Once we have our home network set up, often, our next desires are to be able to copy files from one computer to another and to be able to share a printer among multiple computers.
Sharing files is usually an easy step, except that Windows likes to protect us.
The first step is to open My Computer [...]

Why should I network the computers in my home?

Convenience, so you can share files and/or printers and/or the Internet connection
Backup, so you can copy critical data files (e.g., your Quicken data) to the other machine for backup
Computer access, so you can surf the Web while your spouse or kids are doing email or playing games

Basic [...]