Can A Win11 Computer Share Files On LAN with Win7 Computers

I may be buying my first Win11 computer. Before I do, I want to be sure there aren't any "gotchas" about having the computer on a LAN with two Win7 computers (and sometimes one Win10 laptop). I want to be sure that I can access and share folders and files amongst the Win7 computers and the Win11 computer.

NewWin11User said:

I may be buying my first Win11 computer. Before I do, I want to be sure there aren't any "gotchas" about having the computer on a LAN with two Win7 computers (and sometimes one Win10 laptop). I want to be sure that I can access and share folders and files amongst the Win7 computers and the Win11 computer.

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Of course, Windows 7, just like Windows 11, is still Windows NT so as long as permissions & shares are set correctly with the right credentials, that shouldn't be an issue.
SMB v1 is no longer preferred but can still be used as legacy on Win11.

Hello, and welcome.

In addition, the tutorial below can help with sharing between W7 and W10/11.

Thank you OAT and Brink. I see it can be done. I briefly looked at what you wrote/pointed to but will take me time once I have the computer to follow everything. One thing I see now that I'm not familiar with is SMBx. I will have a couple of USB disk drives moving over from one of the Win7 computers that I'll be replacing (will still have two Win7s) to the Win11 computer so I'll need some help when I get to that. Probably will be a while until sometime over the summer when the computer is ordered and gets installed.

I agree. I routinely share files among this mix of Windows 7, 10 & 11 computers:

I'm a little (actually more than a little) confused as to how you set up the shortcuts. Is there someplace "Networks" in Win11 where you put these shortcuts?

NewWin11User said:

I'm a little (actually more than a little) confused as to how you set up the shortcuts. Is there someplace "Networks" in Win11 where you put these shortcuts?

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To keep up with the shortcuts I created a folder on my desktop called My Network. Of course if you only have one or two other computers then you might not need a folder for this.



Inside this folder I have the shortcuts to my computers.



You need the name for each of the other computers. These are needed to create the shortcuts.
For example, to create a shortcut to the computer Toshiba-PC
Open the My Network folder
Right-click inside it and select New > Shortcut
Target: \\Toshiba-PC
Click Next
Name: Toshiba-PC
Click Finish



Repeat this for each computer in your home network.
Once you have done this you don't have to do it again.
You can just copy the same My Network folder onto the desktop of every other computer in your home network.

You can even share with XP or XP in a VM - !!!! Actually XP Network browser is a far nicer option (which works) than the current Windows explorer. All computers need to have SMB1 enabled. The latest W11 builds won't always map the computers via file explorer automatically so you'll have to do it manually as the previous posts show.

(Just for info !! )

cheers
jimbo

How does one enable SMB1?

Windows 7 supports SMBv2, so you don't need nor should you enable SMBv1.

NewWin11User said:

How does one enable SMB1?

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It's in Windows Features....

neemobeer said:

Windows 7 supports SMBv2, so you don't need nor should you enable SMBv1.

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No, you don't need SMB1 for Windows 7 shares. But @jimbo45 was talking about accessing shares on an XP machine. For that you need to enable the SMB 1.0/CIFS Client. If you wish the XP machine to be able to access shares on a Windows 10/11 PC then that W10/W11 machine needs the SMB 1.0/CIFS Server enabled.

In fact, with the SMB 1.0/CIFS Client enabled W11/W10 can access shares on Windows '95 and Windows 3.11, I have VMs for both that I can put on my network.

People using that old of systems just makes me groan

neemobeer said:

People using that old of systems just makes me groan

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Hi there

@neemobeer

plenty of old kit that lasts 50 years or more and costs a fortune to replace still uses old systems.

Perhaps you LIKE paying more local / govt taxes when huge servicable heavy civil engineering / construction / industrial plant is junked at a cost of millions of dollars when the new stuff adds very little functionality. Plenty of examples in laboratory equipment and other areas too.

Even small businesses -- I as a small part time private business thing cut bespoke Vinyl records for people -- the hardware only works on XP -- works perfectly --- to get new stuff plus software licenses (It's all hideous subscription models these days for that type of thing -- rights issues -- drm exemptions where appropriate, etc. ) would cost around 30,000 USD including the wretched software licenses--- meaning if I could continue supplying customers then the price charged would have to rise astronomically -- and that's 100% not viable.

The old XP software I have was a 1 time fee with all that license and rights issues stuff included as a lifetime product. The hardware will run probably even when Windows itself doesn't exist any more too !!!!.

Don't diss older systems just because YOU don't see a need for them or just imagine them only to be used by hobbyist geeks.

(Remember Voyager I is still sending back useful info from the edge of interstellar space with hardware and software that wouldn't even power a stand alone calculator made today -- Voyager launched in 1978/1979).

Cheers
jimbo

I am in the midst of finally installing the Win11 computer and I am completely confused about how to make it accessible on the LAN. I have the C-Disk and additionally a folder on it all set to share with everybody and all permissions are checked. But the the Win 7 computer sees the Win 11 computer in Map Network Drive but when I click on it to open it fails to open it. The Win 10 computer doesn't see it at all. And the Win 11 computer doesn't see the other two.

NewWin11User said:

I am in the midst of finally installing the Win11 computer and I am completely confused about how to make it accessible on the LAN. I have the C-Disk and additionally a folder on it all set to share with everybody and all permissions are checked. But the the Win 7 computer sees the Win 11 computer in Map Network Drive but when I click on it to open it fails to open it. The Win 10 computer doesn't see it at all. And the Win 11 computer doesn't see the other two.

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Why are you trying to a Map Network Drive? There is no need to use that.

Open File Explorer and make sure the Navigation Pane is enabled. Do you see your computers there? If so, you can double-click on them to access their shared folders. If not, then you might have to create shortcuts to them.

Here are examples of this from my computers with a mixture of Windows 7, 10 and 11.

Thank you Mister Ed. I used Map Network Drive because it was simple to use when I had only Win 7 computers on the LAN and gave me confirmation that the LAN was set up properly. And I don't care for the navigation pane as I find it distracting - and it also takes up a lot of screen real estate. But in this case it makes sense to do it that way.

But I still can't get the Win 11 computer to be accessed mostly because I can't get past the Credentials Manager, which I don't understand how it works and is set up. I'm opening a separate thread on that.

To keep things simple I use the same username and password on some of my computers. That simplifies sharing files. On the computers that don't I have to enter the username and password. Not a problem but slows things down.

Can you at least access all the other computers in your network? If so are you just having a problem accessing the shared folders?

I don't know if it is necessary but I set the same Workgroup for all my computers.

Do you have the Network icon on your desktop? If so in theory you should be able to see the computers in your network that are powered on. The problem with Windows networking is that sometimes the computers don't always show up in Network. I solved that by creating shortcuts to all my computers. That always works. I described doing this in Post #7.

I opened the Navigation pane on Win 11. It sees the Win 10 computer but when I try to open it, it says it can't access \\win10computername. But Win 7 computer has no problem accessing the Win 10 computer. And the Win 7 computer does not show up in Navigation pane on Win 11. But it does show up on the Win 10 computer navigation pane and that computer it has no problem accessing the Win 7 computer. I'm at a loss as what to do next.

You noted above to look at the Network icon on the desktop but I don't see one.

NewWin11User said:

I opened the Navigation pane on Win 11. It sees the Win 10 computer but when I try to open it, it says it can't access \\win10computername. But Win 7 computer has no problem accessing the Win 10 computer. And the Win 7 computer does not show up in Navigation pane on Win 11. But it does show up on the Win 10 computer navigation pane and that computer it has no problem accessing the Win 7 computer. I'm at a loss as what to do next.

You noted above to look at the Network icon on the desktop but I don't see one.

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That is why I use network shortcuts. The computers don't always show up when you click on the Network icon.

The Network icon by default is not shown on the the desktop. However, it is easy to go into the settings and change that.

Open Settings
Select Personalization > Themes
Select Desktop icon settings
Check the box for Network

I added the Network icon to the Win 11 desktop, as you showed and made a shortcut to the Win 10 computer. But it made no difference. It sees it but still comes back with the same error message that \\win10computername can't be accessed.