Share Files and Printers between Windows 7 and Vista

Now with three different versions of Windows being used, you may have problems sharing files or printers between them. Today, we will look at how to share files and printers between Vista and Windows 7 .

In this example we use a basic home network with Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit) installers and Windows Vista Home Premium SP2 (32 bits)

Create sharing settings in Windows 7

In Windows 7 we need to set up something in the Advanced Sharing Settings section . First type network and sharing center in the search box on the Start Menu and press Enter.

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Then click Change advanced sharing settings .

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Now in the Advanced Sharing Settings section , make sure you enable Network discovery , File and printer sharing , and Public folder sharing . In the Home or Work section, make sure to enable enable mode.

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Depending on your settings, you may want to turn off password protection. Otherwise you will need password protection for each machine. This setting depends on the importance of data sharing in the network.

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Create sharing settings in Vista

In Vista, right-click the Network icon and select Properties .

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The Network and Sharing Center window opens. Under Sharing and Discovery, we need to turn on File Sharing , Public Folder Sharing , and Network Discovery .

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Also on Vista machines, you can turn off password protection to share files and printers.

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Page 2: Share Files in Windows 7

Share Files in Windows 7

Now we have the correct settings on each machine. Now check it out. Open Network on Windows 7, and you'll see all the machines on that network. The Vista machine in this example is VistaGeek-PC .

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No password is required to access the vista machine because the password protection is turned off. You can now see the shared folders. In this example, both the user and public directories have been shared.

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Share files in Vista

Now on your Vista machine, double-click on the Network icon and you will see the Windows 7 machine named MYSTICGEEK-PC

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We allow password protection on Windows 8 machines so we will see the login screen displayed before connecting.

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You will then see the shared folders and devices. Here you can see that HP printers connect to available Windows 7 machines on the network.

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And you can continue to browse all the shared files and folders

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Page 3: Share the printer

Share the printer

As we saw above, you can see that the printer is connected to a Windows 7 machine. Make sure we can connect to it and can print a test text. In Vista, click the Start menu and type printers in the Search box and press Enter.

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Right-click on the shared printer and select Properties

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Under the General tab, click the Print Test Page button

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The following message appears when the test print page is printed on the printer connected to the Windows 7 machine.

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Another test you might want to do is open the test print page and make sure you can print it on a Windows 7 printer.

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Once printed successfully, you may want to set it as the default printer

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Sovle problems

If your machine can't see each other or the printer doesn't work . Here are a few steps you can use to determine where the problem is.

Double-check to make sure Network Discovery and File and Print Sharing are enabled on both machines as shown below.

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In this example, both machines are connected to Belkin wireless routers and IP addresses are dynamically allocated. If you use a static IP address, make sure you can ping the IP of each machine. If not, check the IP address and network cable on two machines .

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If the printer does not work, double-check to make sure you have the latest drivers installed for each operating system

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Conclude

This tutorial shows you how to share folders, files, and printers between two Vista and Windows 7 machines. In this test, we don't need to install any other drivers for the printer as you might have to do. when sharing a printer between XP and Windows 7. The result with the printer is very different depending on the model of the printer and its settings. Older printers obviously have problems with the driver, that is, it does not work with Vista and or Windows 7.