Creating a Homegroup - Newbie first attempt

Hi,

In my previous post below I was able to setup a ethernet cable connection with my laptop (Win7 Home Premium) and my desktop (Win7 Professional). There are some disadvantages (unplug / plug the cable everytime; going on both machines and setting the Network to private every time).

So, I was trying to create a Homegroup, but I didn't get very far on my Laptop with Win7 Home Premium. So here are my questions:



Can I create a Homegroup with a simple Ethernet cable which will show as Unidentified Network when plugged in? If not, my remaining questions are likely superfluous.



My problem is: on my laptop with Win7 Home Premium, the "Create a Home Group" window will never appear, Windows tells me that "my Network IP must be set to Private". There is no visible option for me to change that, and I cannot go past this warning message. What's the problem here?



On my desktop with Win7 Pro, no problem, I can go until the Password thing.



Assumed that I get my laptop to create a workgroup, are there other 'finesses' waiting for me or should it all get easy after the password definitions?



Thanks anyone for replying,

XenonS

Creating a Homegroup - Newbie first attempt