In a corporate environment, the client machines
(Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7) will be connected to the
domain environment. There are two ways to connect the Windows 7 machine
to the domain. You can connect the Windows 7 machine to the domain from
the Windows 7 operating system or from Active Directory.
1. Adding Windows 7 to the Domain
It does not matter which
way you choose to connect the machine to the domain. I usually connect
the Windows 7 machine through the Windows operating system, but either
way does the same task.
Having the Windows 7 machine on the domain offers many benefits to administration:
You can deploy GPOs from one location instead of LGPOs on each machine.
Users can back up their data to a server. This way, the nightly backups cover user information. Most Windows 7 machines will not be backed up separately.
You can manage users and groups from one central location (Active Directory) instead of on each Windows 7 machine.
You can manage security to resources on servers instead of resources on each Windows 7 machine.
Complete Exercise 1 to connect a Windows 7 machine to a Windows Server 2008 R2 domain.
On the Windows 7 machine, click Start and then right-click Computer Choose Properties. Under the Computer Name, Domain, And Workgroup section, click the Change Settings link. Click the Change button next to the To Rename This Computer Or Change Its Domain Or Workgroup section. In
the Member Of section, click the Domain radio button and type in the
name of the Windows Server 2008 domain previously created.
A Credentials box appears, asking for the administrator's username and password. Click OK. A dialog box stating that you are part of the domain appears. Click OK and reboot the machine. From the Windows 7 machine, log on to the domain with your username and password.
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You also have the ability to create the computer account in the Active Directory Users and Computers MMC snap-in. Complete Exercise 2 to add the Windows 7 machine to the domain from the Active Directory snap-in.
From the Windows Server 2008 machine, click Start 'r Administrative Tools => Active Directory Users And Computers. Expand the domain and right-click the Computers OU. Choose New => Computer. In the Computer Name field, type in the name of the Windows 7 computer. Click OK. Double-click the new Windows 7 computer in the right-hand window to open the properties. Take a look at the different tabs and then click the Cancel button.
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Another type of network on which you may have to set up Windows 7 is a HomeGroup environment.
2. Joining and Sharing HomeGroups in Windows 7
Have you ever wanted to share
your music, pictures, and documents within your small office or home
computers and found the task to be difficult? HomeGroup
is a new functionality of Windows 7 that simplifies the sharing of
music, pictures, and documents within your small office or home network
of Windows 7 PCs. HomeGroup allows you to share USB-connected printers
too. If you have a printer installed on a Windows 7 computer and it's
shared by HomeGroup, it is automatically installed onto the other
HomeGroup-enabled Windows 7 PCs. This even extends to domain-joined
computers; they can be part of a HomeGroup too. All versions of Windows 7
can use HomeGroups, but only Home Premium, Enterprise, Professional, or
Ultimate can create a HomeGroup.
The first step in the process
of using HomeGroup for sharing is to create a new HomeGroup or join an
existing one. If the Windows 7 network discovery feature is not enabled,
you will be asked to create a HomeGroup. In the Network and Sharing
Center, select Choose HomeGroup And Sharing Options and then click the
Create A HomeGroup button (both items can be seen in Figure 1).
With Windows 7 network
discovery turned on (the default), HomeGroup is created automatically.
You still need to join the HomeGroup to use the other shared resources
and to share yours. From the Network and Sharing Center, you can join an
existing HomeGroup by clicking the Join Now button, as shown in Figure 2.
Part of joining a HomeGroup
setup is to define the resources that you want to make available to the
other members of the HomeGroup. The next screen in the setup (Figure 3) lets you choose which resources you want to share.
The next step is to enter the
HomeGroup password. Windows 7, by default, will recognize a HomeGroup on
the network. However, the other Windows 7 machines will not have access
to the resources. Allowing any Windows 7 machine connecting to the
network to automatically have shared resource access would be a huge
security hole. To protect the Windows 7 user resources, a password must
be entered to join HomeGroup.
The password for the
HomeGroup can be found or changed on the machine that established the
HomeGroup. After other machines have joined, each machine has the
ability to view or change the password, but they must join the HomeGroup
first. The initial machine in the HomeGroup will create a random secure
password. To view and/ or print the HomeGroup password, use the Choose
HomeGroup And Sharing Options selection from the Network and Sharing
Center and then choose View Or Print The HomeGroup Password item, as
shown in Figure 4.
Again, this can be done from any Windows 7 machine that is already a
member of the HomeGroup, but not from one that wants to join!
Figure 5 shows the View And Print Your HomeGroup password screen. For simplicity here, I have changed the password to password (not recommended for your network).
Remember that Windows 7
will initially create a random secure password for the HomeGroup, and
you need to visit the View And Print Your HomeGroup Password screen to
find out what it is. You will probably want to change it.
To change the password,
choose the Change The Password option from the Change HomeGroup Settings
page and then select Change The Password from the Change Your HomeGroup
Password screen, as shown in Figure 6.
When you change the HomeGroup password, you need to go to each of the
other Windows 7 machines that are members of the HomeGroup and change
the password there if you still want the others to share resources.
After the HomeGroup is set up,
you can see the other members* resources from the HomeGroup option of
Windows Explorer or even the Start menu if you customize the Start menu
and have added HomeGroup to the displayed options, I have added the
HomeGroup option to my Start menu, as shown in Figure 7.
Choosing the HomeGroup option
from the Start menu or choosing Computer and selecting HomeGroup in the
Explorer window enables you to see and have access to the other members
of your HomeGroup. Figure 8 shows the HomeGroup item expanded and one other Windows 7 machine's resources that have joined into the HomeGroup.
HomeGroups are a great
option for users who want ro share resources in the Windows 7
environment. But what if you still have non-Windows 7 machines? The
legacy function of simply sharing resources and setting permissions
still works for Windows 7 and will allow older operating systems to have
access to resources shared on Windows 7 machines, as well as allowing
users running Windows 7 to have access to the shared resources on Vista
and XP.
After you have connected
the Windows 7 machine to a network, the next configuration option that
has to be set is the Windows 7 firewall. In the next section, you will
look at configuring Windows Firewall.
