Windows 10: Home network, leave one PC on 24/7 to leave network share available?

Hello. New user, first post!

Imagine I have a typical home network - modem, router, a desktop PC and a couple of laptops. The desktop is Win10, the laptops are Win8.

The PC has some files on its hard drive that the two laptops want to access semi-regularly.

Is this not exactly what networking was designed for? I would leave the PC on and connected to the network, share the applicable folder, and the laptops can access the files whenever they want.

I have been told no, no, this is a terrible idea, you must set up a NAS. But to me this seems like the very purpose of Windows networking.

Would this board be kind enough to educate me one way or the other?

Thanks.

:)

 

Join/Leave Network


I have 1809 installed on 4 computers.
I needed to rejoin network on one of them - so went to network and sharing - only to find that the previous option to join a network or leave a network (together with password details had disappeared). Checked the other three, and they to had no options shown.
Have I missed something obvious here? OR have I gone to the wrong source to find these options?
Your comments appreciated.

 

Help needed with simple wired network

Step one- Connect all PC's to router, and then the router to the modem. PC's go to router by the ports labeled "1-4" on the back of the router. WAN port goes to router. Power up all network equipment, and then systems.
Step two- Power on the computer connected to port one. Go into router settings at 192.168.0.1 and configure internet, dyndns, firewall, etc.
Step three- Go to "network set up wizard" in windows. (Network places- network set up wizard). The rest is self explanatory.
Step four- right click on each drive and printer you want to share, and then configure sharing preferences. Should be easy enough.
Step five- right click my computer, and the select "map network drive". Using the network address for each piece of hardware you shared, assign network drive letters.

Congratulations, you have a fully operational network. Happy Gaming! *Toast :toast:

 

Join/Leave Network


Joining a 'network' by means of supplying a password is how Homegroup worked. Homegroup was removed from Windows 10 starting with version 1803. Is this what you were looking for? If so, it's no longer there.





Join Homegroup in Windows 10 | Windows 10 Tutorials

What you should use instead is a Workgroup.

Change Workgroup in Windows 10 | Windows 10 Tutorials