Personalize Your Network

By default, the name given to your new Windows Vista network is WORKGROUP. Additionally, the network may be configured initially as a public network, which is not nearly as secure as a private one. Finally, the network will not have network discovery turned on. You need to configure all this to make your network secure and to personalize it.

Name the Network

For Windows XP, the default network name was MSHOME. If you upgraded a Windows XP computer to Windows Vista, the default name remained the same as it was before you upgraded, whether that was MSHOME or something else you created. If you purchase a new Windows Vista–based PC, though, it’s automatically WORKGROUP.

It’s best if all computers on your network use the same ...

Get Windows Vista®: Home Networking now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.