Networking 2 Computers

Don’t know John, mine are all Windows 8 … but there are lots of complaints about networking & printer failures since the latest Windows (Spring?) update.

Release 1803 kills off Homegroup. It was supposed to make file sharing over a LAN easier but never worked as well as XP file sharing.

The new method is imo a LOT easier to use, but I have not explored it with non-M$ systems. (biggest failure with Homegroup). The ‘share with specific people’ is just a bit of M$ Corporate paranoia on file ownerships, though I guess it might make it harder for network intruders.

link

Perhaps I am part of the reason why Homegroup has been discontinued, I never used it with my network. My network has been through many changes over about 20 plus years as different versions of the OS hit the ground, sometimes limping rather than running. However, I have always been based on the network method \\name of pc\resource required

I believe that some of the more recent changes have come about because of paranoia over security, as accessing resources on a networked PC has required an increase in the permissions to be granted. I recently had to update the permissions on several of my devices. Getting my daughter’s PC to access the ‘Public Shared’ devices on the server, – which had previously been set up was a permissions pain – and her PC is the only one still on 1709.

Uploading files to an external network only to download them to a device a few feet away is a time consuming waste of effort.

At least the network appears to recognise the printers – though the mishmash of different screens needed to allow items of similar types to be found is a pain. Just because the Bluetooth loudspeakers for the TV also have a network connection is not a great reason for my PC to list them as a resource. The network does allow access to recorded material on the PVRs with little restriction, which can be useful sometimes.

Get a Pi for £32 (or less if you go for an older model) – plug a USB drive for sharing in and set the Pi up as an NFS.

Job done for minimal cost.

Just thought John, the other fairly easy way is to use Public Folders on the PCs to move stuff around.

First look up the Internet Address of the computer you want to connect e.g. 192.1668.1.85

Second open Windows File Explorer

Right click in the Network Locations area.

Choose to Add a Network Location, choose a Custom Location

Type in the network Address \\192.168.1.85, click on Browse, select public folders and choose OK

You can use other folders but then you get into the dreaded permissions areas.

I’ve never used Homegroups – I just right click and share and share specific folders that I want access to/from other PCs? I’ve set up a permissions for a read-only account and a read/write one (with saved credentials on the remote PCs) – and shared the folder (s) with either or both of those users. Likewise the USB HDD hanging off my router. Pushing files round is easy and not been affected by recent updates. Am I missing something?

The issue with windows is in order to make it more user friendly, (mass market users), it makes the less mass user needs stuff harder.

Very much like iOS, if your not tech inclined, it just works,and there is one button to get you our of any trouble. Try doing anything remotely “different”, and you’ll be pulling your hair out.

On the flip side, i figures out how to gain access to remote folders on the mac in about 30 seconds.and was super simple. On my first go at using a mac in anger.

I don’t by macs,but my eldest son, drink at the apple alter,and my house now has 2 iMacs, 2 airs and apparently a MacBook pro incoming. So as my lad hands the apple stuff on to his brothers and sisters I’ve had to start supporting that in the house too. And tbh i quite like it. It’s very mint.

Still don’t get the dock thing.

I do think Jobs was onto something comparing the phone and table to a car and a PC to a van. I just wish MS would leave the Van alone. I still use ten for the same stuff as i did XP in almost the same way. All the other stuff that had grown on it is all but useless glitter to me. I do wish they would spilt off a pro ed, and a free home RT ed. Not gonna happen, at least not in the way id like it to be (modular), but it would be nice.

I reckon I’m gonna dip my toe back into the chomebook world. Mine is all but dead now, but even the earlier chrome os, was brilliant. It just worked. Now it has android app support, it has to be almost on par with windows for application and productivity. And in some cases, exceed that windows can do. Suppose that sort of answers my issue with windows forcing us into something we don’t want, or rather we don’t know we don’t want yet.

I’ve gone off piste again .

I have perennial problems with DNS – it is a bit of a black art – and have central resources on fixed IP.

I think this is the key, a central resource and not a scattering of files around various devices on peer-to-peer. Choose one PC and have everyone put shared files on that.

However you just can’t beat a proper NAS, like a Synology or QNAP, that lets you do it correctly.