Attempting to establish Workgroup to include Win 7 PC

Ok, I'm a "newbie" to this forum and a brand new owner of my first Mac computer (MacBook Pro w/i7 processor, 16 gig DDR3 memory, Retina screen, 512 gig SSD - Wonderful machine!.

One of the very many challenges I'm faced with is establishing a WorkGroup that must include existing PC's running Win 7. I've sought advice on the web and have followed the instructions to establish a workgroup - however I've obviously missed something - I WAS able to temporarily establish a link, but it appears to be fragile - if the Mac goes to sleep, the link is broken and does not re-establish itself on waking the Mac. Now I can't establish the link at all - the PC computer does NOT appear under the "sources" section of any of my applications on the Mac.

I'm going nuts - anyone have any suggestions?

G'day and welcome ton the forums.

Trust this may help:-


How To Share Files and Folders between OS X and Windows 7

Thanks Harry. I'm now connected ...

Thanks Harry. I'm now connected to my Sony Laptop - but only by connecting "directly" with "connect to server" procedure. The first procedure outlined in the article you provided failed to recognize the workgroup on the Mac.

However, I'm up and running and can access files on the PC, which was my major objective.

Thank you for your rapid response to my question - much appreciated.

Norm.