File and Printer Sharing with Microsoft Windows

[Pages:65]Operating System

File and Printer Sharing with Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Corporation Published: November 2003

Abstract File and printer sharing in Microsoft? Windows? allows you to share the contents of selected folders and locally attached printers with other computers. Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition (Me), and Windows NT? 4.0 support file and printer sharing. For each of these operating systems, this article describes the features, components, connection process, how to share a folder and connect to a shared folder, how to share a printer and connect to a shared printer, and how to manage file sharing in a small office/home office environment.

Microsoft? Windows? XP Technical Article

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Microsoft? Windows? XP Technical Article

Contents

File and Printer Sharing Overview ............................................................................................... 1 Windows XP ................................................................................................................................... 2

File Sharing in Windows XP......................................................................................................... 2 Shared Documents Folder ....................................................................................................... 2 Simple File Sharing .................................................................................................................. 2 Advanced File Sharing ............................................................................................................. 3

Connecting to a Windows XP Shared Folder .............................................................................. 6 Connecting When Simple File Sharing is Being Used ............................................................. 6 Connecting When Advanced File Sharing is Being Used ........................................................ 6

Components of File and Printer Sharing...................................................................................... 7 Enabling File and Printer Sharing .............................................................................................. 10 Sharing a Folder......................................................................................................................... 11 Connecting to a Shared Folder .................................................................................................. 11

Using Start-Run ...................................................................................................................... 11 Using My Network Places ...................................................................................................... 12 Mapping a Network Drive ....................................................................................................... 13 Sharing a Printer ........................................................................................................................ 15 Connecting to a Shared Printer.................................................................................................. 15 From the Add Printer Wizard.................................................................................................. 15 Using Start-Run ...................................................................................................................... 17 Using My Network Places ...................................................................................................... 18 Managing Shared Folders.......................................................................................................... 18 Windows 2000 .............................................................................................................................. 20 File Sharing in Windows 2000 ................................................................................................... 20 Connecting to a Windows 2000 Shared Folder ......................................................................... 21 Components of File and Printer Sharing.................................................................................... 22 Sharing a Folder......................................................................................................................... 25 Connecting to a Shared Folder .................................................................................................. 26 Using Start-Run ...................................................................................................................... 26 Using My Network Places ...................................................................................................... 27

Microsoft? Windows? XP Technical Article

Mapping a Network Drive ....................................................................................................... 28 Sharing a Printer ........................................................................................................................ 29 Connecting to a Shared Printer.................................................................................................. 30

From the Add Printer Wizard.................................................................................................. 30 Using Start-Run ...................................................................................................................... 31 Using My Network Places ...................................................................................................... 32 Managing Shared Folders.......................................................................................................... 32 Windows 98 and Windows Me.................................................................................................... 34 File Sharing in Windows 98 and Windows Me........................................................................... 34 Share-Level Access ............................................................................................................... 35 User-Level Access ................................................................................................................. 36 Connecting to a Windows 98 or Windows Me Shared Folder ................................................... 37 Connecting When Share-Level Access Control is Being Used.............................................. 37 Connecting When User-Level Access Control is Being Used................................................ 38 Components of File and Printer Sharing.................................................................................... 38 Sharing a Folder......................................................................................................................... 40 Connecting to a Shared Folder .................................................................................................. 41 Using Start-Run ...................................................................................................................... 41 Using Network Neighborhood or My Network Places ............................................................ 41 Mapping a Network Drive ....................................................................................................... 43 Sharing a Printer ........................................................................................................................ 44 Connecting to a Shared Printer.................................................................................................. 44 From the Add Printer Wizard.................................................................................................. 44 Using Start-Run ...................................................................................................................... 46 Using Network Neighborhood or My Network Places ............................................................ 47 Managing Shared Folders.......................................................................................................... 47 Windows NT 4.0 ........................................................................................................................... 49 File Sharing in Windows NT 4.0................................................................................................. 49 Connecting to a Windows NT 4.0 Shared Folder ...................................................................... 50 Components of File and Printer Sharing.................................................................................... 50 Sharing a Folder......................................................................................................................... 52 Connecting to a Shared Folder .................................................................................................. 52

Microsoft? Windows? XP Technical Article

Using Start-Run ...................................................................................................................... 52 Using Network Neighborhood ................................................................................................ 53 Mapping a Network Drive ....................................................................................................... 54 Sharing a Printer ........................................................................................................................ 55 Connecting to a Shared Printer.................................................................................................. 56 From the Add Printer Wizard.................................................................................................. 56 Using Start-Run ...................................................................................................................... 57 Using Network Neighborhood ................................................................................................ 58 Summary ...................................................................................................................................... 59 Related Links ............................................................................................................................... 60

Microsoft? Windows? XP Technical Article

File and Printer Sharing Overview

File and printer sharing is the ability of a computer running Windows to share a folder or attached printer with other computers on a network.

File sharing allows you to make files and folders in a shared folder accessible to others on the network to view, copy, or modify.

For example, with file sharing, you can store all of your documents on a central computer and share the folder that contains them. Then, from another computer attached to the same network as the computer that contains the files, you can connect to the shared folder and work with the documents as if they were locally stored. For example, you can access files that are stored on a central desktop computer from a wireless laptop computer that you can carry from room to room in your home.

Printer sharing allows you to make an attached printer available to other computer users on the network.

For example, a color printer is attached to a central computer in your home. You share the color printer. Then, from another computer attached to the same network as the computer to which the printer is attached, you can add the printer as a network printer and print to is as if it were locally attached. When you print to a shared printer, the information normally sent to the locally attached printer is sent across the network to the print server, which stores the print information and then sends it as a normal print job to its locally attached printer.

In a file or printer sharing connection, there is a client computer (the computer making the connection to a shared folder or printer) and a server computer (the computer with the shared folder or printer).

When initiating the file or printer sharing connection, the client computer sends a set of connection credentials in the form of a user name and an encrypted password. The combination of the received credentials, the type of file sharing used on the server, and the set of permissions associated with the shared folder or printer determine whether the connection will be allowed or denied.

In the following sections, this article examines file and printer sharing features, how the file or printer sharing process works, how to share files and printers, how to connect to file and printer shares, and how to manage shared folders for the following versions of Windows:

Windows XP

Windows 2000

Windows 98 and Windows Me

Windows NT 4.0

File and Printer Sharing with Microsoft Windows

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Microsoft? Windows? XP Technical Article

Windows XP

This section describes file and printer sharing support in Windows XP. For additional information about how to troubleshoot file and printer sharing in Windows XP, see Troubleshooting File and Printer Sharing in Microsoft? Windows? XP.

File Sharing in Windows XP

Windows XP supports three different ways of sharing files: The Shared Documents folder Simple file sharing Advanced file sharing

These three different types are described in the following sections.

Shared Documents Folder Windows XP Home Edition file sharing is simplified by using a special folder named the Shared Documents folder. This folder is available in My Computer and Windows Explorer. Any file or folder within the Shared Documents folder is automatically shared on the network. You do not have to configure file sharing on separate folders. You only have to either move or copy the file or folder you want to share on the network to the Shared Documents folder.

Simple File Sharing Windows XP Home Edition supports a file sharing mode known as simple file sharing for folders other than the Shared Documents folder. A computer running Windows XP Professional when it is a member of a workgroup also supports simple file sharing. With simple file sharing, the act of enabling file sharing on a folder and specifying the type of access is simplified to the following choices:

Whether to enable sharing for the folder The name of the share Whether to allow network users to change files in the folder The Sharing tab for simple file sharing is shown in the following figure.

File and Printer Sharing with Microsoft Windows

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Microsoft? Windows? XP Technical Article

Advanced File Sharing For a computer running Windows XP Professional (when it is a member of a workgroup), you can optionally disable simple file sharing and enable advanced file sharing, also known as classic file sharing. Advanced file sharing is the file sharing mode used by Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0. With advanced file sharing you can specify:

Whether to enable sharing for the folder The share name A comment or description for the share The maximum number of computers that can connect to the share Permissions on the share, which include the list of user or group accounts and their level of access Offline folder settings If modifying the settings of an existing shared folder, whether to create a new share The Sharing tab for advanced file sharing is shown in the following figure.

File and Printer Sharing with Microsoft Windows

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