Easy File Sharing
Instructions For Window XP File Sharing SP-1 Edition
Easy
File Sharing Instructions
For Windows XP SP-1
By default this method is already
enabled when Windows XP starts up and if you're creating just
a home network or a small-office network with just a few users
and it is a very trusted network, and you don't have very
sophisticated needs, this easy file sharing method, the default
Window XP file sharing should be sufficient for you.
Easy file
sharing defaults offer a way of exchanging files
quickly without resorting to saving files to disks or some
other slower method. Again, if all you need is simple file
sharing then the Window XP files sharing default may be for
you. If you need more, then locate those links at the bottom
of this page where we cover even more advanced file sharing
methods.
So back to our
easy file sharing method. Here's how it works, go to start
menu, then my computer where you will see all of the hard
drives, devices and of course the major files stored on the
computer. And by default there is usually a shared documents
folder.
If you double
click it to open it, what you will see up in your address
bar, and if your address bar is invisible just go to view
on the menu , toolbars, and then make sure address bar is
checked.
You can see by reading the address
line that it is stored on the C drive and a subdirectory called
"all usersdocuments."
What this simple easy file sharing
method is saying is that any user on this computer; and go
back to this idea of every computer has users who log in,
any user of this computer, can get to this shared documents
folder. They can open it, they can put files into it, they
can take files out, they can delete things and so forth. They
have total file sharing. It is common file sharing for each
computer on the home network, and that is for all users.
Now go back and
you will also notice I have my own personal user's folder;
click on that and now notice the address line. You will see
that instead of all users, the sub-directory is my name now.
This folder is only accessible to me and other administrators
on this computer. People who have limited accounts or guests
can’t get into this folder by default.
But the Window
XP file sharing default is such an easy file sharing method,
you can easily change each of these settings. For example,
go back and look at what the sharing means by right clicking
on the shared document folder, from the submenu choose “sharing
and security” and it brings up the file sharing properties
window and tab.
Now under the sharing
tab, there are two distinct sections listed, "Local sharing
and security" and "Network sharing and security". They are
very different; local sharing means that I am choosing to
share or not share with other users of this computer.
Network
sharing means that this folder will appear on the network
and made available for other users on the home network. Under
simple file sharing, I can check the box and share this folder
over the network. See the shared name by default it will either
say SharedDocs or Documents. That is the name everyone on
the network will see for that folder.
There
is also a check mark under allow network users to change my
files. This means that others on the network can not only
see the folder, but in this easy file sharing method, they
can also read files from it, they write or create folders
into it, they can delete files, they can change files they
can pretty much do anything they want as far as this folder
goes.
You can see local
sharing is unchecked and grayed out (above), I can’t make
changes to make this folder private because I have selected
to share this folder over the home network, which automatically
means it is no longer private and simple file sharing is enable
for local users too. My only options here are whether it is
shared on the network and whether or not everyone can change
the files.
Now if I'm sharing
files with people in the local network then this shared documents
folder is great because if my daughter needs something from
my computer, all i have to so is drop the file into the shared
documents folder and she can now get to it from any other
computer on the network, makes changes, save those changes
and I can also use it. This is again the easy file sharing
method that is already set up within Window XP file sharing.
By dragging or saving files into the Shared Documents Folder,
under this easy file sharing method offered by Window XP file
sharing, you are making all files or folders within that shared
folder available to others on the network to share
Now if I go to
my personal document folder and look at the sharing and security
tab. You can compare it to the one above for shared documents
and now you can see that I have the options to make this folder
private is available. And that is because I am NOT sharing
it on the network.
If I were to check that option, you
will notice that now I can’t share it on the network because
I'm making it private from everyone else on the computer.
So the other users
when they log in, they can’t get to this folder, now only
I can because it is private from any other user on the computer.
But then I can’t shared this folder over the network; so it's
one or the other.
Now if I uncheck
the private option and check the bottom section, the option
to share files over a network, then change the folder name
so it is a little easier to identify over the network.
And if I check “allow anyone to change
my files” then that means anyone on the network can change
my files, anyone could get into my folder and actually delete
all my files! Yikes! I don’t want to do that, so I uncheck
it (below) and now what this says is that anyone can see it,
read from it, but they cannot change it or delete them, they
can just see what is in my files.
So that's another way to share files
and folders over the network, but maybe even that is a little
too much so maybe I'll unchecked that one and instead, I will
open up my folder and maybe I will just share my music within
that folder.
So right click the My Music folder,
choose sharing and security and we can set up the music folder
for easy file sharing to share this folder to everyone, but
nobody can change it. What this means is that anyone can see
my music, they can play my music, but they can't mess with
it. And that might be a nice way to share my music with people
on the local network while they're working.
But if there was a file that maybe
I needed to share with someone because they wanted to actually
work on it, I would simply copy it or move it to the shared
documents directory. As mentioned above.
Now that is simple
and easy file sharing and that may be plenty for what you
need, if you need something a little more complex then you
actually have to take another step and disable simple file
sharing and do a more advanced file sharing which I address
on another page.
One more thing,
before we close this section out, in order for you to use
this easy file sharing method under Window XP files sharing,
your file system needs to be NTSF. You will know if you have
a problem when you notice that these options are grayed out.
So in order to verify this, go to start button, my computer,
look at your local hard drive just click on it once
and look at the details or right click on it and go to properties.
In order for Window XP file sharing
to be available, your file system must be NTSF, if it says
FAT32 there then that option is not going to be available.
Some computers do come in the FAT32 format.
You can change it but it's a little
bit more complicated. There is a program called Convert, that
you can run under Windows and it will convert your whole hard
drive disk, but know up front it takes quite awhile and when
you doing major disk changes, there's always the chance of
losing data.
So I if you want
more information on that is actually fairly good instructions
on the Microsoft knowledge base that you can get if that's
really important for keeping certain files private from other
users of the computer you can do that as well
So that's simple
file sharing in Window XP and as I said it works for most
people and if you need more control than this easy file sharing
method look at the page on advanced file sharing. In fact
there are several other choice listed below that would be
helpful to you.
Now a couple
of other important notes:
- If you need
more help navigate from our home
page and follow the links that fit your need
- Book mark this
page http://www.best-home-networking-solutions.com/easy-file-sharing.html
in case you need to return for a reminder
- Finally, Stay
current and secure with our FREE "Best Home Networking
Solutions" newsletter by filling in the simple
form below.
Other
Files Sharing Information:
Window
XP File Sharing Under SP-1
Home
Network File Sharing Under Windows XP SP-2
Sharing
Files On Home Network s Made Easy
P.S.
Hey, if you need any computer products, this link should really
be helpful to you. I like it a lot ;-)
|
