How do I access another PC on my network?

I have a home network with 2 desktops. One is running Windows 7 and the other is 8.1. I also have 2 external hard drives (1 connected to each PC) I want to use as backup devices.
I would like to have each PC back up to both external hard drives automatically daily with NovaStor Backup software.
My problem is I cannot figure out how to connect to each through my network. I also don't know what to use for login and password as I do not have to log on for each machine. H E L P ! ! !

Hi DM, I apologize for not responding back to you sooner as I was involved in an issue that took me away for 2 days. Anyway, I did as you suggested and turned off password protected sharing on both computers HD's and both externals. I also set all drives on the network to sharing and they have the double head icon indicating sharing is allowed. I can see all devices listed under Network but as yet I am unable to open any not connected to the PC I am sitting at. What am I missing sir? Also, I'm not quite sure I understand your question, "Do either of these machines setup as Homegroup computers?"

ProBowler said:

I have a home network with 2 desktops. One is running Windows 7 and the other is 8.1. I also have 2 external hard drives (1 connected to each PC) I want to use as backup devices.
I would like to have each PC back up to both external hard drives automatically daily with NovaStor Backup software.

Please clarify... do you want to run TWO backups from each PC each day (for a total of four backup jobs each day), producing essentially duplicate backups from each PC to both of your two external hard drives every day?

In other words, one backup from each PC written to the locally connected external hard drive, and the second backup from each PC written to the external hard drive connected to the other PC (which means you must be able to access the other PC on your home network, and also get to the external hard drive connected to that other PC)?

Or am I misunderstanding, and you simply want to run one daily NovaBackup each day on each machine (for a daily total of two, not four, backups) , writing to the locally attached external USB drive on that machine, and you also want to be able to get to the drives of the other machine from each machine?

My problem is I cannot figure out how to connect to each through my network.

You have to enable file sharing on both PC's.

And you will have to log in the first time you try to connect to the other PC. The login/password must be entered in a "credentials" dialog, and there will be a checkbox you should check for "remember my credentials" (so that you won't have to ever log in again).

The login username and password you enter in the credentials dialog to get to the other machine is the exact username and password you would enter when you normally boot that other machine, at Windows Welcome screen on that machine.

I also don't know what to use for login and password as I do not have to log on for each machine. H E L P ! ! !

You MUST have a username and password for the machine you want to provide remote access to from another machine. That's the password you will enter at Windows Welcome on that machine at boot time. And that's the same username and password you will enter in the "credentials" dialog that pops up the first time you try to connect to that machine.

If you don't currently have a Windows password for the username on these two machines, you'll need to create one. Control Panel -> User accounts, and set a password.


Also, for convenience you should have both computers in the same "workgroup" (that's not homegroup, which is another type of network).

Right-click on Computer (in Win7) or This PC (in Win8), select Properties, and look down in the properties dialog to the "Computer name, domain and workgroup settings". Click on the "change settings" link, and then be sure both computers have the same workgroup name. By default MS sets "workgroup" as the workgroup name, but I find that ambiguous and confusing. So I have my own name (e.g. MDRLAN) just to be something other than what comes on every Windows machine by default.

Regardless, you should have the same workgroup name set for both machines. And you'll need to reboot if you change from what it currently is to apply the change.

Then, to enable file sharing on each PC, open Explorer or My Computer and one at a time right-click on each of your drive letters. Select "share with" from the context menu to get the Properties dialog. Then push the "advanced sharing" button, push the "permissions" button, and check "full control".



Then OK all the way back through the set of dialog windows, and you should now have that drive accessible from the other machine.

When you're all done enabling sharing for the drives on each machine, and you've established a password for the windows logon for both machines, now you're ready to access the drives of the other machine and for convenience "map network drive". That will let Windows automatically reconnect at boot time, and reestablish the drive letters you've set up in this "map network drive" process. You will then be able to always see the drives of the other machine with letters you have assigned.

I recommend that for convenience and consistency, you start assigning network drive letters (for the drives on the other machine) as P (from each machine), Q, R, etc., so that no matter which machine you sit down at you will have local drive letters of C, D, E, etc., and network drive letters (i.e. the drives of the other machine) of P, Q, R, etc.

If you open Explorer, scroll down to the Network item and click on it to expand it. After a bit of delay you'll then see both computers in your workgroup. Then click on the other machine, and you'll be presented with the "login" for credentials. Enter the username and password you would normally use at Windows Welcome to log in to that machine, and be sure the "remember credentials" box is checked so you won't have to enter this again.

Once the login is processed, you'll then see all of the shared drives on that other remote machine. You can then right-click on each of those remote drives, and select "map network drive" from the popup menu. Again, I suggest P for the remote C, Q for the remote D, etc..

OK your way back, and you now have the drives of the remote PC available as drive letters on your local PC.

Now when you use NovaBackup on a machine, you can choose to "Backup to..." the external drive on either the local PC, or the external drive on the remote PC (assuming you've also shared the external drives on each machine and not just the local drives/partitions).