In Part I of this tutorial series, we discovered that changing from the default Simple File Sharing to advanced file sharing allows you to better control the access of your shared folders and files.
In addition, we discovered another type of permission, NTFS file permissions, which apply to both folders and files. Finally, we organized the user accounts and groups on all the computers.
In this installment, we will finally start sharing. We'll activate the advanced sharing settings and configure them. Plus we'll configure the NTFS permissions.
Let's get started!
Disabling Simple File Sharing
In order to use the advanced method of sharing, you must disable the Simple File Sharing feature in Windows XP or the sharing wizard in Vista.
Here's how to do it:
- Open Computer or My Computer.
- Click Tools and select Folder Options (If you don't see the file menu in Vista, hit the Alt key).
- Click the View tab.
- Scroll down and uncheck Use Sharing Wizard (in Vista) or Use simple file sharing in XP, as Figure 1 shows.
- Click OK.
Advanced sharing is now enabled. Plus in XP you can now edit the File Permissions from the Properties dialog box of the folder. In Vista you can always edit them.