You can apply security effortlessly to your shared folders with Simple File Sharing. As mentioned briefly in the previous section, there are two technologies for applying permissions to shared folders. If you have Windows XP Home Edition, you only have one choice: use Simple File Sharing. If you have Windows XP Professional and your hard drive is formatted with NTFS, you have a second choice: disable Simple File Sharing, configure your own share permissions, and use NTFS advanced permissions.
Simple File Sharing is a security setting that’s either on or off. If it’s on, the folder is shared and you have a few basic choices for how you’ll share it. If it’s off, there’s no sharing of the folder. When you turn off Simple File Sharing, you have access to more options. Specifically, you can state which users or groups of users can do what to the folder and its contents. While this offers a higher level of security and options, it’s easy to mess up. It’s up to you to decide what you’d rather use. I suggest starting with Simple File Sharing enabled, and if you decide later you need more options, disable it and use the advanced security features.
To apply security using Simple File Sharing, you first need to verify that Simple File Sharing is enabled. Of course, this only applies to users of Windows XP Professional, since it is enabled by default on Windows XP Home Edition and is the only choice:
- Open Control Panel and, if in Category view, select Appearance And Themes. Select Folder Options.
- On the View tab, make sure Use Simple File Sharing (Recommended) is checked. Click OK.
To apply Simple File Sharing permissions:
- Locate the folder to share from the Desktop or by using Windows Explorer. To locate a folder in Windows Explorer, right-click Start, choose Explore All Users, expand Documents And Settings, look under your username, and locate the folder to share.
- Right-click the folder and click Sharing And Security.
- On the Sharing tab, check Share This Folder On The Network. To give permission for other users on the network to change the files in the folder, also check Allow Network Users To Change My Files.
- You can also choose to drag the folder selected to the Shared Documents folder. To do that, click Shared Documents, wait for the Shared Documents window to open, and drag the folder into it. After doing so, anyone who logs onto your computer using any user account can access the data as well.
- If you did not perform Step 4, click OK to apply the changes in the Properties dialog box.