Microsoft® Windows 7 In Depth

17. Creating a Windows Network

Creating or Joining a Network

Not too many years ago, networking was expensive, complicated, and found only in big business environments. But networking is for everyone now, in the home or at work. And it’s amazingly inexpensive. Even if you have just two computers, for about the cost of a trip to the movies you can set up a network that will let everyone trade music, video, and documents, use the same printer and Internet connection, and back up files, almost effortlessly. And, creating a speedy, useful network isn’t nearly as hard or expensive as you might think. Once you’ve done the planning and shopping, you should be able to get a network up and running in an hour or two.

The Professional and Ultimate versions ...