The basic goal of utilizing networks is to share devices such as printers and storage and to exchange data between computers. The latter can be done is several ways. For example, you can exchange data via e-mail, Web sites, FTP server, and several other methods. One of the most common ways to exchange data between users on a local network is called folder sharing, sometimes called just sharing.
With folder sharing, you specify or "mark" the folders you want to share with other users over the network. Follow these steps to share folders:
- Open Windows Explorer.
- Right-click a drive or folder you want to share and select Sharing.
- In the dialog box that appears, select Shared As and then type the name of a share in the Share Name text box. The share name is a unique name you give to a share. It is the name by which users access this folder over the network.
- Select the level of sharing that you want to provide: Read-Only, Full or Depends on Password. Then enter a suitable password, if desired. If you use a password, you will be asked to confirm it by reentering the password. Select OK.
After you share a folder, you'll see a little blue hand on the icon for the folder in Windows Explorer. This icon tells you that the folder has been shared; all shared folders will have the same icon.
Once you share the folder, other network users can access this folder over the network. They can do this in several ways. The easiest method is to right click on the My Computer icon and select Map Network Drive. Then, select a drive letter to be assigned to the share and, in the Path field, type \\computername\sharename, where computername is the name of with the shared resource, and sharename is the name of the share as you specified when you created the share. Be sure to put a check in the box "Reconnect at Logon", if desired. You can also open Network Neighborhood and browse the network. Another option is to select Start | Run and type \\computername\sharename, in the Run field.
When shared and mapped, the shared resource appears as another resource on the external computer.
