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Category: Windows 7 Tips

  • Computer Name and Work group – Windows 7 Tips

    Assigning Computer Name and Work group in Windows 7

    Assigning computer name and work group in Windows 7 is highly recommended, because it allows other computers to access your computer to access shared file or printer easily by using computer name.



    Please note you need to assign unique computer name on each computer, but can group all home computers under same work group for easy access. Default work group in Windows 7 is WORK GROUP, same as default work group in Windows Vista and Windows XP.
    1) Go to Start, right click Computer and click on Properties.

    2) System Properties window will appear, and you can see the configured computer name and also work group. Just click Change settings to change those settings.
    Note: You can also click Advanced system settings to make similar change.

    3) System Properties window will appear. Select Computer Name tab and then click Change…
    Note: Feel free to key in your computer description too in Computer description box.
    Note: You can also use wizard to join a domain or work group by clicking Network ID…

    4) Proceed to key in new computer name and work group name in Computer Name/Domain Changes window. Finally click OK button to close all windows and restart your computer. Wow! You’ve done it!
    Note: Make sure computer name is unique in your network, not more then 15 characters and avoid from using this characters for naming your computer: ` ~ @ # $ % ^ & ( ) = + [ ] { } | ; : , ‘ “ . / ?

  • Access shared files or printers – Windows 7 Tips

    Simple Methods to Access Shared Files or Printer in Windows 7

    Here are few other simple methods to access shared files or printer of other computers on same network in Windows 7. I also assume you have enabled file sharing or other sharing correctly on other computers.



    Please also ensure there is no firewall blocking on the computer that you try to access, if not you won’t be able to get the access.
    Method 2:
    1) Open Network and Sharing Center, click on See full map.

    2) Full network map that contains all connected network devices will be displayed, you can proceed to double-click on the computer to access shared file or printer.

    Method 3:
    If you know the IP address or hostname of the computer that you wish to access, type the \\IP-or-hostname in file explorer bar and then hit “Enter” button, you should then be able to access that computer if it’s online.

    In this example, I type \\192.168.1.101.

  • Access Shared Files or Printer – Windows 7 Tips


    INFORMATION:

    This article will show you how to access shared files and printers in Windows 7


     
    Here is a simple methods to access shared files or printer of other computers on same network in Windows 7. I also assume you have enabled file sharing or other sharing correctly on other computers.


    Please also ensure there is no firewall blocking on the computer that you try to access, if not you won’t be able to get the access.
    Method 1:
    1) Go to Start and click on Computer.

    2) A file explorer window will appear, scroll down on left panel to locate and click on Network.

    3) It will then show you all connected computers, printers or other network devices, you can just double-click on the computer to access the shared documents.
    Note: Press F5 button to refresh the screen if you do not see the other connected computers or network devices.


  • Network Icon – Windows 7 Tips

    Network Icon Explanation in Windows 7

    This is simple network icon explanation in Windows 7 article, and this icon is useful to give you visual indication of network connection status of your computer that you use to connect to wireless network, wired Ethernet network, dial up or other network connections.



    This icon is shown in right hand corner of task bar area.
    1) Not connected – No connections are available -> Your computer is not connected to any network and no network is detected. This can due to WLAN Auto Config service is not started, wireless adapter is not activated, wireless or wired Ethernet adapter driver is not installed correctly, faulty network cable or other network problem.

    Note: If you click on the network icon, after that you can click on Troubleshoot to troubleshoot this problem.

    2) Not connected – Connections are available -> Your computer is not connected to any network but there is network detected, most likely is wireless network. You can click on this icon and connect to those detected networks.

    3) Connect to a network -> This icon with blue bubble appears when your computer is in the process to connect to a network.

    4) Connected – No Internet access -> This icon with exclamation mark means you are connected to network but no Internet access, you should check the router or modem to see any Internet connection problem.

    5) Connected to network –> This white network icon means the computer is already connected to a network successfully, it can be wireless or wired network! You should be able to access other computers or Internet.


  • Disable IPv6 – Windows 7 Tips


    INFORMATION:
    This article will show you how to disable IPv6 in Windows 7, the feature which is enabled by default? Most of the Windows users might ask this question as this IPv6 feature is not popular yet and not in used by most of the users.



    Disabling this feature can also conserve Windows’ CPU and memory resources, however if you are going to use this computer to create or join home group, this feature cannot be disabled as it’s required for home group activity.
    Here’s How:
    1) Go to Start -> click on Control Panel -> click on View network status and tasks in Control Panel window -> click on change adapter settings in Network and Sharing Center window.

    2) Network Connections window will appear. Here you right click on the network adapter (can be wireless adapter or wired Ethernet adapter) that you wish to disable IPv6 and click Properties.

    3) In the network adapter properties window, un tick Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) and click OK. Repeat the same process on other network adapters if you want.
    Note: This method disables IPv6 on your LAN interfaces and connections, but does not disable IPv6 on tunnel interfaces or the IPv6 loop back interface. You need to make change in Windows registry in order to disable the IPv6 on tunnel interfaces. You can stop here if don’t feel like working with Windows registry. If not, continue your reading.

    4) Type regedit in command prompt to launch registry editor, proceed to locate following registry item in Registry editor.
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters\DisabledComponents
    5) If the Disabled Components item is unavailable, you must create it in following format by going to Edit -> New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value and set the value to 0xffffffff (just type ffffffff). This will disable all IPv6 features except the IPv6 loop back interface, finally click OK and restart computer.

    Note: Once you have restarted computer, the following IPv6 tunnel interfaces will be disabled and removed.


  • Network Discovery – Windows 7 Tips

    Enabling or Disabling Network Discovery in Windows 7

    Network discovery in Windows 7 is the similar feature you can find in Windows Vista, which allows your computer to find and discover other computers and display them in network map. If this feature is disabled, other computer will not be able to see your computer too.



    If your computer is located on home network or other safe network (not public network), it’s recommended to enable this feature in order to ease the files or printer sharing.
    By default this network discovery feature is activated in Windows 7 if the network location type is set to Home network or Office network, but it’s good for you to know how to configure it in case you want to disable it later. This feature is disabled by default if the network location type is set to Public network.

    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, you can then find out network discovery is on (turn on network discovery) under Home or Work profile section. You can also select turn off network discovery option and Save changes to disable this feature.
    Note: You need to scroll down to public profile in order to turn on/off network discovery if your network location type is public network.

    5) Let’s move back to Network and Sharing Center window, you can click on See full map in order to see the discovered network devices and know how they’re connected if you have enabled this feature.

    6) As an example, here you can see I’ve another computer (David) on the network and both computers are connected to a router (gateway) with 4 ports switch, and this router is connected to Internet.

    Note: You can also select different network to be displayed under network map’s drop down menu.


  • Change Network location type – Windows 7 Tips

    Changing the Network Location Type in Windows 7


    You will be required to select network location type in Windows 7 when you first connects that computer to network, this will automatically set the appropriate firewall and security settings on computer.


    However you are advised to understand which network location type you should use before connecting computer to network to better secure your computer. Also you should change the location when you connect to different networks as needed. This is because hacker can be everywhere, so have to be extra careful.
    Here are different network location types you can set on windows 7, do take note on the difference.
    Home network – This is the most open type! You can choose this type for home networks or when you know and trust the people and devices on the network. Computers on a home network can belong to a homegroup. Network discovery is turned on for home networks by default, which allows you to see other computers and devices on the network and allows other network users to see your computer.
    Work network – Mainly used for small office or other workplace networks. Network discovery is enabled by default too, which allows you to see other computers and devices on a network and allows other network users to see your computer, but you can’t create or join a homegroup.
    Public network – This is the safest type! You should select this option for networks in public places (such as coffee shops or airports). This location is designed to keep your computer from being visible to other computers around you and to help protect your computer from any malicious software from the Internet. HomeGroup is not available on public networks, and network discovery is turned off. You should also choose this option if you’re connected directly to the Internet without using a router, or if you have a mobile broadband connection.
    Domain network – This option is used for domain networks such as those at enterprise workplaces. This type of location is controlled by your network administrator and can’t be selected or changed.
    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 check existing location type (Home network in this case). If you need to change it, just click on that location.

    4) Set Network Location window will appear, let say I want to change it to public network as I try to connect to public hotspot at airport, I just click on Public network.

    5) You will get confirmation on newly selected location type, click Close.

    6) If you go back to Network and Sharing Center, you will find out the location is changed.


  • 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.