Windows 10: Help with getting Homegroup to work?

My desktop has a MS account and my portable is a local account. I have set my desktop with a Homegroup PW and have chosen what I would like to share with my portable (following the forum's instructional video). However, I do not know how to proceed from here in order to get the two computers to communicate. Do I have to go to my portable and enter the PW, and if so, how is this done? If not, what do I have to do? Also, I would imagine that once things are set up right, in order to communicate, both computers would have to be on??? Thanks.

:)

 

Getting a HomeGroup shared printer to work with Lumia 2520

Although I had no issues adding my 2520 to my HomeGroup network and sharing files, I just could not get it to add my Canon MP480 printer. This great guide from Steveh1 on the Microsoft forums sorted it out for me, I had tō use the MP490 driver but can now
print from my 2520



-------------------------------



OK, I figured out how to get this to work. It's a total kluge, and it's been a problem with Windows for some time. Guess they didn't fix it in Windows 8.



This problem has nothing to do with HomeGroups, and everything to do with the fact that the driver model is completely new in Windows 8.



I figured out the solution from this post:

Networking from Printer attached to Win XP PC to Win 7 - Windows 7 Help Forums

Users were having the same problem printing from a Windows 7 PC to a shared printer on an XP machine. Turns out the same technique fixes this problem of trying to print from Windows 8 to a shared printer.



Here's what you do, step by step:



1) On the machine with the attached local printer, share it with a simple name (in my case I used "HL2140") (Windows Key | type "printers", click "Settings", choose "Devices and Printers, right-click on the printer you want to share, choose "Printer Properties",
choose "Sharing", click "Change Sharing Options", click "Share this printer", type a Share name, click OK). This creates a share in the form \\SHAREDPC\HL2140.

2) On your Surface RT ( or Lumia 2520) , add a printer using Advanced Printer Setup (Windows Key, type "advanced printer", click "Settings", click on "Advanced Printer Setup".

3) Even though Windows 8 may "find" your printer, click below where it says "The printer that I want isn't listed"

4) Select the 4th option, "Add a local printer or network printer with manual settings" and click "Next"

5) Select "Create a new port:" , "Local Port", click "Next"

6) Enter the port name you created in Step 1 above. In my case, \\SHAREDPC\HL2140. Then click "OK"

7) Here's where the magic happens. An "Add Printer" dialog comes up that lists the new Windows 8 "Class" drivers. Select the manufacturer for your printer, then look at the "Class" driver names and pick the one that seems closest to your printer. In my
case, for the Brother HL-2140, I chose "Brother Laser Type1 Class Driver". Then click "Next".

8) Type a useful printer name. In my case, I typed "Brother HL-2140". Click OK.



The printer is installed! It worked for me. If it doesn't work for you, you might need to try a different "Class" driver for your manufacturer.

 

Getting a HomeGroup shared printer to work with Lumia 2520

Thanks for these step by step instructions. I got Lumia 2520 working with HP Photosmart 8150. It is a shared printer from my desktop machine. I didn't find exact match for the class driver, but I chose the closest one.

 

Go to your portable > open File Explorer > left side, click Homegroup > click Join Homegroup > select what you want to share etc etc.......... >Enter password

 

You do not need Homegroup to share folders between computers. You can just share those folders you wish, by right clicking on them and choosing "Share".

 

Wow! That should be easy, and it was. Now have easy access between both computers. Thanks.