How to open access to disk folders. How to share a folder
In order to use a local network normally, you need to be able to share folders. In this material we will talk about how to share a folder in Windows 7, 8 or 10, and also tell you what settings you need to make on your computer in order for access to folders to work normally.
Setting up your computer before sharing folders
Before you open access to folders, you need to make sure that your computer is configured correctly. Otherwise, you will not be able to access the folders you need. To do this, follow the path " Start – Control Panel – Network and Internet – Network and Sharing Center" In this window you need to click on the link “ Change advanced sharing options».
After this, a window with sharing settings will open in front of you. In this window, all functions must be enabled except “ Password protected sharing" This function must be disabled and click on the “Save changes” button.
If you do not disable this feature, you will have to enter a password when trying to access the folder.
How to Share a Folder in Windows 7, 8 or 10
Sharing a folder in Windows 7, 8 or 10 is quite easy. To begin, right-click on the desired folder and select “ Properties».
After this, a window with the properties of the folder will appear in front of you. In this window you need to go to the “ Access" and click on the button " General access».
After this, a window will appear with the name of the shared folder. Here you just need to click on the button " Ready».
This completes access to the folder.
An alternative way to open access to a folder
There is also an alternative way to open access to folders. To use this method, press the Windows + R key combination and enter the command in the window that opens shrpubw.
After this, “ Create Share Wizard" With it you can quickly and easily share a folder. To start creating a shared folder, simply click on the “ Further».
The first step is to select the folder you want to share. Select the desired folder and click on the " Further».
The final stage is choosing folder access permissions. Select the folder access rules that suit you and click on the " Ready».
This completes the setup. In order to open access to the folder, you just have to click on the button again. Ready».
If necessary, at this stage you can enable the function of re-running the “Share Resource Wizard”.
Instructions
In order to be able to open access to local disk, you must manage an account that has volume owner rights. Turn on your computer running the Windows operating system.
Go to the “Security” menu by clicking on the tab of the same name. Click the "Advanced" button and go to "Owner". Select the desired account by clicking the "Edit" button. Save your local disk settings.
Now open the local disk properties through the Explorer menu. Go to "Access" and click the "Advanced Settings" button. Check the box next to “Share this folder.” Enter the name of the network resource in the appropriate field.
Open the “Permissions” menu by clicking the button of the same name. Select a user group that will have access to disk. If you plan to allow any account to use a network resource, select the “Everyone” item.
Check the boxes next to “Change” and “Read”. Click the Apply buttons several times. Restart your computer and check the availability of the local disk.
If you are working with the Windows XP operating system, then after launching the Explorer menu, right-click on the disk icon and select “Sharing and Security”. Open the "Access" tab after opening a new window.
Activate the “Allow modification of files over the network” and “Share this folder” items by checking the boxes next to them. Click the "Apply" button and close the settings menu. Restart your computer after completing these steps.
Computer networks are designed for communication and collaboration, and operating system security is designed to protect against unauthorized access to the computer resources under its control. How to instruct a security system to allow access to a specific folder from the outside is described in this article.
Instructions
Windows OS security is organized at the level of individual files and is based on the use of the NTFS (New Technology File System) file system. All folders each have special controls access- ACL (Access Control List). They contain a list of specific users and user groups who are allowed access to a specific file or the entire folder generally. It also lists the actions that these users (or groups) can perform with folders and files. The operating system provides both detailed and simplified management of ACLs. Therefore, how exactly does public access to any folder depends on whether the “Use simple sharing” option is enabled in your operating system settings. You can find this out in “Folder Options” of the Control Panel. To do this, on the “Start” button, in the “Settings” section, click “Control Panel”, and then select “Folder Options”. In the window that opens, the option we are interested in is located on the “View” tab.
To open (or vice versa - close) access to any folder in yours, right-click it and select “Sharing and Security” from the menu that appears. If the “simple sharing” option is enabled (we found this out in the previous step), then in the folder properties window that opens, the “Access” tab will look like this:
To allow access over the network, check the box “Share this folder" Here you can also specify the name under which the folder will be seen by other users, and also put a checkmark that allows network users to change folder. Click “OK” for the changes to take effect.
Here you can also specify a folder name for network users, as well as a limit on the number of simultaneous connections. To allow network users to modify files in folder Here you need to click the “OK” button and check the box next to the “Change” item.
Video on the topic
Rules access to your computer's resources in the NTFS file system are regulated by special control lists access(ACL - Access Control List). By changing these rules for a specific user or entire groups, you can regulate the opportunities available to them to use files located on computer media.
Instructions
To allow network access to any disk change yours, fixed in the ACL list of this. The sequence of actions depends on the type of management of such lists currently enabled in your system. To type, open the main OS menu on the “Start” button and select “Control Panel”. If your OS is Windows XP, then look for it in the “Settings” section.
With the panel open, click the “Appearance and Themes” link, and then “Folder Options.” Going to the “View” tab, look for the line “Use simple sharing” in the list of “Advanced options”. If you want to have more control over user rights, then uncheck this line, and if you trust the operating system more, then check it.
Once you're done with this, go to disk, which must be opened to the general access. By right-clicking the disk icon, a menu appears in which you need to click the “Sharing and Security” line, and then go to the “Access” tab. If you enabled simplified access control in the previous step, it will look like this screenshot.
You need to check the “Share this folder” checkbox, and in the “Share name” field type its alias for network users. If you need full access, check the box next to “Allow editing files over the network.” To make changes to the security policy, click the “OK” button.
There is also a field for a disk alias in this option. It is also possible to limit the number of simultaneous users. And to issue permissions to change the contents of the disk by network users, you need to click the “Permissions” button and check the “Change” checkbox.
Video on the topic
It makes sense to open access to hard drives on a company's computer network to speed up the production process. In order to give any user the right to manage the data of any computer on the network, it is necessary to set the address of his computer in the access protocol. How to make a local disk open to local network users?
Instructions
Enter the Start button menu. Select "My Computer". Basically, you can do this by double-clicking on the “My Computer” icon, which is located in the upper left corner of your desktop. A window will open in front of you. Select the local drive you want to share access to. Right-click on it and select “Properties” from the menu that appears. A window will appear in front of you.
Select the Access tab. In it, find and select “If you want to open access to the root folder of the disk, click here.” Check the box next to “Share this folder.” You'll find it under Network Sharing and Security. Then specify the network name of the local drive, which will appear on the local network as a shared resource.
Check the box next to “Allow changing file network” to allow access to the local drive. After this, other network users will be able to freely manage the information stored on it.
To prevent various kinds of unpleasant moments associated with erroneous correction of information, uncheck the box next to “Allow editing files over the network” so that the information on the selected local drive is available to other users only in read mode.
Apply the changes. To do this, click OK. If you did everything correctly, the drive you selected for sharing will appear in the My Computer window as an icon with an open hand.
To open access to a specific folder, and not the disk as a whole, do everything in accordance with the instructions described above. If you want to allow access only to some users, then specify their network addresses so that only they have the right to view documents on the open local drive.
Activation of general access allows you to share various data stored on hard drives and external storage devices. This method is widely used in enterprises, because allows you to quickly access the necessary information.
You will need
- - administrator account;
- - guest account.
Instructions
There are two main types of public resources. In the first case, users can only read files, and in the second, they can change their contents and add new documents. Turn on your computer. Wait for the operating system to load.
If you set up workgroups within your local network, select the HomeGroup (Read/Write) field. If you want to provide access to specific clients, select “Specific users”.
Now leave the menu that appears for a while. Open Control Panel and select User Accounts. Go to the "Account Creation" menu.
Enter a name for the new account. Check the box next to “Regular Access”. Click the "Create Account" button. Be sure to set a password to access this account.
Now go back to the sharing settings menu. Enter the name of the newly created account in the field that appears. Click the "Add" button. Select this account in the bottom menu and click the “Share” button.
When connecting from another device to your computer, an authorization form will appear. Enter the name of the account you want to share with. Please enter the correct password. Check the “Save login settings” checkbox.
Be sure to check your firewall settings. The first time you try to connect to a public folder, you may receive a system warning. Allow this connection by highlighting the “Remember action” option.
Video on the topic
Setting up shared access to certain computer resources allows you to quickly access the necessary information. In addition, this method is ideal when using a PC as network storage.
You will need
- administrator account.
Instructions
Turn on your computer and wait until Windows finishes loading. To log in, use an account with administrator rights. This will allow you to perform all necessary directory operations.
In situations where the owners of network computers are trusted users, use simple sharing settings. Open the My Computer menu. Select the desired local drive and right-click on the icon of the folder you want to open access to.
Select “Properties” from the drop-down menu. Open the "Access" tab and click the "Advanced settings" button. Activate the “Open to this folder” option by checking the box next to the item of the same name.
To avoid creating a heavy load on your hard drive, set the maximum number of simultaneous sessions to 5-10. Click the Permissions button. In the “User Groups” submenu, select “Everyone”.
Check the Allow box next to Full Control. If you want users to only be able to view and copy files, enable the Read option. Press the “Apply” and Ok buttons successively.
Sometimes computers are part of a relatively large local network. Don't share with everyone unless you're sure they're trustworthy. Create an account on your computer with guest rights.
Don't forget to protect this account with a password. Otherwise, you will not be able to correctly open access to directories. Open the properties of the desired folder and click the “Sharing” button in the corresponding menu.
Enter the name of the account you recently activated in the available fields. Set the required permissions for this account, such as Read/Write.
Click the "Apply" and Ok buttons. It is worth noting that this method has a significant drawback: network users will not be able to simultaneously access directories. If this is critical for you, use the Windows HomeGroup capabilities.
Quite often there is a need to transfer information to local network users. And so that they do not run to each other with flash drives or disks, but calmly exchange information while sitting at their workplace, you can simply create a folder with the necessary information (shared resource) and open a shared resource for it access.
Instructions
In the window that appears, select the “Access” tab and check the box next to “Open shared access to this one." Also in the “Name” field of the folder opened for public access Yes, you can assign any name. It will be visible to everyone who visits you (the real folder name will be hidden). If you want all network users to be able to change the contents of a folder, that is, copy, move, delete, then check the box next to the “Allow changes over the network” item.
If you need to expand access to the computer, then you create several accounts, being at the same time an administrator, and install to some files limited access. But if you want to your files had access someone else, then you are wondering how to do this. Performing such an operation is quite simple; all you need to do is follow the step-by-step instructions.
You will need
- Personal Computer
Instructions
Boot your computer and click the Start button. Now select “My Computer” and find the folder or drive you want to share
Some system folders in Windows are hidden from the user so that he does not accidentally delete or change important files on which the operation of the OS depends. In addition, sharing of folders is usually limited. To remove these restrictions, you must set the appropriate settings.
To make hidden folders visible, open the Start panel and click on Computer. At the top left, find the Organize option, expand the drop-down list, and select Folder and Search Options. In the window that appears, open the “View” menu, scroll down the list and under the “Hidden files and folders” option, select “Show hidden folders, files and drives.” Click OK. You have gained access to all hidden directories. Sharing a folder will allow different user accounts to have rights to share files and other permitted actions within it. Access can be done both locally and over the network. By default, Windows 7 has one shared folder - Public. You can store videos, music, photos and other files in it for sharing or viewing.
It is not recommended to share the root directory of the system drive, as well as the Windows and Users folders. Even if you bypass the restrictions imposed by the system, this may negatively affect the operation of the computer. Use the folder to exchange data Public, copying files there to the appropriate directories: music to the “General Music” folder, photos to the “General Images” folder, etc. This method will always come in handy if you have difficulty accessing a regular folder that is not related to Public.
We have already talked about how to create one in Windows XP or share access to it, so I will not repeat it.
Creating the same shared folder in Windows 7 is a little more complicated, so I'll show you everything in order.
I want to warn you right away. Never Do not share system folders such as the Windows and Program Files folder. This should not be done for security reasons.
- It's best to create a folder on your Desktop. Call it whatever you want. The name does not matter, as long as it was clear to all your network users. I usually name the folder Exchange.
- Right-click on this folder and select the link from the drop-down list Properties.
Go to the tab Access and press the button Advanced setup...
Check the box next to the entry Share this folder and click on the button Permissions.
In the field below the inscription Enter the names of the selected objects write the word Guest
- Assign permissions for the Guest by checking the boxes and clicking the button Apply And OK.
- Now go to the tab Safety and press the button Change...
In the Windows operating system, you can connect shared access to a folder on a local home network to exchange data between computers using shared folders. This is a very convenient and fast way to transfer files computer-to-computer, without using external media (flash drives, external hard drives, memory cards, etc.).
In this article I will talk about creating a local network using the Windows 10 operating system as an example. Creating and setting up a local network in Windows 8 and Windows 7 is done in a similar way; these instructions are universal.
The article discusses the following option for using shared folders on a local network: several computers are connected to the router, connected via cable and wireless Wi-Fi network, united into a home network. A shared folder is created on each computer; all computers included in this local network have access to the shared folders.
On computers connected to the home local network, the operating systems Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7 (different OS, or the same operating system) can be installed, connected to the router via Wi-Fi or cable.
Creating and configuring a local network takes place in four stages:
- the first stage is checking the workgroup name and network card settings
- second stage - creating and configuring local network parameters
- third stage - connecting shared access to a folder on the local network
- fourth stage - data exchange over the local network
First you need to check the workgroup settings and network card settings, and then create a local Windows network.
Checking network card and workgroup settings
On the Desktop, right-click on the “This PC” icon (“My Computer”, “Computer”), select “Properties” from the context menu. In the “System” window, click on “Advanced system settings”.
In the “System Properties” window that opens, open the “Computer name” tab. Here you will see the workgroup name. By default, in Windows 10, a workgroup is named "WORKGROUP".
On all computers connected to this local network, the workgroup name must be the same. If the workgroups have different names on the computers you connect to the network, change the names by choosing one name for the workgroup.
To do this, click on the “Change...” button, in the “Changing computer or domain name” window, give a different name for the workgroup (write the new name in capital letters, preferably in English).
Now check your network card settings. To do this, in the notification area, right-click on the network icon (Internet access). Click on "Network and Sharing Center". In the Network and Sharing Center window, click the Change adapter settings link.
In the Network Connections window, select a network card, Ethernet or Wi-Fi, depending on how your computer connects to the Internet. Next, right-click on the network card and click on “Properties” in the context menu.
In the network card properties window, in the “Network” tab, select the “IP version 4 (TCP/IPv4)” component, and then click on the “Properties” button.
In the Internet Protocol Properties window that opens, in the “General” tab, check the IP address and DNS service settings. In most cases, these parameters are assigned automatically. If these parameters are inserted manually, check the corresponding addresses with your Internet provider (the IP address on computers connected to the network must be different).
After checking the settings, you can proceed directly to creating a local network in Windows.
Creating a local network
First of all, configure the local network settings in Windows. Enter the “Network and Sharing Center”, click on the “Change advanced sharing settings” item.
The Advanced Sharing Settings window allows you to change sharing settings for different network profiles. The Windows operating system creates a separate network profile with its own special parameters for each network used.
There are three network profiles available:
- Private
- Guest or public
- All networks
In your private network profile, under Network Discovery, select Enable Network Discovery.
In the File and Printer Sharing option, enable the Enable File and Printer Sharing option.
In the HomeGroup Connection option, select Let Windows manage HomeGroup connections (recommended).
After that, open the “All Networks” network profile. In the Public Folder Sharing option, select Enable sharing to allow network users to read and write files in public folders.
In the File Sharing Connection option, select the Use 128-bit encryption to secure sharing connections (recommended) option.
In the “Password Protected Sharing” option, enable the “Turn off Password Protected Sharing” option.
After completing the settings, click on the “Save Changes” button.
Repeat all these steps on all computers that you plan to connect to your home local network:
- check the workgroup name (name must be the same)
- check your network card settings
- In sharing settings, enable network discovery, enable file and printer sharing, disable password protected sharing
How to enable folder sharing
In this case, I created a folder named “General”. Right-click on this folder and in the folder properties window, open the “Access” tab.
Then click on the “Advanced setup” button.
In the “Advanced sharing settings” window, activate the “Share this folder” option, and then click on the “Permissions” button.
Select permissions to use shared folder data from another computer. There are three options to choose from:
- Full access
- Change
- Reading
To save the settings, click on the “OK” button.
Go back to the folder properties, open the “Security” tab, and then click on the “Change...” button.
In the window that opens, enter the name “Everyone” (without quotes) in the “Enter names of selected objects” field, and then click on the “OK” button.
In the folder properties window, in the “Security” tab, configure the permissions that you previously selected for the shared folder.
To change the permission for the “Everyone” group, click on the “Advanced” button. In the “Advanced security settings for a shared folder” window, select the “Everyone” group, and then click on the “Change” button to change permissions.
Setting up a local network in Windows is complete. In some cases, you may need to restart your computer for all changes to take effect.
Logging into your local home network
Open Explorer, in the “Network” section you will see all available computers connected to your local home network. To log into another computer, click on the computer name, and then click on the shared folder name to access the files and folders located in the shared folder.
The local network in Windows 10 has been created and configured.
Troubleshoot some network problems
Sometimes, after setting up the network, problems arise with accessing folders on the local network. One possible problem may be an incorrectly selected network profile. I encountered this myself on my computer. After reinstalling the system, I created and configured a local network, but my computer did not see two laptops connected to this network. From the laptop I could easily access the shared folder on my computer, but the computer did not see them at all.
I checked all the local network settings several times, and only then I noticed that my computer was running a public network, and not a private (home) network, like on laptops. How can such a problem be solved?
Enter the “Network and Sharing Center”, click on “Troubleshooting”. Select the “Shared Folders” section and run diagnostics and troubleshooting. At the very end, the application will offer to configure the network as private. Apply this fix, and then restart your computer. After performing this operation, my computer gained access to shared folders on laptops on the local network.
Often problems arise due to incorrect network configuration. Windows 10 has the option to reset your network settings to default settings. Go to “Settings”, “Network and Internet”, in the “Change network settings” section, click on “Reset network” to apply the default network settings.
Other problems may arise; look for solutions on the Internet.
Conclusion
In Windows OS, you can create a local private (home) network between computers, organize data exchange using shared folders, and gain access to a printer. Computers on the same network can have different or the same operating systems installed (Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7).
