How to Set Up a Small Network with Windows 98 Second Edition (PART 7)

This article includes Part 7 of the "Set Up a Small Network with Windows 98 Second Edition" guide. Part 7 discusses sharing folders.

Note To view the other topics of the "Set Up a Small Network with Windows 98 Second Edition" guide, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base articles that are listed in the "References" section of this article.

The "Set Up a Small Network with Windows 98 Second Edition" guide includes the following topics:

Part 7. Sharing Folders

Advantages of Sharing

When you turn on sharing, you can determine what resources are available in the network. All the computers on your network can use everything that you share. You can share the following items:

• Folders
• Drives
• Printers
• Internet access

Resources that you do not set up for sharing remain private.

Sharing devices and files brings many advantages:

• You can easily move or copy files from one computer to another. You can share work on files on different computers.
• All the computers can access a single device, such as a printer or a ZIP drive.
• One Internet access is sufficient for several computers to use the Internet at the same time.

Configuring File and Printer Sharing

A computer that allocates resources assumes server functions. Any computer in a peer-to-peer network workgroup can do so. You must configure file and printer sharing for a computer to act as a server.

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click the Network icon or use the shortcut that was previously created on the desktop.
   
   
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3. Click the Network Configuration tab.
4. Click File And Printer Sharing.
   
   
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5. Click to select the check boxes for access to files and printer.
6. Click OK to close all the windows, insert the Windows CD when prompted to do so, and then restart your computer.

Now you can view all the computers in your workgroup in Network Neighborhood.



To do so, select the desktop, and then double-click Network Neighborhood

Sharing Folders

After the restart, you can share a file or files that you want to use on other computers.

1. Locate a folder on the computer.
2. Right-click the file, and then click Sharing.
   
   
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3. Enter a share name. The folder appears under this name in Network Neighborhood. You can also type a comment that describes the resource.
   
   Note The share name and the folder name do not have to be the same.
4. Determine the user rights.
   • Determine whether all the users in the network have access, but have read-only rights.
   • Determine whether all the users in the network have full access.
   • Determine whether only specific users have access.
     
     If so, you must assign passwords, one for read-only and one for full access.
5. Click OK.

The shared folder now appears with a hand:



You can access the shared folder through Network Neighborhood.



If you have selected the Read/write permission option, you can view, copy, move, change and delete files in this folder on any computer in this network. You can add new files and access subfolders and files.



You can also stop sharing in the same menu. To do this, click Not Shared. The folder will not appear in the network anymore.

You can share whole drives the same way. For example, you can share the following drives:

• Hard disks or partitions
• CD ROM drives
• ZIP drives

Your network is now fully functional. Take a minute to optimize the configuration. Remove file and printer sharing and the Client for Microsoft Networks from the dial-up connection (only here). A dial-up connection to the Internet does not use these services. Additionally, this provides some protection against malicious users. To optimize the configuration, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click Network or use the shortcut previously created on the desktop.
   
   
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3. Click the Network Configuration tab.
   
   
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4. Click TCP/IP, click Dial-Up Adapter, click Properties, ignore the warning, and then click OK.
   
   
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5. Click the Bindings tab.
6. Clear the check boxes next to Client for Microsoft Networks and File and printer sharing.
7. Click OK, click No, click OK, and then restart your computer.
   
   
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For additional information about this topic, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: