Windows 7 – Setup New Homegroup When Another Exists

home-networkinghomegroupnetworkingwindows 7

I live in an appartment with three people and one of these people has setup a homegroup without my knowledge. He has left on a long holiday and won't be back for some time.

I need to create a group to share files with the other person who lives with me, so we need to setup our own homegroup or gain access to the current one.

Here are some facts about the situation to consider before answering:

1) The person who setup the homegroup is the only member of the homegroup
2) I am not joined to this homegroup
3) I don't know the password of this homegroup and I can't find it out without access to his computer or being a member of the homegroup.
4) I don't have access to the person who setup the homegroup's computer
5) When I go to "Network and Sharing center" in Windows 7, there is no option to create a new homegroup, there is only the option to join the existing one.

What is the solution here?

Best Answer

Steps to create a new homegroup with another homegroup on the network. I have not tested this, apply with caution.

Open up the Homegroup options within the control panel.
Disable the network adapter / disconnect the Ethernet cable. (Go to: Control Panel -> Network and Sharing Center -> Change adapter settings -> [click on Network Connection] -> Disable this network device).
Enable the network adapter and be prepared to create a new Homegroup quickly when the options appears.
When the create new Homegroup option appears and quickly enter a password, as it will fail if it has enough time to find the exisiting Homegroup.
Follow the prompts to set up and then insert your password on the other computers in the network like normal and it should automatically find the matching Homegroup.

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I just removed from Homegroup then re-added. Thats all it took for me.

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If you are running a router with an open WiFi it's possible that a neighbor could be on your network and you are detecting them. You can check who is on your WiFi by checking the DHCP lease table on your router.

Creating a homegroup is extremely easy. Follow this tutorial. As per Microsoft:

To create a homegroup

1. Open HomeGroup by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, typing 
homegroup in the search box, and then clicking HomeGroup.

2. On the Share with other home computers running Windows 7 page, click Create 
a homegroup, and then follow the instructions.

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