Logging in HomeGroupUser$ Account from XP Computer

[Morality124]

Hi. I was wondering if it was possible to log into the HomeGroupUser$ account on an XP computer connected to a 7 Computer that is part of a HomeGroup. I've tried entering the homegroup password with the username but it was denied.

 

[severedsolo]

Hi Morality,

The short answer is no, Homegroup is a feature of WIndows 7 and up only. To connect to a PC using XP you will need to set up a WORKGROUP. Here's a tutorial for you: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/53830-file-sharing-between-xp-w7-vice-versa.html

 

[Morality124]

I see. How exactly does the HomeGroupUser$ account work compared to other accounts? A quick inspection doesn't reveal anything dramatically different.
I was reading the tutorial at http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/wi...homegroup-content-accessible-to-vista-and-xp/ and was wondering why not simply log into the HomeGroupUser$ account instead of making a seperate user account for this purpose (as described in the tutorial).

 

[chev65]

I see. How exactly does the HomeGroupUser$ account work compared to other accounts? A quick inspection doesn't reveal anything dramatically different.
I was reading the tutorial at How do I make Windows 7 HomeGroup content accessible to Vista and XP? - TechRepublic and was wondering why not simply log into the HomeGroupUser$ account instead of making a seperate user account for this purpose (as described in the tutorial).

Using a standard account for this limits the users access to shared files only, they can't access system files on other machines when logging in with a standard account.

You also wouldn't want to hand out the User name and password to access the Win 7 machine to everyone in the network as this would allow them to sign into that machine as the Admin using those credentials.