Solved How to connect a Win7 PC to a Win10 PC via LAN/Router?

[mulambo]

I need to connect two computers, one is a Win7, the other is Win10, with Netgear Ethernet router and LAN cables (straight).
The router works, I also used it to connect Win7 to various consoles (via Filezilla) and same cables.
The Win7 homegroup appears, but Win10 has no homegroup and "Network" folder shows nothing (but a weird WMP media device which I can enable or disable... and it's kind useless).
I tried the different options but I'm still stuck at SMB1 that doesn't want to install (0x80073701 error).
I also tried connecting with Filezilla to IP of Win10 (from "Details" of the ethernet connection properties) but it doesn't connect.
Basically all I need is to transfer files between the two.

 

[dg1261]

By all means, avoid using a "Homegroup". That has never worked reliably. It requires one computer to be the Homegroup administrator, and computers will frequently fight with each other over who gets that honor.

There are many different ways to achieve the same results, but I'll lay out a quick tutorial of the method I have used for 10 years for configuring bidirectional sharing. If you only intend to share in one direction, you should be able to figure out which steps aren't relevant for your situation.


Step 1:
Make sure both computers are on the same LAN subnet.

If both are connected to the same router, chances are they're likely already on the same subnet, but it never hurts to make sure before proceeding. Open a command prompt and enter "ipconfig", then check the response to see what IP address each computer is using. (In the illustration I created below, networking two virtual machines, one is assigned 192.168.2.52 and the other is 192.168.2.60.)

(Beware: the "ping" command from a command prompt won't be reliable until Step 2 is completed.)


Step 2:
Make sure both Windows installations are configured for sharing.

Find the link to "advanced sharing settings" in "Network and Sharing Center". Note that the dopey menus in Win 10 make it hard to get to, so it's simpler to just type "advanced sharing" in the Win 10 search box to find it.

There are lots of other settings here, but these are the relevant options:




Step 3:
Create a shared folder on each computer.

You can name the folder anything you want, but in the illustration below I named the folder "netshare". Then right-click the folder and select "Properties" -> [Sharing] tab -> and click the [Share...] button.

This may be optional for you, but I'm sharing folders with the family so rather than choosing names I just add "Everyone" to the list and set the permission level to "Read/Write".

Finish by clicking the [Share] button.



Warning: Do not try to share the root directory of a drive! It can be done, but it's difficult and you'll just make more headaches for yourself.

Warning: You can share a folder or a subfolder, but try to avoid sharing any folders in the "C:\Users\{name}" folder because different Windows versions impose extra restrictions on that directory tree. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.


Step 4:
MAKE SURE YOU LOGIN TO BOTH COMPUTERS WITH A PASSWORD!

This is the step that trips up most people. It's possible to setup anonymous access, but it's unreliable. Save yourself the headaches and just use a Windows password to login to each computer. When you get to Step 5, Windows will ask you for your password, and it gets finicky if you don't have one.


When you get this far, you should have access to the other computer via "Network" in Windows Explorer. To make access easier, though, I add one additional step:

Step 5:
Create a shortcut on each computer to the shared folder on the other.

Right-click on your desktop and select "New/Shortcut". Starting with two backslashes, type the name of the network share on the other computer. Note you can use either the machine name or the IP address.




Now you should be able to double-click the shortcut and see the contents of the shared folder on the other computer.

 

[samuria]

Details and guide Google Search

 

[mulambo]

By all means, avoid using a "Homegroup". That has never worked reliably. It requires one computer to be the Homegroup administrator, and computers will frequently fight with each other over who gets that honor.

There are many different ways to achieve the same results, but I'll lay out a quick tutorial of the method I have used for 10 years for configuring bidirectional sharing. If you only intend to share in one direction, you should be able to figure out which steps aren't relevant for your situation.


Step 1:
Make sure both computers are on the same LAN subnet.

If both are connected to the same router, chances are they're likely already on the same subnet, but it never hurts to make sure before proceeding. Open a command prompt and enter "ipconfig", then check the response to see what IP address each computer is using. (In the illustration I created below, networking two virtual machines, one is assigned 192.168.2.52 and the other is 192.168.2.60.)

(Beware: the "ping" command from a command prompt won't be reliable until Step 2 is completed.)


Step 2:
Make sure both Windows installations are configured for sharing.

Find the link to "advanced sharing settings" in "Network and Sharing Center". Note that the dopey menus in Win 10 make it hard to get to, so it's simpler to just type "advanced sharing" in the Win 10 search box to find it.

There are lots of other settings here, but these are the relevant options:

View attachment 424948


Step 3:
Create a shared folder on each computer.

You can name the folder anything you want, but in the illustration below I named the folder "netshare". Then right-click the folder and select "Properties" -> [Sharing] tab -> and click the [Share...] button.

This may be optional for you, but I'm sharing folders with the family so rather than choosing names I just add "Everyone" to the list and set the permission level to "Read/Write".

Finish by clicking the [Share] button.

View attachment 424949

Warning: Do not try to share the root directory of a drive! It can be done, but it's difficult and you'll just make more headaches for yourself.

Warning: You can share a folder or a subfolder, but try to avoid sharing any folders in the "C:\Users\{name}" folder because different Windows versions impose extra restrictions on that directory tree. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.


Step 4:
MAKE SURE YOU LOGIN TO BOTH COMPUTERS WITH A PASSWORD!

This is the step that trips up most people. It's possible to setup anonymous access, but it's unreliable. Save yourself the headaches and just use a Windows password to login to each computer. When you get to Step 5, Windows will ask you for your password, and it gets finicky if you don't have one.


When you get this far, you should have access to the other computer via "Network" in Windows Explorer. To make access easier, though, I add one additional step:

Step 5:
Create a shortcut on each computer to the shared folder on the other.

Right-click on your desktop and select "New/Shortcut". Starting with two backslashes, type the name of the network share on the other computer. Note you can use either the machine name or the IP address.

View attachment 424950


Now you should be able to double-click the shortcut and see the contents of the shared folder on the other computer.

Thank you for your guide, but both on Win7 and Win10 they can't recognize each other's IP address or computer name after I put it in the shortcut dialog as mentioned (windows says "Wrong file destination").
The shortcut works when I use the same IP of the running machine respectively (they access to their own shared folders respectively).
Subnet mask is the same, so is the gateway.
Win7 is 192.168.0.3
Win10 is 192.168.0.2
Both are accessed with password and after login.

Details and guide Google Search

I tried this as well, altough I don't know what's used for, but after some tries the troubleshooting diagnostics said that "Your DNS server might be unavailable" after I tried putting "\\c:\WATCH" as access folder (when I click "Browse" next to it, it only shows "Network" and it's empty, not even "Make new folder" button works).

 

[samuria]

Run this app on both pcs can it see the other pc NetBScanner - NetBIOS scanner

 

[dg1261]

both on Win7 and Win10 they can't recognize each other's IP address
[...]
Win7 is 192.168.0.3
Win10 is 192.168.0.2

Can the machines ping each other? Are they both set (in Network and Sharing Center) to Home/Private network locations?

- - - Updated - - -

I tried putting "\\c:\WATCH" as access folder

Not to get sidetracked, but that's not a legit network name. Assuming you've shared the c:\WATCH folder, the network name would be either something like "\\W7DESKTOP\WATCH" or "\\192.168.0.3\WATCH". When you complete the Sharing wizard in Step 3, it will specify what the name is for the network share.

 

[mulambo]

Solved, there was just one step I forgot about: disabling the 3rd party firewall.
It seems it works for now, but I wonder: which process exactly can I unblock on the firewall (so I can still use the firewall) ?
Also, I tried copying a bunch of files: 11.1 Mb/s (almost like a pendrive). Is this normal/depending on the router?

Anyway thank you all guys, I'm saving this page just in case.

 

[dg1261]

I've never run into that problem, so can't say I have an answer. The firewall has always been enabled on all my machines.

I would think that if both network locations are set to Home/Private, the Windows Firewall should automatically default to allowing file and printer sharing through the firewall. Perhaps peruse the firewall settings ("choose which programs...") to see if anything looks amiss.

You haven't mentioned running any antivirus programs, but some of the older, "kitchen-sink" suites were, unsurprisingly, nasty about creating problems like that.

As for speed, note that "a bunch of files" will always entail a lot of housekeeping overhead that will skew the results. You'll get a more accurate idea by copying a single very large file (e.g., 1 GB) and noting the speed.

Yes, the router will have an impact, as will the network adapters in each computer. But I would expect most any device made in at least the last 10 years should be gigabit speeds or more, so I would expect to see large file transfers closer to 500-800 Mbps. Note that's through ethernet, not wi-fi. (And FTR, note intra-LAN speeds are typically higher than WAN speeds -- not material in this scenario, but don't confuse yourself if you're reading the specs on the box.)

 

[mulambo]

I've never run into that problem, so can't say I have an answer. The firewall has always been enabled on all my machines.

I would think that if both network locations are set to Home/Private, the Windows Firewall should automatically default to allowing file and printer sharing through the firewall. Perhaps peruse the firewall settings ("choose which programs...") to see if anything looks amiss.

You haven't mentioned running any antivirus programs, but some of the older, "kitchen-sink" suites were, unsurprisingly, nasty about creating problems like that.

As for speed, note that "a bunch of files" will always entail a lot of housekeeping overhead that will skew the results. You'll get a more accurate idea by copying a single very large file (e.g., 1 GB) and noting the speed.

Yes, the router will have an impact, as will the network adapters in each computer. But I would expect most any device made in at least the last 10 years should be gigabit speeds or more, so I would expect to see large file transfers closer to 500-800 Mbps. Note that's through ethernet, not wi-fi. (And FTR, note intra-LAN speeds are typically higher than WAN speeds -- not material in this scenario, but don't confuse yourself if you're reading the specs on the box.)

I don't know about Windows Firewall, I have it activated too on both machines, but also on both machines I have a 3rd party firewall, which I can only configure by adding a process at a time (example: Firefox, Filezilla, Thunderbird, etc.). That is why I was asking which process regards LAN networking, so I can add it to the whitelist and still have the 3rd party firewall working as usual.

About the speed, yes, I tried both with multiple files and single files, but they were > 3gb... in all cases speed was 11,1mb/s or something. But I think it's the router, it's kinda old (10 years at least).

 

[dg1261]

As a postscript to this thread, I just happened to listen to a recent episode of Steve Gibson's "Security Now" podcast. It has a brief segment mentioning how to test your LAN speed.

The podcast is here. Skip to about the 1:34:20 time mark for the start of the short, 3-minute segment.

I tested it on my LAN. It's pretty slick. You start by downloading a portable "server" app from the OpenSpeedTest website. Launch the portable app and get its server going on one machine, then on your other machine open any web browser and go to the server's IP address, which will be something like "192.168.0.2:3000".

It looks and operates similar to familiar internet speed tests from Ookla or your ISP, but it works from machine to machine on the same LAN to test your LAN speed instead of your internet speed.