Networking Windows 7 with XP and Vista

We can share Files and printers betweeen Windows 7 and Windows XP. Sharing files and printers between Windows 7 and Vista has become a reality. Now i will show you a way to share files and printers from either Windows XP or Vista to Windows 7.

Tips:It's different from combine 'share a printer between Windows 7 and Vista' and 'share a printer between Windows 7 and XP' together.

Windows Home Server
If you want an ultimate setup that creates a centralized location to share files between all systems on your home network, regardless of the operating system, then set up a Windows Home Server. It allows you to centralize your important documents and Digital Media files on one box and provides easy access to data and the ability to stream media to other machines on your network. Not only that, but it provides easy backup of all your machines to the server, in case disaster strikes.

Sharing Between Windows 7 with Homegroup
If you have one or more Windows 7 machine, sharing files and devices becomes extremely easy with the Homegroup feature. It’s as simple as creating a Homegroup on on machine then joining the other to it. It allows you to stream media, control what data is shared, and can also be password protected. If you don’t want to make your Windows 7 machines part of the same Homegroup, you can still share files through the Public Folder, and setup a printer to be shared as well.

Sharing between Vista and XP
When Windows Vista came out, hardware requirements were intensive, drivers weren’t ready, and sharing between them was complicated due to the new Vista structure. The sharing process is pretty straight-forward if you’re not using password protection…as you just need to drop what you want to share into the Vista Public folder. On the other hand, sharing with password protection becomes a bit more difficult. Basically you need to add a user and set up sharing on the XP machine. But once again, we have a complete tutorial for that situation.

Sharing Between Windows 7 and XP
The most common scenario you’re probably going to run into is sharing between Windows 7 and XP. Essentially you’ll want to make sure both machines are part of the same workgroup, set up the correct sharing settings, and making sure network discovery is enabled on Windows 7. The biggest problem you may run into is finding the correct printer drivers for both versions of Windows.

Map a Network Drive
Another method of sharing data between XP and Windows 7 is mapping a network drive. If you don’t need to share a printer and only want to share a drive, then you can just map an XP drive to Windows 7. Although it might sound complicated, the process is not bad. The trickiest part is making sure you add the appropriate local user. This will allow you to share the contents of an XP drive to your Windows 7 computer.

Sharing between Vista and Windows 7
Share files and printers between a Vista and Windows 7 machine is a bit easier than sharing between XP and Windows 7, but takes a bit of work. The Homegroup feature isn’t compatible with Vista, so we need to go through a few different steps. Depending on what your printer is, sharing it should be easier as Vista and Windows 7 do a much better job of automatically locating the drivers.

SOURCE : http://www.newton360.com/Detail/Networking-Windows-7-with-XP-and-Vista.html