folder, and make sure the user/group that you allowed to access during sharing process just now is listed here as well (usually will be added automatically when you do file/folder sharing), if not click Edit to add those missing user/group.
    If the specific user/group you allowed during sharing process does not match the user/group listed here, the missing user might not be able to see that shared file/folder at all! Or the user will get prompt saying that you might not have permission to use this network resource when try to access this shared file/folder from other computer.


  • PPPoE Dialer Setup – Windows 7 Tips

    PPPoE Dialer Setup in Windows 7

    PPPoE dialer setup is required in Windows 7 if your DSL modem is in bridge mode, so that you need to use this dialer with username and password information to manually connect to Internet. This dialer is also used for Cable Internet connection sometimes.



    This dialer is useful if you have subscribed to low end DSL/Cable Internet service with online hours cap, so that you can easily trigger Internet connection when you need to use it only by using your computer. If this computer is connected to other computer, you can also share this PPPoE DSL/Cable connection by activating Internet Connection Sharing feature.
    In order to set it up, first you need to configure network card to obtain IP address and DNS server automatically, so that these network settings will be provided once the Internet connection is established later.

    1) Go to Start and click on Control Panel.
    2) Control Panel window will appear, proceed to locate Network and Internet section and click View network status and tasks in order to open Network and Sharing Center.

    3) Click Set up a new connection or network option in Network and Sharing Center.

    4) Connection or network setup wizard will appear, here you need to select Connect to the Internet and click Next.

    5) Select and click on Broadband (PPPoE) option.

    6) OK, here you need to type in username and password of your DSL/Cable Internet connection, this info is provided by ISP when you subscribe the Internet service. Name your connection and so you can identify it easily later. Finally you can click Connect to trigger you Internet connection.
    Note: If you want, you can also tick Remember this password and Allow other people to use this connection options.

    7) In future, you can just go to network icon that looks like ladder on you right hand corner taskbar, identify and select your PPPoE connection (in Dial-up and VPN section), finally click Connect to connect to Internet connection.

  • Windows 7 Tips – Exit Home group

    Cannot Leave Home group in Windows 7! What to do Next?

    In case you want to leave one of the home groups on your system and are unable to do so, you will most probably end up with the following prompt: “Windows couldn’t remove your computer from the homegroup“. This tip focuses on helping you resolve this issue.


     
    This can happen due to several reasons, 2 of the most prominent reasons are homegroup service or dll files issue. 

    Following are the steps that can help you out:

    Open homegroup troubleshooter (Start the HomeGroup troubleshooter option) to troubleshoot the problem first before trying the options shown below.


    1) As usual, go to Start and click on Control Panel.

    2) Control Panel window will appear, click on System and Security.

    3) Proceed to click on Administrative Tools.

    4) Double click on Services in Administrative tools window.

    5) Locate following 2 services, right click each service and then stop it, after that try to leave homegroup again. Hope this helps.
    Note: Please note you can only see HomeGroup Listener service if you do not log on as administrator. If you can only see HomeGroup Provider service, stop this service and try to leave the homegroup.
    HomeGroup Listener
    HomeGroup Provider

    Note: If you still fail to leave the homegroup with above approach, try to rename the following file and try again. Probably the file is corrupted. You can try by clicking Start the HomeGroup troubleshooter option again on homegroup window too.

  • Delete or Leave Homegroup – Windows 7 Tips


    INFORMATION:

     
    This article will show you how to delete or leave homegroup in Windows 7, so that you could stop library, document, media file or other sharing with other users on homegroup. 




    HERE’S HOW:

    Following are the step-by-step instructions to leave the homegroup:
    1) Go to Start and click on Control Panel.
    2) Proceed to click Choose homegroup and sharing options in Control Panel window.

    3) Homegroup window will appear, scroll down and click Leave the homegroup

    4) You can then click on Leave the homegroup option on Leave the Homegroup window. If you change you mind, you can then select other options.
    Note: If you click Don’t leave, but change what I’m sharing option, you can then enable or disable what you have shared.

    5) Wait for a while and your computer will then leave the homegroup. In addition, all user accounts on your computer also leave the homegroup.

  • Windows 7 Tips – Recover Home Group Password

    Quick Way to View Home group Password in Windows 7

    You might have forgotten your home group password if you created it some time ago. if this is the case, we might be able to help you with this.



    1) As usual, go to Start and click on Control Panel.
    2) Proceed to click Choose home group and sharing options in Control Panel window.
    Note: You can also locate this same option in Network and Sharing Center window.

    3) Change homegroup settings window will appear, go ahead to click View or print the homegroup password.

    4) Your homegroup password will then be shown, so you just need to write it down and share with other users, so that they could join the homegroup later. If you want, you can even click Print this page button to print the password.

  • Windows 7 Tips

    Configure Disk Defragmenter Schedule in Windows 7 or Vista

    Windows 7 or Vista automatically configures Disk Defrag to schedule defragment to run once a week, usually at 1am on Wednesday. I don’t know about you, but I’m usually awake at 1am on wednesday, and I’d rather schedule it for a different time.

    To open up the defragment utility, just type defrag into the Start menu search box, and hit enter. Vista users will have to click through a UAC prompt, but you should see this screen:
    Windows 7 users will see a very similar dialog, and will need to click the Configure Schedule button:
    From this screen, you can disable automatic defrag by unchecking the box. You can also modify the schedule by clicking the Modify schedule button
    If you are on Vista and using at least Service Pack 1, you can also select which volumes will be automatically defragmented during this scheduled defrag. (Windows 7 users can select the volumes from the start screen).

  • Windows 7 Tips- Create System Image

    How to Create a System Image in Windows 7
    Most of us who like experimenting with newer softwares or tips and tricks more often then not end up screwing up our system and going through the whole process of installing OS and applications etc. But wait there is an easy way out, we could create an optimal system image and keep it handy for times like this so we can get back to the best possible config even after our experiments go wrong.


     

    Creating an Image in Windows 7

    Click on Start go to Getting Started and then select Back up your files.
    Next click on the Create a system image hyperlink.
    Decide where you want to save the image. You can choose an external drive, burn to multiple DVD’s, or store it on a network location.
    You can include other drives if you want as well but remember that will add to the size of the final image.
    At the confirmation screen notice the amount of space the image may take. If something doesn’t look right you can still go back from this point and make adjustments.
    A progress meter is displayed while the images is created and backed up. In this example a disk of about 15GB in size took under 20 minutes backed up to an external drive. Times will vary depending on your system and where you’re backing it up to.
    After the process is complete you get the option to create a system repair disc which you should do and make sure to save it in a secure location.

    When it comes time to restore the image, you will be able to use the System Recovery Options to get the system back.