This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Sharing from Vista to XP
If you want to share a folder between a Vista machine and an XP computer, here's how you do that.
Create a user account on the Vista machine that is identical to the user account on your XP machine, as follows:
- Log in as an administrator and click the Windows button; then type User in the Search box and click User Accounts when it appears in the Start menu.
- Click Manage Another Account.
- Click Continue on the UAC alert.
- At the bottom of the Choose the Account You Would Like to Change window, click Create a New Account.
- Type in the name of the new account, but use the name you used on the XP computer. Select either Standard User or Administrator and then click Create Account (see Figure 11.20).
Figure 11.20 Create a user account on your Vista machine that clones a user account on your XP machine.
- Next, click the account you created, and when its Make Changes window opens, click Create a Password.
- Type in the same password you used on the twin account on the XP machine. And type the password a second time to confirm. Then type a hint if you need one and click the Create Password button.
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Now that account is set up, let's configure a few settings:
- Open the Network and Sharing Center on the Vista computer.
- In the Network and Sharing area, click the down arrow next to File Sharing and make sure Turn on File Sharing is selected.
Share a Vista Folder
Next, locate the folder on the Vista PC you want to share, as follows:
- Right-click on the folder; then choose Properties and click the Sharing tab.
- Click the Share button. You'll see a pull-down box that's empty. Click the down arrow to reveal its content, and you'll see all the User accounts set up on the Vista machine.
- Choose the account you twinned from the XP machine or Everybody (on This Machine) if you want to allow all accounts to access the folder you want to share and click Add.
- The account(s) are added to the box below. To the right of the entry, you can use the pull-down to assign the permissions for the user(s).
- Click the Share button and wait while the system updates the shared folder with new permissions.
Access a Folder on Vista from Your XP Machine
Next, switch over to your XP computer, as follows:
- Log in under the account you twinned on your Vista machine.
- Click the Windows button, My Computer; then on the left, click My Network Places.
- Click View Workgroup Computers, and when it appears, double-click the icon for your Vista computer.
- You'll see two folders: Users and Public. Double-click Users and then the username of the account that created the file you are sharing; then navigate to the folder where the shared file is located. If it's in Documents, click Documents. If it's on the desktop, click Desktop. You get the idea. After you reach the folder, simply double-click it to see and use its contents.