Introduction
In this article, we will describe all the steps to transfer a file between a Windows 8 PC and a Windows 7 PC. When you are switching to a new PC, Windows Easy Transfer helps you transfer your files, folder, email, pictures, and settings. If you install Windows 8 on a spare PC and now need to get files from that PC to your Windows 7 PC or vice versa. It is easy to network the two machines if both are in a home network. We will show how you can share files between a Windows 8 PC and a Windows 7 PC by sharing a folder in the Windows 7 machine and then mapping it to that folder in Windows 8 as a network drive. First, you create a folder in the Windows 7 PC. You could share your C: drive and have access to all folders from Windows 8. You can play around with Windows 8 and be able to transfer any files you create or download in Windows 8 to your Windows 7 PC, as well. You can also put files in the shared folder from your Windows 7 PC and copy them to your Windows 8 PC.
Steps to Transfer Files Between a Windows 8 PC and Windows 7 PC
Step 1
First, you create a new folder in any drive in your Windows 7 PC and right-click on it, and select Properties from the popup menu.
Step 2
On the Properties dialog box, click the Sharing tab and then click Advanced Sharing.
Step 3
On the Advanced Sharing dialog box, click the Share this folder checkbox to turn on sharing for this folder. Then, click Permissions.
Step 4
On the Permissions dialog box, you will see Everyone listed in the Group or user names list. You can leave that if there are other users of your Windows 7 PC who you want to have access to this folder from the Windows 8 PC. If that's the case, click the Full Control checkbox in the Allow column to give full read and write privileges and click OK.
We will also show you how to restrict access on the Windows 8 PC to your user account only on your Windows 7 PC. Click on Everyone in the Group or user names list and click Remove.
Step 5
After step four, you can click on the add button.
Step 6
On the Select Users or Groups dialog box, type your username for the Windows 7 PC in the Enter the object names to select box. Click Check Names and if you cannot write the right object name, then show the examples link given in the Select Users or Groups.
Step 7
If the Windows 7 Computer name is added to your username and Click ok.
Step 8
You will now see your username in the Group or user names list. Select it and click the Full Control checkbox in the Allow column to give yourself full read and write privileges for the folder and click OK. You can see the full name in the Share Permission.
Step 9
You are returned to the Advanced Sharing dialog box. Click OK to close it.
Step 10
Then, click Ok to close the Properties dialog box for the folder.
Step 11
Before mapping to your new shared folder on your Windows 7 PC, you need to know either the IP address of your Windows 7 PC or the computer name. To check the IP address for your PC, open the Start menu, type "cmd" (without the quotes) in the search box, and press enter when the "cmd.exe" link is highlighted in the results. At the command prompt, you can type ipconfig/all.
You will see a list of connections displayed. It may be a long list, depending on how many LAN and wireless connections you have. Look through the list until you find an IP address for the appropriate adapter. We are using Windows 8 in a virtual machine using VMware, so the IP address we need to use is in the "Ethernet adapter VMware Network Adapter VMnet8" section.
Step 12
If you are running Windows 8 in a physical machine that is connected wirelessly to your home network, then along with your Windows 7 machine, you will find the IP address you need to use in the "Wireless LAN adapter" section.
Step 13
To check the name of your Windows 7 PC, right-click on Computer on the Start menu and select Properties from the popup menu.
Step 14
Your computer name is found in the Computer name, domain, and workgroup settings section of the System window that displays.
Step 15
You have the IP address and computer name for your Windows 7 PC; switch to your Windows 8 PC and click the Desktop tile on the Start screen.
Step 16
Click the Windows Explorer icon on the Taskbar in Windows 8.
Step 17
In the navigation pane on the Explorer window, right-click on Network and select Map network drive from the popup menu.
Step 18
Select a drive letter to use from the Drive drop-down list. Enter either the path to the folder you shared on your Windows 7 PC using either the computer name or the IP address. The image below shows the IP address being used. Be sure to use two backslashes before the IP address or computer name and one before the name of the shared folder. If you want to reconnect to this folder every time you log into Windows 8, select the Reconnect at sign-in check box and click Finish.
Step 19
As an example, the following image shows us connecting to the shared folder using the Windows 7 computer name.
Step 20
You may see the following dialog box if the connection is taking a while, or if it is not working.
Step 21
If the Windows 7 PC was found, the Windows Security dialog box displays. Enter your user name and password for the Windows 7 PC. If you selected to reconnect at sign-in when mapping the network drive, you might want to select the Remember my credentials checkbox, so log in to the folder on your Windows 7 PC will be automatic. Click OK.
Step 22
You may see a message telling you that "Network discovery and file sharing are turned off." If so, click the message and select Turn on network discovery and file sharing from the popup menu.
Step 23
The Network discovery and file sharing dialog box displays, asking if you want to turn it on for all public networks. We recommend that you select No and only turn on network discovery and file sharing for private networks, for security reasons.
Step 24
You can see your shared folder from your Windows 7 PC under Computer in the Navigation pane in Windows Explorer.
Resources
Summary
In this article, we learned about Transfer Files Between Windows 8 PC and Windows 7 PC.