Sharing Folders

Any computer on your workgroup can share folders and files. You can share folders, files, drives (like zip drives or CD drives). For our example, we will share a folder.

1. Navigate to the folder on your computer that you want to share.
2. Right-click the file or folder, and then click Sharing and Security to view the additional settings.
3. These next two windows will only appear if you are setting up your first shared item. Windows notifies you that sharing data presents a certain security risk. Therefore, remote access is turned off by default. Click the Security warning message, click Just enable file sharing, and then click OK.
4. Click Share this folder on the network, and then type a share name for the folder to be identified on the network with. The share name and the folder name do not have to be the same.
5. Choose whether or not you want the data that is accessed over the network to be able to be changed by others, and then click OK.
6. The icon for the shared folder appears with a picture of a hand.
7. If you want to access the shared folder, click Start, click My Computer, and then click My Network Places. The shared folder will be visible here from all of the computers that are in your workgroup.
8. If you decide that you want to stop sharing any folders or files, right-click the file that is shared, click Sharing and Security, and then clear the Share this folder on the network check box. This will remove this shared resource so that no one will be able to access the resource any longer. If someone tries to access the resource, they will receive a "No access" message.

Your network is now configured and ready to go. If you have already configured an internet connection, you should optimize it's configuration. Make sure that you turn off File and Printer Sharing and Client for Microsoft Networks in the properties of the dial-up connection, and verify that you have turned on the Internet Connection Firewall. Follow the steps below to optimize your internet connection.

Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Network Connections.

Right-click your dial-up connection, and click Properties.

Click the Networking tab, and click Advanced to verify that the Client for Microsoft Networks check box and the File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks check box are not selected. Also verify that the Internet Connection Firewall check box is checked.

Click OK.

Introduction to Networking
Buying the Network Hardware
Connecting the Computers
Installing the Network Card(s)
Configuring the TCP/IP Protocol
Setting the Computer Names and the Workgroup Name
Sharing Folders
Sharing a Printer