Currently it is very difficult to find a computer that does not have an Internet connection, since basically having a network connection is more than necessary to be able to carry out different types of activities either at home or at work. That is why when you have several computers either at your work office or at home , one of the most useful features is being able to easily share files and resources between each of those computers.
One of the most common ways of being able to share content between the different computers that are connected to the same network is by configuring the folders so that they can be shared on the network , but the truth of all this is that this configuration process can be avoided and for this simply You have to create a home network, through which you can share files and documents with other computers that are connected to that home group.
It should be borne in mind that this function has been present since Windows 7 and which has been improved and simplified in Windows 8 , so that anyone who has a little knowledge on the Internet can create this type of network and start sharing content with their close family or friends . That is why here we are going to teach you how to configure a home group in Windows 8 in an easy and fast way, for this, follow in detail everything that we will explain below.
Index:
What is a Homegroup and what are the benefits of using it?
Homegroups are nothing more than a group of computers on a home network that are connected to each other over the network and that you can easily share files and printers, making it ideal in offices where there are multiple computers and a single printer . When creating this type of network, any of the computers can easily send to print, in this way the use of a household group greatly facilitates what is shared use.
In this case, users can share what are images, music, videos, files, documents, printers, among many other things with other people who are also part of that group. In order to offer security in this network system and avoid intruders that can take certain data from there , users have the possibility of protecting the home group with a password , which can be changed at any time.
At the time of establishing this password , third parties will be prevented from modifying or taking some of the files that are shared , unless said user has the permissions to do so, all this allows the shared files to reach their destination without suffering modifications along the way.
As another security measure , when creating or joining one of these groups, you can select the folders you want to share and in the same way prevent the sharing of some folders or files on your PC. Therefore, it can be said that these home or work groups are a way to organize computers within a local network and thus be able to share certain types of content or devices in a much easier way.
Recommended for you:
How to log in to the iTunes Store in Spanish quickly and easily? Step by step guide
In accordance with all this, here we show you the main benefits that this type of Win 8 tool offers you:
- File and data sharingwithin the network allows for quick and easy access to information.
- It offers easy access to shared resources, this is how through this home network you can review any type of file that is configured on the network, whether it is to be able to see images from one computer on another or listen to music from a computer in other.
- In the case of the Internet connection,it will always be available for all those devices that are part of the home group.
- Through the homegroupyou have the possibility of supervising all the activities of each of the devices that are connected to the home network and also, all this can be supervised through the router configuration.
- It has a device management, so you have the opportunity to remotely manage all the machines that are connected to the network.
Learn step by step how to set up a Home Group in Windows 8 from scratch
If you want to start sharing files and documents with other computers either at your work office or at home, then it is important that you learn how to create a home network in order to start sharing resources between two or more Windows computers within the same home network.
To do this, you must follow each of the steps that we are going to indicate below:
Create a Home Group
- The first thing you should do is enter the Home Group, for this you must place the mouse pointer on the edge of the right side of your screen and in the options menu that appears there select “Settings.
- The next thing will be to selectthe option “Change PC settings” and then click on the “Network” item and then select the “Home Group” option .
- Once you are in thehome group section , you must click on the “Create” option .
- There you must select the librariesand devices that you want to share with the home
- Once the home network is created, the other computers running the versions of Windows 10, Windows 8 or Windows 7 on your same network will be able to join your home network and thus begin to share different types of content and devices such as the printer.
It is important that when creating this shared network you take into account some aspects such as the following that could affect its configuration:
- If your Win 8 computerbelongs to a domain, then you will be able to join a household group, but you will not be able to create one, so it will be impossible to perform this procedure. In addition, you will be able to have access to the devices and library of other computers that share in the group, but you will not be able to share your libraries or devices on the network.
- If for some reason a homegroup already exists on your network, then a prompt will appear asking if you want to join it instead of creating a new one.
- It is important that the “Find device and content” boxis activated, since it will be the one that allows the home group to function.
Search for files within the home group
Once the network share is created, the next thing you can do is start looking for shared files . In this case, you must bear in mind that the computers that belong to the group will appear in “Windows Explorer”.
Recommended for you:
How to repost on Instagram and what are the advantages of doing it? Step by step guide
Therefore, in order to access the shared libraries of the other computers, you must follow these steps:
- The first thing you should do is enter the “File Explorer”,for this place the mouse cursor in the upper right corner of your screen and move the pointer down and click “Search”.
- There you must write “File Explorer”in the search box and in the options that appear on the screen select “File Explorer” to access there.
- Now in the “Home group”you must select the name of the user account of the person whose library you want to access.
- Subsequently, in the file list you must double click or double click on the libraryyou want to enter, there you must find the file or folder you want to open and double click on it. In this way you will be having access to the content shared by the other users of the shared network.
Share devices and libraries or stop sharing them
You must bear in mind that when creating a home group or joining it, you must select the libraries and devices that you want to share on the network with the other computers that are there, keep in mind that everything you select there will be within the reach of other people who are part of the group .
It is also important that you bear in mind that the files that are shared there are initially made as read mode, that is, other users can see or listen to it, but cannot modify it. It is also possible that you select some individual files or folders so that they can only be seen by specific users of the household group, that is, they will not be available to everyone, but only to those you choose .
With this in mind, here we teach you how to perform these steps:
Share entire libraries
- Here you must enter the home group, for this you must do it again from the Windows 8 Configuration section .
- Once you have enteredthere you must select “Change PC configuration” and then select “Network”.
- When you are in the network sectionyou must select the option “Home group”.
- Now select the library and the devicesthat you want to share with the home group, in this case they will be available to all users who are there.
Share files or folders individually
- In this case itis necessary that you access the “Windows 8 Explorer” as we explained previously.
- Once there you must selectthe item you want to share and then click on the “Share” tab .
- Here you must selectthe option in the group “Share with”, in this case you will find different options depending on the type of network it is and if the computer is connected to a network.
- If you want to share fileswith a specific person, then you must choose that person’s user account.
- If you want to prevent a folder or file frombeing shared with other unwanted users, then you must click on the “Share” tab and then click on “Stop sharing with”.
- To modify the level of accessto a folder or a file, you must click on the “Share” tab and then select “View group at home” or “View and edit group at home”.
- If what you need is to share a location suchas a folder on the system or a drive, then you need to select the “Advanced Sharing” option so that you can share it.
Share printer
As previously mentioned in the post, it is also possible to share what is the use of a printer through the household groups , which greatly facilitates the printing process when there is only one printer in the house or office .
Recommended for you:
How to install and use PGP on MacOS computers? Step by step guide
In this case, these devices are connected by a USB cable to one of the computers in the home group , so that machine must share it. When the printer has already been shared, you will be able to access it through the print dialog box of any program that you run, this process is completely the same as if the printer were connected to your computer , only this time you must select the one that has been shared.
Therefore, in order to share it on the shared network, you will need to follow these steps:
Share printer in homegroup
- The first thingyou should do is enter the home group, for this you must access the Win 8 settings.
- Once you enter thereyou must select the option “Change PC configuration” and then select the “Network” item.
- When you arein the “Network” section, you must select the “Home group” option .
- Now you must selectthe control to share “Printer and devices” in this way you will be sharing your printer with the other users of the shared network.
The first thing you should do is open the print menu of the application you are using, be it a word processor, a spreadsheet, a photograph, among others. When the menu opens, you must select the printer that has been shared in the group and once selected, just click “Print.”
Add new computers to your Home Group to make it wider with these steps in Windows 8
It is possible that after creating the homegroup on the network, you need to add a new device, either because they have bought another computer in your house or because they have added a new machine in your work office. In this case, in order to add a new computer to the network, it is necessary that the password of the home group be supplied to that person.
In this case, it is important to keep in mind that all accounts except the guest account belong to the home group, so each person can control access to their own library , as well as what type of content to share.
In order to add a new computer to the home network, it is necessary that you follow each of the steps that we are going to teach you below:
- The first thing you should knowis that these steps must be done directly from the equipment you are going to add, therefore, the first thing to do is enter the “Settings” of the equipment.
- When you have logged inyou must click on “Change PC settings” and then click on “Network” and then select “Homegroup”.
- Now you must enterthe password of the home group you want to join, and then click on the “Join” option .
- The next thing to dois to select the libraries and devices that you want to share with the other members of the network.
- Once here you must selectthe option “Multimedia devices” in this case you must select it only if you want network devices such as televisions or game consoles to play their content in a shared way.
After this, you will have already added a new computer to your home group , in case you want to add another computer , then it will be necessary to repeat all the aforementioned steps again.
Tips to improve the security of your Home Group network in Windows 8
Finally, we are going to show you how you can start to improve the security of your group network at home, this will allow you to protect each of the documents and files that are shared there, taking into account that on many occasions they can be reached to share important data that may not be available to everyone .
So, here are some tips to help you improve security on your Windows 8 shared network:
Set a password to your homegroup
The most basic and simple way to improve the security of your shared network is by establishing a security password to access it , this will guarantee that only the correct users access it, preventing said information shared there from becoming available to third parties .
In addition, establishing a password will ensure that none of the shared data can be modified, so it will only be available in read mode. In this way, if you want to start taking care of all the information that is shared there, you can start by placing an access code and thus make sure that only the members of the same can make use of said libraries .
Encrypt content that matters
In the case of household groups in the houses, there are usually not so many security problems, since basically these groups are made up only by the family, where it is expected that everything can go well. But the opposite happens when they are created in the work offices and important data has to be shared and these can become available to any of the group members .
In this case, the user has two options to be able to protect their content and thus prevent it from being modified. The first case is to share the content only with the necessary users, that is, with those who really need to see what you are sharing, since in many cases an employee must share a file or document only for the boss to see it, in this case you can share it only to boss user.
Another option is to encrypt said document or file and provide the boss with the password so that he can have access to it, you can also share it in read-only mode and thus prevent anyone else from making any kind of change that may get to affect your work.
Add only trusted people to your home group
One of the advantages that can be obtained when creating a home group is that you yourself have the opportunity to decide which people can be there, this in case you do it at home, so a security measure for This is to allow entry only to those people you trust and who are sure that they will not make any inappropriate use of the files or documents shared there.
In the case of offices, this can no longer be controlled so much, since in general, the entire work group must be there to share the necessary information about the work. However, in this case the most feasible solution if you consider that there are people who cannot be trusted, to share all your information or at least the most important information privately only with those people who need it, this will prevent third parties from being able to access such content without your authorization.
