File Sharing with Microsoft Windows

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

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

If the computer is a member of a workgroup, then only the accounts on the local computer are available. If the computer is a member of a domain, then you can select domain accounts, accounts from domains that are trusted by the domain of the computer, and local computer accounts.