Windows 7 - Networking 2 home computers

Ok people, this is new territory for this 'ol fart...! I have a Windows 7 Home Pro system in the upstairs 'puter room, its an Asus P7D55P, intel i5 2.67, 4gb ram, 5770 vid card, Antec 900 case, 650 watt PS It's all connected to the net via a wired D-Link Dl 604 router.

The downstairs unit is my old XP system MSI MoBo, 2Gb ram, AMD proces, can't remember the type. It is also plugged into the router via Cat 5 RG 54 cable.

I checked the system settings and my home network but nothing shows me the downstairs system.

Is there a particular process, settings, etc., that I have to do/set to get these 2 systems to talk to each other......!

My main goal is to be able to send a file to the upstairs printer/plotter, while I'm working on a project(wood, plastic model, etc.), from the old XP system.

Any help would GREATLY be appreciated.

Regards,
unclepine

XP cannot join a Homegroup. Select a regular workgroup.

Riotkayak is right, you will need to use a Workgroup, not a Homegroup.

A homegroup is used when all the computers on a network are running Windows 7.

You might want to check this tutorial by Brink for some pointers as to where you may be going wrong.

Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP

I changed the upstairs WIndows 7 computer to Workgroup, but still no change. Please remember I am NOT in the least a computer "geek", not that there is anything wrong with that, but I was hoping to find a step by step article/thread/page what have you, to assist me in setting this up.

I need specifics based on my 2 systems Im trying to connect. I relalize this is tricky over the web, but for now this is only option I have for getting info...

One site was talking about turning off "bridges", whatever the heck THAT is...!

All I can ask here is what I've already said, I need a step by step if anyone knows where I can find this.

Thanks for putting up with this 'ol codger,
Unclepine

See here for more information: Join or create a workgroup

To share files between Windows 7 and Windows XP computers: File Sharing - Between XP and W7 (and vice versa)

To configure sharing permissions: Sharing and Permissions

For information: A bridge is the term used when two network adapters are joined (bridged) to form one network, but you won't need to concern yourself with it as you'll not be using it.