The HomeGroup functionality, which is available in Windows 10, makes it easier to connect devices to a common local network even for the average user. Therefore, if you are planning to create between your computers in the house shared network, you need to learn how to create a homegroup in Windows 10 and configure it.

Creation and configuration

When you create a group, the folders that are installed with Windows 10 will be publicly accessible: images, videos, music, documents, printers, and devices (find out how to share folders in the article “”). Copy files into them that you want to open for other users.

Before starting the process, make sure that all the devices you connect meet the necessary requirements:

• OS installed is at least Windows 7;
• they are connected to the network via wired or wireless communication With using Wi-Fi router.

To set up a homegroup, go to .

RMB on the Start menu → control panel (turn on display by category) → Network and Internet → Homegroup.

Microsoft has made the process of creating a network as easy as possible, so follow the instructions. But to avoid any problems during setup, check the sharing and network discovery properties for the device.

1. In the “Home Group” window → Change advanced sharing settings... → expand the “Private” tab.
2. Set the switch to “Enable network discovery” and “Enable general access to files and printers."
3. Open the “All Networks” tab and select the “Enable sharing so that network users can read and write files in shared folders” and “Disable password-protected sharing” → save changes.
   

In the “Homegroup” window, click “Create a homegroup” → Next → specify the folders to which you share access (this standard folders Windows 10) → Next.

Once setup is complete home network A password will appear on the first computer, which will be needed to connect other devices. This completes the creation process.

Connection

RMB on the Start menu → control panel (turn on display by category) → Network and Internet → Homegroup → Join → Next → open the access folders → Next → enter the homegroup password → Next → Done.

Possible problems

After upgrading your computer to Windows 10 (read how to do this in the article “”), problems often arise when using a home group: sharing does not work, you cannot change the password, leave the group or create one. To correct the situation, proceed as follows.

1. Turn off all computers on your home network except the one on which you are fixing the problem.
2. Go to: OS drive → Windows → ServiceProfiles → LocalService → AppData → Roaming → PeerNetworking → delete the idstore.sst file → reboot the device.
   

   Important! At the same time, turn on the display hidden files and folders, otherwise the AppData directory will be inaccessible.

3. Go to the homegroup creation window → its creation icon will appear.
4. Turn on all PCs and connect to the network.

RMB on the Start menu → control panel (turn on display by category) → Network and Internet → Homegroup → group settings will be displayed → Show or print homegroup password.

Removal

To delete a homegroup, log out of it.

RMB on the Start menu → control panel (turn on display by category) → Network and Internet → Homegroup → Exit homegroup → select “Exit homegroup” → confirm the actions.

Conclusion

Creating a homegroup in Windows 10 is a process that is as simplified as possible. Follow the instructions and prompts of the system, after checking the necessary settings. In this case, access will only be granted to shared OS folders. If necessary, you can change your homegroup or leave it.

In Windows 10 April Update 1803, Microsoft removed the HomeGroup functionality. HomeGroup first appeared in Windows 7 and was intended to simplify the organization of a small home or office network and easily set up shared access to files, folders and printers. Even though Windows 10 doesn't have a HomeGroup, you can still provide network access to your folders and printers using other built-in Windows 10 features.

So, in this article, we will figure out how to share network access to folders, files and printers on your Windows 10 1803 computer without using a homegroup using the built-in SMB resource sharing functionality.

No HomeGroup in Windows 10 1803

In Windows 10 1803 and higher, it is no longer possible to create a Home Group. This functionality is no longer supported. On the one hand, I think that this is the right step, because... Setting up HomeGroup is quite confusing and relatively difficult for an untrained user.

After you have updated Windows 10 to version 1803, you will experience:

• The HomeGroup section does not appear in navigation bar Explorer.
• The HomeGroup item is missing in the control panel. This means you can't create, join, or leave a homegroup.
• You cannot share files and printers using a HomeGroup.
• All shared printers and network folders created using HomeGroup will still be accessible. But you won't be able to create new ones.

However, in Windows 10, you can still share resources that you previously shared within a HomeGroup. The sharing process just looks a little different than when using HomeGroup.

Setting up sharing services in Windows 10

For your Windows 10 1803 computer to function correctly as a server that shares its folders and printers with other devices on the local network, you need to configure some network services.

IN Windows settings(on both computers) you need to go to Options -> Network and Internet -> Your_network_connection(Ethernet or Wi-Fi) -> (Settings > Network & Internet > Ethernet -> Change advanced sharing options).

Then in the section Private network (Private) enable options:

• Enable network discovery(Turn on network discovery)
• Enable file and printer sharing(Turn on file and printer sharing)

In chapter All networks enable options:

• Enable sharing to allow network users to read and write files in shared folders
• Disable password protection.

  As a rule, password protection on your home network can be disabled, because... you trust all devices on your network). In a small office local network, you can enable password protection. At the same time, you can log in when accessing the resources of another computer (using a user account and password with remote computer), or use the same account with the same password on all computers.

Check the following conditions:

• All computers on your local network use unique names and IP addresses.
• The network type is set to Private network ().
• If there are older versions of Windows (XP, Vista) on your network, for them to work correctly on Windows 10 you will have to enable support for the SMBv1 protocol and also allow network access under a guest account (see).
• Translate services " Publishing feature discovery resources" (Function Discovery Resource Publication) and " Discovery Provider Host» (Function Discovery Provider Host) to start automatically. Otherwise, when accessing network resources, you may receive .

The same settings must be made on another Windows 10 computer, which will be used as a client and access shared resources over the network.

How to Share a Network Printer in Windows 10 1803

In Windows 10, you can share the printer connected to your computer with other computers on your network. We assume that you have already connected the printer (via USB, LPT or wireless connection) and set it up on your computer.

Then on the computer to which the printer is connected:

Now you can connect this network printer on another Windows 10 computer.

Opening network sharing to a folder (file) in Windows 10 1803

Let's figure out how to share a local directory with other computers in your Windows 10 April Update 1803 working group or domain over the network.

Advice. The easiest way to transfer a file between Windows 10 computers is to use the .

Advice. For more fine tuning settings and permissions for network folder you can use the console fsmgmt.msc.

Advice. To see all the folders to which you have shared network access, go to address bar on \\localhost .

Now you can access this folder from another computer over the network. To do this, in the Explorer window, simply navigate to the address of your folder, for example \\Desktop-JOPF9\Distr . For the convenience of the user, you can create a shortcut to this folder on his desktop or connect it as network drive through net command use.

Advice. If you cannot open a network folder from a remote computer, check that your firewall settings allow access to shared files and printers on a private network (File and Printer Sharing rules). Also try to access not by the computer name, but by its IP address, for example: \\192.168.1.20\Distr.

Built into Windows 7 and above DLNA server, that is, you can share videos, music and photos from your computer over the network and watch them on any device that supports DLNA, that is, on almost any TV, a bunch of different players, on your smartphone or tablet (you need to install the application). This is very convenient so that you can watch a movie on your tablet without having to connect it to your computer, wait for the movie to be copied, etc. Or you can immediately launch the application and watch the movie.

In theory, everything is simple, we create a “Homegroup” on a Windows computer.

1. Start - Control Panel - Network - Home Group, create a home group. A wizard will launch, in which you need to check the necessary boxes and click done.

2. Enable access to the folder with movies/music/photos over the network:

3. In the player Windows media, you need to go to the Library and click the “Stream” button, and check the box “Automatically allow devices to play my media

After this, on computers with Windows 7/8, you can join a home group and play videos and music from this computer, and on other devices such as smartphones and TVs, you can also access multimedia files using the appropriate applications.

In theory, everything is simple and beautiful, but at the first point when creating a Home Group, the message “Home Group is not ready yet” came up. Googling these words did not yield anything meaningful, people either ignored this error or reinstalled Windows. Neither the first nor the second was part of my plans.

Below is a list of options for solving this error, the first point I will put is working solution which helped me, minus my solution, it requires some knowledge and time, and then there will be methods that are offered on the Internet, which I tried and they did not help me, but they can probably help in your case, they are worth trying, if only because they require less time than the first option.

1. To solve problems with creating or joining a home group if you receive the message “The home group is not ready yet,” you need to reinstall windows7, and during installation, select Update. All files, settings and installed programs will stay and work. First, and then in the installation wizard, on this screen we select the update:

The windows installer will update your system and after rebooting the homegroup issue will be resolved.

If you don't want to waste time, you can try the methods below:

2. You can try to fix the error by running the Fix it wizard for your home group
3. You need to check your network connection; if you see other computers in the network environment, then everything is fine with the network.
4. B Windows 7 Starter and Windows 7 Home Basic systems cannot create a homegroup, make sure you have a different version of Windows 7
5. Make sure that “Home Network” is selected in the network location, Start - Control Panel - Network and Sharing Center.
6. You can find several more options - but I still strongly recommend using the first method.

Homegroup is functional operating system Windows, introduced in version 7 and migrated to successor versions 8.1 and 10. Having appeared among the functionality of Windows 7, HomeGroup replaced the function of setting up shared folders for computers on the same local network as part of Windows XP. Homegroup is designed to significantly simplify the process of setting up resources for sharing in small network. Yes, set it up network connection and share folders with files for public access within the framework of the home group function, even the average person can. To do this, the user does not need to have extensive experience working with computers. Windows based. Actually, we will consider this process below.

So, how to set up a homegroup in Windows system?

Issues considered:

1. Opportunities that setting up a home group opens up

A Windows homegroup is a type of peer-to-peer workgroup with members of a network domain. Devices that are part of a Windows home group can open and play files in shared folders. Media files located on one of the HomeGroup computers do not need to be copied to another computer to play them. Windows HomeGroup features include: computers, TVs, smartphones, tablets, set-top boxes, etc.

Windows HomeGroup is also operational method exchanging files between users of network computer devices. To send to another computer on the local network, for example, a document for editing or executable file, it must be placed in one of the shared folders, and on another computer - copy the file to your hard drive.

What are these shared folders? These are the user profile folders “Images”, “Videos”, “Music” and, if necessary, “Documents”. These folders are pre-installed with Windows and appear in System Explorer along with drives and devices as branches in the “This PC” section.

Also, all computers in the homegroup have access to printers connected to certain computers networks.

2. What do you need to create a home group?

To set up a home group, you need to have a version of Windows installed on all computers on the network - PCs and laptops - no lower than 7, that is, Windows 7, 8.1 and 10. And, of course, the local network itself. This could be a network connected by all devices using a router ( Wi-Fi router). This can be a network using a straight cable between computers. It can also be a network between a physical computer and virtual machines, which is provided by the hypervisor.

3. Create a home group

Well, we’ve sorted out the benefits of a home group, now let’s proceed directly to the setup process. We need a panel Windows management. In any of Windows versions– 7, 8.1 or 10 – you can get to the control panel using the in-system search. Direct links to Control Panel are located in the Start menu:

In Windows 8.1 and 10, this is the context menu on the Start button;

Once in the Windows Control Panel using any of the methods, select the “Network and Internet” section.

The window for creating a home group will open. As mentioned, the homegroup setup process is made as easy as possible and is set up to follow step by step guide. But this is provided that immediately after Windows installations Network discovery and sharing have been enabled. In this case, you can immediately click the “Create home group” button. But if, for example, you are using Windows, which other users have previously worked with, and also if a modified assembly of the system is installed, the network settings necessary for the home group may not be available. Therefore, it is better to research them first. Click “Change advanced sharing settings.”

Expand the “Private (current profile)” tab. For HomeGroup to work, you need to enable the “Turn on network discovery” and “Turn on file and printer sharing” options.

This is the required minimum. But we can also make some adjustments to the home group settings for ease of use in the future. Expand the “All Networks” tab.

At the very bottom, activate the option “Disable password protected sharing.” This will allow users of network devices to seamlessly, without unnecessary fuss with entering a password account use files in shared folders and a printer. Click “Save changes”.

Returning to the home group creation window, click the “Create home group” button.

We will see the sharing settings window for the user profile folders mentioned above. By default, sharing is allowed for all folders except the Documents folder. This can be changed in the drop-down list next to this folder and also set it to public access. However, you can also remove sharing access for other folders for which it is set by default. We decide and click “Next”.

In the next window we will see the generated homegroup password. This password is generated on the first computer on the network where the initial setup is carried out - creating a home group. In the future, this password must be used for all computer devices local network in the process of joining a homegroup. Therefore, the password must be recorded somewhere and somehow - printed, as suggested in the link below, or transmitted via Internet communication channels to other computers on the network.

Well, as for the process of creating a home group itself, it is completed. Click “Finish”.

Next, the “Home Group” section of the control panel will take on the format of a window with settings that can be changed at any time. At any time, you can block access to individual user profile folders or, conversely, open access. At any time, you can block access to individual network devices for playing multimedia content - televisions, set-top boxes, smartphones, tablets. You can view your homegroup password or make adjustments to your network settings at any time. Finally, you can leave your homegroup at any time.

4. Joining a HomeGroup

To become a member of an existing home group, we follow the same path as to create it.

Directly in the homegroup window we will see a notification that such and such a user has already created it and you can join it. In the same way as when creating a home group, we set up the network: we check that network discovery and sharing activity are enabled, and also disable password protection. Then click the “Join” button.

As when creating a home group, we set permissions for user profile folders. Click “Next”.

In the next window, enter the password - the password that was received during the process of creating a home group. Click “Next”.

That’s it – click “Done”.

Just like creating a HomeGroup, once you join it, the HomeGroup section of your control panel will turn into its settings.

Now you can begin active interaction between computers in your homegroup.

Have a great day!

Having trouble creating or joining a homegroup? Verify that all of the following conditions are met:

A The network location must be set to your home network

In Control Panel, open the Network and Sharing center page. If in the View section active networks(View your active networks) shows Work network or Public network, click on this link and select Home network. If there are multiple networks listed in this section, then homegroups will also not work. Read more about this in Chapter 6.

О Enable network discovery

In Control Panel, open the Network and Sharing center page, click the Choose homegroup and sharing options link, and then click the Change advanced sharing link settings). Select the Turn on Network Discovery and Turn on file and printer sharing radio buttons, then click Save changes. For more information about this page, see the “Setting up shared access to a folder” section.

Since you've opened this page, make sure that all computers in your homegroup have the same connection settings selected.

O Internet Protocol Version B is required

IPv6 is required for HomeGroup services to function correctly. In Control Panel, open the Network and Sharing center page and click the Change adapter settings link. Now right-click on the adapter through which you are connecting to your home network, select Properties and check the Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) box.

In addition, the router must support IPv6. If this is not the case, please refer to the Setting Up Your Wireless Router section.

A Homegroup services must be running

Open the Services Manager window (services.msc) and make sure the following services are running:

Function Discovery Provider Host;

Function Discovery Resource Publication;

HomeGroup Listener;

HomeGroup Provider;

Peer Networking Grouping;

Peer Networking Identity Manager;

SSDP Discovery;

UPnP Device Host.

Chapter 5 covers more about service management, and Chapter 6 covers technologies such as UPnP, SSDP, and DNS.

o Clocks must be synchronized

All computers must have it installed right time and the same time zones are selected. To synchronize your clock, use the ability to update time data via the Internet.

Still having trouble joining a homegroup? Try one of the following solutions:

A Can't create a homegroup?

A new homegroup cannot be created if there is at least one computer on the network that belongs to an existing homegroup. If you do not want to join an existing homegroup, you will need to temporarily turn off the second computer or disconnect it from the network. Then you can create a new homegroup.

A Can't join a homegroup?

You can only join a homegroup if it has been previously created on another computer on the network (or another computer has joined it). Of course, there must be at least one other computer on your network (and it must be turned on). If you are not sure whether both computers are on the same network, follow the recommendations in the sidebar “What is the name of my computer?” us. 486.

If everything is fine, but you still don't see your existing homegroup, open the Network and Sharing center page in Control Panel. Click on the Change adapter settings link and disable all other adapters except the one through which you are connecting to the local network. In a system where there are multiple adapters - for example, cable and wireless - home groups do not work.

Homegroups may be affected by firewall settings (except Windows Firewall). Disable third-party firewalls on your computer and on the remote machine and try again.

O Incorrect password?

Stupid. But if you can't remember the character jumble that Windows generates for new homegroups, then set your own password, as explained at the beginning of this section.

A Can't access the second computer?

The second computer must be joined to the same homegroup as yours and must have access to at least one library. Otherwise, you won't see this computer in your Homegroup folder. If you are not sure that both computers are in the same home group, then open the HomeGroup page in Control Panel, click on the Leave the homegroup link, and then on the Leave home group button (Leave the homegroup). After this, try joining again.

A Do you see the second computer, but cannot open the library?

This is a common problem, but the solution is simple: leave your homegroup and then rejoin it as described above. If this doesn't help, then open Command line in administrator mode and run the command net use \\remote_computer, where remote_computer is the name of the second computer.

O HomeGroup is working correctly, but the file cannot be opened or edited? The cause of the problem lies in the permission settings. As discussed in the "Setting Permissions for Files and Folders" section, sharing permissions are different from file permissions, although the two types of permissions must be consistent.

o Which homegroup am I joining?

If you have multiple computers on your network and have at least two homegroups configured, you won't know which one you're asked to join until it's time to enter your password.

Windows only supports joining one homegroup at a time. However, several home f gi groups can function on a local network at once - for example, one for children and the second for their parents. Disconnect unnecessary computers from the network or temporarily turn off their power and try to join or create a homegroup again.

About the message “Homegroup opens libraries on this computer» (HomeGroup is currently sharing libraries on this computer)?

This is not an error, but the message is misleading. By "opens" we mean that Windows is setting up sharing. Wait a few minutes for the necessary permissions to be set and the message will disappear.

A The shared printer does not appear in the Homegroup folder?

When you first join a HomeGroup that has shared printers (or when you connect another computer that has shared printers configured to your HomeGroup), Windows prompts you to install remote printers. After this, shared printers are no longer displayed in the Homegroup pane, even if the Printers folder is shared.

See the next section for details on connecting to a remote printer.

O An error was returned with a code starting with PEER or Oh?

For a list of error codes and related explanations, see http://msdn. microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd433181(VS.85).aspx.

A Don't like the Homegroup folder in Windows Explorer?

Unfortunately, it cannot be removed without completely disabling the HomeGroups service. However, you can "demote" her so that she appears inside the Desktop branch. This is discussed in more detail in the “Setting up the navigation area (Navigation)” section.

A Can't leave your homegroup?

If the system returns the error It is impossible to remove the computer from the homegroup (Windows couldn't remove your computer from the homegroup), this means that one or more services responsible for the operation of home groups have stopped responding. Open Services Manager (services.msc) and stop the HomeGroup Listener and HomeGroup Provider services. Try leaving the homegroup again. If it fails, restart both services and try again.