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Join A Windows XP Computer To A Windows 7-8-10 Homegroup

1. To join a Windows XP computer to a Windows 7/8/10 homegroup, all computers must be part of the same workgroup, which is typically called "WORKGROUP". 2. On Windows XP, you can check or change the workgroup name by going to System Properties and clicking the Computer Name tab. 3. Troubleshooting may be needed to access files between Windows XP and Windows 7/8/10 computers on the homegroup, such as connecting directly by network path name instead of through Network Places.

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35 views

Join A Windows XP Computer To A Windows 7-8-10 Homegroup

1. To join a Windows XP computer to a Windows 7/8/10 homegroup, all computers must be part of the same workgroup, which is typically called "WORKGROUP". 2. On Windows XP, you can check or change the workgroup name by going to System Properties and clicking the Computer Name tab. 3. Troubleshooting may be needed to access files between Windows XP and Windows 7/8/10 computers on the homegroup, such as connecting directly by network path name instead of through Network Places.

Uploaded by

tetkaC
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1/9/2020 Join a Windows XP Computer to a Windows 7/8/10 Homegroup

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Join a Windows XP Computer to a


Windows 7/8/10 Homegroup
Help older computers nd and use it

Written by: Aseem Kishore, Twitter: @akishore


Posted on: November 17th, 2017 in: Windows XP Tips

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Once you have setup a homegroup using
Windows 7/8/10 on your network, the next step is to ne-tune it so that all the older
computers can nd each other. All Windows 7 and higher computers will easily be able to join
the homegroup by just using the password, but if your network contains computers running
older versions of Windows, you’ll have to put them into the same workgroup.

If computers running Windows XP are part of your network, it’s important to use the same
workgroup name for all of the computers on your network. This makes it possible for
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1/9/2020 Join a Windows XP Computer to a Windows 7/8/10 Homegroup

computers running different versions of Windows to detect and access each other.
Remember that the default workgroup name is not the same in all versions of Windows. 99%
of the time it is just called WORKGROUP, but in case it’s not, make sure to change it to that.

Con gure Workgroup


To nd or change the workgroup name on a computer running Windows XP click Start,
right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.

In System Properties, click the Computer Name tab to see the workgroup name. If it’s not
WORKGROUP, click Change, and type the new name under Workgroup.

In Windows 7/8/10, you can verify the workgroup by going to the Control Panel and then
clicking on System. At the bottom, you will see the workgroup name.

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1/9/2020 Join a Windows XP Computer to a Windows 7/8/10 Homegroup

Basically, the key to adding XP computers to a Windows 7/8/10 homegroup is to make it part
of the same workgroup as those computers. However, you will run into issues when trying to
access the Windows XP computer from Windows 7/8/10 or vice versa. Don’t worry though, a
little bit of troubleshooting will x it.

Troubleshoot Windows XP Network Issues


The rst issue I ran into was when I went to My Computer, clicked on My Network Places and
then clicked on View workgroup computers, I got the following error:

Workgroup is not accessible....The service has not been started.

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1/9/2020 Join a Windows XP Computer to a Windows 7/8/10 Homegroup

This got me Googling and I tried a whole slew of solutions including turning off the rewall,
trying to start the Computer Browser service, enabling NetBIOS, etc. Though those items have
to be working properly, they were not exactly causing the problem. First, follow all the
directions in this Microsoft support article to make sure the basics are covered.

Once you have done that, try connecting from the Windows XP machine to your Windows
7/8/10 computer by opening Explorer and typing in the network path like below:

In my case, the \\AseemVostro computer is a Windows 10 computer. Oddly enough, even


though I get the error when clicking on the View workgroup computers link, I was able to
access the shared folders on my Windows 10 machine. My Windows 10 machine logs in
using a Microsoft account, so when it asked for the username and password, I entered my
email address and password, which worked.

Also, when trying to connect to the XP machine from Windows 10, I kept trying to enter the
username and password for my local account on the XP machine, but it simply wouldn’t
connect. It nally worked after I did two things. First, I clicked on the Setup a home or small
of ce network link that you see in the screenshot above. I went through the wizard, making
sure to name the workgroup WORKGROUP.

Secondly, I connected to the Windows 10 machine rst from Windows XP. Once I did that, I
was able to connect to my XP machine from Windows 10 without any issue. If you run into
any problems, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll try to help. Also, be sure to checkout my
complete guide to troubleshooting homegroups in Windows. Enjoy!

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