Windows 8’s file and printer sharing services
work quite well with Windows 7, Vista, XP, and the various Windows
Server versions. All of these OSs were intended from the start to work
well with the TCP/IP network protocol favored by Windows 8.
For all practical purposes, Windows 8 and
Windows 7 networking are virtually identical. There are no
compatibility issues to worry about, other than the Network Location
issue .
If your network has computers running older versions of Windows, the differences in OSs may show up in these areas:
• Default networking protocols—You
might have configured older computers to use the NetBIOS or SPX/IPX
protocol as the primary networking protocol. Windows 8 requires that
you use TCP/IP. And, it’s best if you use only TCP/IP.
• LLDP mapping—By
default, Windows XP computers did not come with support for LLDP, and
without it, these computers will appear as “orphans” on the network map
display. You can download and install an LLDP add-on for XP if you wish.
• Password Protected Sharing (Simple File Sharing)—Windows
can provide username/password security for shared files and folders.
Windows 8, 7, Vista, and XP also have a “passwordless” option.
• HomeGroup networking—Windows
8 and 7 let you join your computers into a homegroup, which simplifies
file sharing security. A homegroup member can still share files and
printers with older versions of Windows.
We cover these topics in the next four sections.
1. Setting TCP/IP as the Default Network Protocol
When freshly installed, Windows XP was set up
to use the TCP/IP network protocol for file and printer sharing by
default. If your network previously included Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000,
or NT computers, you might have changed the network protocols to
simplify internetworking with the older operating systems.
Because newer versions of Windows support
only TCP/IP, you need to make sure that TCP/IP is enabled on your
Windows XP computers. Also, Windows networking works much more reliably
when every computer on the network has the exact same set of protocols
installed. You should ensure that TCP/IP is the only installed network protocol.
Note
If your computer is connected to a corporate network, your network administrator will make all necessary changes for you.
Follow these steps on all your computers that run Windows XP Home Edition or XP Professional:
1. Log on using a Computer Administrator account.
2. Click Start, Control Panel, Network and Internet Connections; then click the Network Connections icon.
3. Right-click the Local Area Connection icon and select Properties.
4. Look in the list of
installed components and make sure that Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) is
listed. If not, click Install, select Protocols, click Add, and select
Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). If your network uses manually assigned
(static) IP addresses, configure the Internet Protocol entry just as
you configured your Windows 7 computers.
5. Look in the list of installed components for the NWLink IPX/SPX or NetBEUI protocols. Select these entries and click Uninstall.
6. Click OK to close the Local Area Connection Properties dialog box.
7. From the menu in the Network Connections window, select Advanced, Advanced Settings. Select the Adapters and Bindings tab.
8. In the top list,
select Local Area Connection. In the lower list, make sure that
Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) is checked under both File and Printer
Sharing for Microsoft Networks and Client for Microsoft Networks.
9. Click OK to close the dialog box.
After checking all your computers, restart all your computers if you had to make changes on any of them.
