Wireless Home Networking - Index of

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Part IV: Using a Wireless Network
GmbH (www.virtualcd-online.com, $85 for a five-user license), Danny has
loaded all his CDs and many of his DVDs onto a single machine so that his
kids (he has four) can access those CDs from any of their individual PCs (he
has four spoiled kids). Rather than look to the local hard drive for the CD, any
of the kids’ PCs looks to the server to find the CD — hence, the name virtual
CD. Now those stacks of CDs (and moans over a scratched CD!) are gone.
Windows Vista and a New Way to Share
If you are familiar with file sharing using Windows XP, you already know most
of what you need to share with Windows Vista.
All the action in Windows Vista takes place in the Network and Sharing Center.
The hardest part of using the Network and Sharing Center is finding out where
the options are located to set up your networked PCs and devices. Often you
will have to work your way through several layers of menus to find the
options you want.
Setting up your workgroup
We’ve mentioned that you want to have all your computers in the same workgroup
— unless you have a server and domain, but we don’t expect a lot of
you will because it’s not common in home networks. If you do, you don’t
need to read the rest of this section.
The default workgroup name in Windows Vista is Workgroup. If you’re mixing
Windows XP Pro and Windows Vista and you have never made any changes
to the default workgroup name, you don’t need to change it now. However, if
you’re mixing Windows XP Home and Vista, make sure that all of your computers
are in the same workgroup if for no other reason than it makes finding
things that are shared much simpler for everyone.
Just like in Windows XP, you need to have the proper security permissions in
Windows Vista to be able to make any changes to your system. The security
levels are the same in XP and Vista, but you access them differently in Vista.
Just as in Windows XP, if you initially set up the machine, the first account
you set up will have Administrator access.
You have two ways to check and change the Workgroup name in Vista. The
first and simplest is to use the main Vista Welcome Center screen:
1. In the Welcome Center, choose the first option, View Computer
Details, and then select Show More.
The Vista system information screen comes up.