8. Making Connections

Chapter at a Glance

In this chapter, you will learn to:
	Connect your computer to a workgroup.
	Connect to a domain from another location.
	Connect your computer to a domain.
	Access your domain computer remotely.
	Share drives and folders.

Every Windows Vista computer is set up to connect to a network through either a domain or a workgroup. If your computer is part of a domain, you are probably well aware of itmost networked computers within commercial office environments are on a domain. If your computer is part of a workgroup, you might not be aware of itif your computer is the only one in your office or home, for example, you might not realize that your computer is the basis of its own network.

There are various ways to connect to a network. When you are in the office or at home, you connect by means of a network cable or wireless network adapter. If you have a user account on a domain, and your network administrator has configured the system to allow virtual private network (VPN) connections, you can access domain resources when you are away from the office by setting up a VPN connection from a remote computer to the domain, over the Internet. If you set up your domain computer to allow Remote Desktop connections, you can not only access the information stored on it, but also log on to it remotely, and work on it as though you were working directly on it at the office.

In this chapter, you will learn how to join your computer to a new or existing work group, and how to set up your computer to log on to a domain. You will set up a VPN connection to a domain from an off-network location, and explore how to access domain resources. You will configure your computer to allow Remote Desktop connections, and then connect to a computer by using Remote Desktop. Finally, you will explore ways of sharing drives and folders on your computer with other network users.