Suppose you want to share the contents of a folder to someone (or several people) over a network - how do you set up the sharing? Here are some steps for sharing a folder to EVERYONE over a private network (like a peer-to-peer, or wireless network). If you want to select/restrict the users in the share, see the comment at the end.
Step 1) Assuming your network is already set up ... it would be good practice to create a folder, and put the shared items into that folder (DON'T share the whole drive!!). So, for this example, I created a folder called @SHARED on the C: drive. [You can name it whatever you want.]
Step 2) Right click on that @shared folder, and select PROPERTIES.
Step 3) Click on the SHARING tab, and click the SHARE THIS FOLDER button - you can name it whatever you want (I usually just leave the folder name). Then click the PERMISSIONS button.
Step 4) Here is where you can set the "permissions" for the people that might access your shares. If you want everyone on the network to be able to see the files (like a small private network), you could leave it as EVERYONE and just the READ is checked. If you want to give everyone control over the files (read, edit, delete, create subfolders) [and ONLY for that folder, and what is below], you could click the FULL CONTROL instead. [If you want to limit the rights of certain users, then you have to take "everyone" out, and add back in the users one at a time. That is a separate issue, and not covered in this document.]
Step 5) Once you say "OK" to all the various screens on your way out ... you should notice the icon for the shared folder has now changed to show a hand holding it ... the "shared" symbol.
Step 6) Great ... but how do I access that folder from another machine? Well, let's just put a "shortcut" on the desktop of the OTHER machine, and point to the shared folder from the first machine. So, right click on the desktop, and select NEW and then select SHORTCUT.
Step 7) If you know the location, you could type it in (if you have shared printers on the same network, you would find the "machine name" showing up if you looked at the properties of the printer). In this case, the machine that shares the folder is called LTUP2765, so I just wrote out the address {with two \\ marks at first, then single \ for subfolders} directly. You could also use the BROWSEbutton, and that should let you browse your network. (You should be able to identify the sharing machine on the network, and you should see the @SHARED folder show up as something to which you can connect.)
Step 8) The wizard will ask you to name the shortcut, and after that, you'll see a little folder icon (with a wire connected to it, to show that it is shared (here is an example).
9) Now, depending on how you set the permissions, you can at least see, if not edit and delete the files that are in the shared folder!!!
A couple of warnings :
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Last Updated = Friday, 03-Feb-2006 22:33:55 EST Of the 776 people that have visited this site, you are the most recent.