Thank you all. Shax: I have googled and read a LOT of those, went to the windows7forum, and read extensively at microsoft.com's information on homegroups, networks, etc. Still can not get homegroups to work and both computers are running Windows 7 Home Premium edition. Mike: I have a home network set up using a Linksys router. Both computers and the printer are on that network. I can see it in the Network section of control panel on both computers. I know the network is there. Raven: the files on both computers have the same names. At least if I understand....the folder names are the same on both....files vs folders the same thing right? This is what is going on: Per the instructions from Microsoft, I set up a Homegroup on the desktop, I have a password for it. I go to the laptop to join that homegroup and when I open "network and internet" in the control panel and go to homegroup, there is not an option to join, it just indicates that it has joined a homegroup. It is like there are two separate homegroups setup and neither computer can join the other's homegroup. Each computer has a separate homegroup password and I don't know how to get them together. And as far as I can tell the files are not being shared I am missing something and don't know what it is. And I can't find the answer in the windows7forums or the extensive information at microsoft.com. Any ideas on how to fix this? Your patience is greatly appreciated. I seem to know just enough to get myself messed up! Murphy

Thank you all for your help. I figured some things out last night before I upgraded to Win 8.1 - that download took hours to complete To get the verification code I needed to sign into my Sympatico account and I could not do it using my iPod. I had the right password and user name but I could not log on. I called Bell this morning at 7 am and was on the phone with them for more than 2 hours. They couldn't figure out what was wrong with my email because they had a hard time signing in too. After 2 hours they reset my password to the same one and after I hung up I still could not access my email. I finally had to call a friend to log in and get the Windows verification code for me so I could complete the installation. I switched to IE instead of using Mozilla. My laptop was always dimming after 5 minutes so I found the way to reset that. I will get rid of the trial McAfee. I will also download Malewarebytes and CC Cleaner which I used on my other laptop. haha I think I will buy that Dummies book for Windows One other question I use a wireless mouse to play FB games but I am finding it lagging, is there any way I can speed it up to move quicker. Also I have a WIFI Pixma Cannon Printer, this computer does not have CD reader so I can't download the dsiks. I should be able to still use the printer by plugging the printer into my USB port? Thank you again Anne

Try making a folder on desktop named something unique like localShared. Right click and properties and Advanced share it.

You're not going to mess anything up with a Roku box unless you start disconnecting cables you've already got in place. You just need to connect the color-coded Roku cables to one of the vacant sets of ports on the back of the tv and make a note of which port it is. Then turn on the tv, set the tv to the correct source (the one you plugged the Roku into), and you should see a setup screen. Just think of the Roku like you do a DVD player: it's just another source for video that's connected to the back of the tv, except, instead of getting a movie from a disc, you're getting it from the Internet. The link below shows the installation drawings... Here is a link that might be useful: Roku