How to share a folder the xp way in windows vista

Since Microsoft has three operating systems in use, chances are you’ll find yourself needing to share files between XP, Vista, Windows 7, or some combination of the three. Here we take a look at sharing between a Vista and XP on your home network.

Share Without Password Protected Sharing

If you’re not worried about who’s accessing the files and folders, the easiest method is to disable Password Protected Sharing. So on the Vista machine open Network and Sharing Center. Under Sharing and Discovery make sure Network Discovery, File Sharing, and, Public Folder Sharing are turned on.

Also turn off Password Protected Sharing…

Now go into the Vista Public folder, located in C:\Users\Public, and add what you want to share or create a new folder. In this example we created a new folder called XP_Share and added some files to it.

On the XP machine go into My Network Places and under Network Tasks click on View Workgroup Computers.

Now you’ll see all of the computers on your network which should be part of the same Workgroup. Here we need to double-click on the Vista computer.

And there we go…no password to enter so we can access the XP_Share folder or anything else that is located in the Public folder.

Share with Password Protected Sharing

If you want to keep Password Protected Sharing turned on, then we need to do things a little different. When it’s turned on and you try to access the Vista machine from XP, you’re prompted for a password, and no matter what you think the credentials are, you can’t get access…very annoying.

So what we need to do is add the XP Machine as a user. Right-click on Computer from the Start Menu or desktop icon and select Manage from the context menu.

The Computer Management screen opens up and you want to expand Local Users and Groups, then the Users folder. Then right-click any open area an select New User.

Now create a new user name and password, you can also fill in the other fields if you want. Then make sure to uncheck User must change password at next logon and check the box next to Password never expires. Click the Create button and close out of the New User screen.

You’ll then see the new user we created in the list and you can close out of the Computer Management window.

Now back on the XP computer when you double-click on the Vista machine, your prompted to log in. Just type in the username and password you just created.

Now you’ll have access to the Public folder contents.

Set up Sharing on XP

If you want to access a shared folder from the Vista computer located on the XP machine, it’s the same process in reverse. On the XP computer in Shared Documents, right-click on the folder you want to share and select Sharing and Security.

Then select the radio button next to Share this folder and click Ok.

Go into Computer Management and create a new user…

Now from the Vista machine double click on the XP machine icon, enter the password, then access the folders and files you need.

If you have multiple versions of Windows on your home network, you’ll now be able to access files and folders from each of them.

If you want to share between Windows 7 and XP check out our article on how to share files and printers between Windows 7 and XP. You might also want to check out our article on how to share files and printers between Windows 7 and Vista.

Lowell is the founder and CEO of How-To Geek. He’s been running the show since creating the site back in 2006. Over the last decade, Lowell has personally written more than 1000 articles which have been viewed by over 250 million people. Prior to starting How-To Geek, Lowell spent 15 years working in IT doing consulting, cybersecurity, database management, and programming work. Read more.

I’ve received a number of requests for an article on how to share a folder. I know for many of you this is a very simple operation, but I finally realized there’s a reason for the confusion users are having.

Windows Vista includes a “Share” button on the explorer toolbar, but it doesn’t work the way people used to XP/Win2k expect it to. Instead it pops up a wizard to make things “easier”.

By default, this share button will not let you choose the name of the shared folder. Even more annoying, sharing a folder within your user directory will have a weird share name like \\computer\Users\geek\Contacts, which is much more difficult to remember.

If you want to share folders the way you used to on Windows XP, simply right-click the folder, and choose the Properties option.

Now choose the Advanced Sharing button.

Now you should be able to check the box “Share this folder”, and choose a share name, which will be accessible from \\computer\myshare, for example.

You can also click the Permissions button if you want to allow write access to this share, or allow access to only a particular user.

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How to Share a Folder on XP Home to Vista

Now let’s go find the folder on your XP computer that you want to share with your Vista computer. Let’s pretend it’s called Cyndi’s Hits.

1. Locate the Cyndi’s Hits folder using My Computer or Windows Explorer.
2. Right-click the Cyndi’s Hits folder and choose Properties.
3. In the Properties window of the folder you want to share, click the Sharing tab.
4. Under the Network Sharing and Security area, if you see As a Security Measure, Windows Has Disabled Remote Access to This Computer, you’ll need to run the Network Setup Wizard. Click the link below this warning to invoke it. If you don’t see it, skip forward a few steps to where I talk about the Share This Folder on the Network option.
5. In the wizard, click Next, and choose Yes Use the Existing Shared Connection.
6. Fill in the computer description if needed and change the computer name if you want. Click next and ensure the workgroup is WORKGROUP.
7. Click the option to Turn on File and Printer Sharing. Click Next twice until you see the option to Create a Network Setup Disk. You can use a floppy disk (if you have one) to create a disk that will set up the network on another Windows XP computer. Follow this if you want, but otherwise, click Just Finish the Wizard and then the Finish button.

Careful here, because anyone on your network, including wireless freeloaders who happen to land on your wireless network, might be able to browse and change the contents of the shared folder.

Figure 11.15 Right-click the Cyndi Lauper music folder you want to share and click the Sharing tab.

Now you should be able to browse the Cyndi’s Hits folder from your Vista computer or from other machines on the network.

To complete the process, skip forward to the section “Access a Shared XP Folder with Vista.”

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How To Share a Folder the XP Way in Windows Vista

I’ve received a number of requests for an article on how to share a folder. I know for many of you this is a very simple operation, but I finally realized there’s a reason for the confusion users are having.

Windows Vista includes a “Share” button on the explorer toolbar, but it doesn’t work the way people used to XP/Win2k expect it to. Instead it pops up a wizard to make things “easier”.

By default, this share button will not let you choose the name of the shared folder. Even more annoying, sharing a folder within your user directory will have a weird share name like \\computer\Users\geek\Contacts, which is much more difficult to remember.

If you want to share folders the way you used to on Windows XP, simply right-click the folder, and choose the Properties option.

Now choose the Advanced Sharing button.

Now you should be able to check the box “Share this folder”, and choose a share name, which will be accessible from \\computer\myshare, for example.

You can also click the Permissions button if you want to allow write access to this share, or allow access to only a particular user.

Enjoy:

Last edited by shahjinn; 27.02.08 at 17:26 .

Geoffrey_Carr

Я получил несколько запросов для статьи о том, как разделить папку. Я знаю, что для многих из вас это очень простая операция, но я, наконец, понял, что есть причина, почему пользователи путаницы.

Windows Vista включает кнопку «Поделиться» на панели инструментов проводника, но она не работает так, как ожидали пользователи XP / Win2k. Вместо этого он открывает мастер, чтобы сделать вещи «более легкими».

По умолчанию эта кнопка совместного доступа не позволит вам выбрать имя общей папки. Еще более раздражающим, совместное использование папки в вашем каталоге пользователя будет иметь странное имя общего ресурса, такое как computer Users geek Contacts, что гораздо труднее запомнить.

Если вы хотите обмениваться папками так, как вы привыкли в Windows XP, просто щелкните правой кнопкой мыши папку и выберите опцию «Свойства».

Теперь выберите кнопку «Расширенный доступ».

Теперь вы можете установить флажок «Поделиться этой папкой» и выбрать имя общего ресурса, которое будет доступно, например, из computer myshare.

Вы также можете нажать кнопку «Разрешения», если вы хотите разрешить доступ на запись к этому ресурсу или разрешить доступ только к определенному пользователю.

Enabling Simple File Sharing in Windows Vista

Wondering how to do simple file sharing in Windows Vista ? Not too sure? Don’t worry. It’s quite easy to make it works, so that other people can access the Vista shared folder/file without the need to do user authentication (require username/password) from other computers in the home network.

Here is step-by-step instruction on showing you how to do it. Stay tuned..

1) First you need to confirm that you have enabled file and printer sharing on network card. Go to Start and right click on Network and then click Properties.

2) Network and Sharing Center window will appear, then click Manage network connections on the left panel.

3) Network Connections window will appear. Here you can right click on the network card that you are using now and click Properties.

4) Your network connection card’s properties window will appear, then click File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks, finally click OK.

5) Now go back to Network and Sharing Center window, check the network location type of your computer. I would advise you to use Private network since you are using file sharing in home network. If your network location type is Public, check here on how to change network location type.

Note: Also I would advise you to set the same Workgroup name for all computers in the same network. This is the short help on how to set computer name and workgroup in Windows Vista.

6) After that scroll down to the Sharing and Discovery section, turn on file sharing and also turn off password protected sharing. Click Apply to make changes, finally click OK to close all windows.

7) Lets move on to do folder/file sharing now. Go to the folder that contains the files you would like to share, right click that folder and click on Share…

Note: You can also do simple file sharing if you right click the folder and click Properties. I will tell you more about this advanced file sharing later.

8) File Sharing window will appear. Since you have password protected sharing disabled, you can select Guest, Everyone (All users in this list) or other user accounts and click Add. In this case, I added user Guest and then set the user permission. Finally click Share to do sharing.

Note: For setting file permissions, you can have these 3 selection, choose the one that you need:

Reader – Can only view or read files in the shared folder.

Contributor – Permit the person or group to view all files, add files, and change or delete the files that they add.

Co-owner – Permit the person or group to view, change, add, and delete files in the shared folder.

Note: Only enable file sharing with read, modify and write permission if you really need to. If not, Read only permission is enough.

9) The next window will tell you that your folder is shared, click Done to close the window.

10) After that when you check on the shared folder, you will notice there are 2 people icon on the bottom of folder. Finally, you can then access this shared folder from Vista, XP or other Windows OS without user authentication. That’s all the simple file sharing enabling process.

Note: In some cases, you will be prompted to provide a username and password even this is just simple file sharing. You should type the name guest with no password to access the shared folder.

Note: Remember to disable this file sharing without username and password authentication feature when you don’t need it anymore.

Note: Please right click that shared folder and click on Properties, then go to Security tab. Check the group or user names that are allowed to access this folder, and make sure the user/group that you allowed to access during sharing process is listed here as well (usually will be added automatically when you do folder sharing), if not click Edit to add those missing user/group. Please note Everyone will allow everybody to access this folder.

If the specific user/group you allowed during sharing process does not match the user/group listed here, the missing user might not be able to see that shared folder at all! Or the user will get prompt saying that you might not have permission to use this network resource when try to access this shared folder from other computer.

Try and test some different settings, then you will know which one will work. Simple file sharing is easy and fun!

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Share documents with other computers on the same network

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What to Know

• Right-click file or item you want to share. Select Sharing and Security >Share this folder on the network. Provide name and choose OK.
• If you want users to be able to change the item, select Allow network users to change my files check box.
• Make sure Windows XP Simple File Sharing is enabled before attempting to share.

Windows XP has been deprecated since 2014 and no longer receives security or feature updates. These instructions have been retained for people who cannot upgrade. The continued use of Windows XP is not recommended.

Windows XP lets you share documents, folders, and other file types with other users on the same local network, whether they use Windows XP or a different Windows operating system like Windows 10 or Windows 7.

After you enable sharing and choose what to share with other computers, you create a file server where you can transfer files between computers, share a computer with your network, copy videos, or share images.

How to Share Windows XP Files Across a Network

The XP network approach streamlines network file access:

Find the location of the file, folder, or drive that you want to share. One easy way to do this is to open My Computer from the Start menu.

Right-click the item or go to the File menu, then choose Sharing and Security.

From the new window that opens, select Share this folder on the network, then give the item a name for it to be recognized. If you want users to be able to change the item, select the Allow network users to change my files check box.

If you can’t select either of these options, it might mean that the file or folder is located within another folder that is set to private. You must allow access to that folder first. Go there and open the same sharing settings, but clear the Make this folder private check box.

Click OK or Apply to save the changes and enable the new shared item.

Windows XP Sharing Tips

An alternative way to share files and folders entails moving or copying them to the Shared Documents folder located at C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents. In Windows XP, all files contained in the Shared Documents folder are automatically shared on the local network.

The procedure for sharing files in Windows 2000 and earlier versions of Windows can be accessed from the File > Sharing menu in Windows Explorer.

Sharing files in this way does not let you share files outside of your local network. In other words, you cannot send files to your friend who lives miles away. For that, you need a file-sharing website like WeTransfer or a cloud storage website like Dropbox that supports public links.

INTRODUCTION

Losing data because of a computer problem or a hard disk crash is discouraging, to say the least. You might lose family photos, your music collection, or financial data. And, after you get the computer just the way that you want it, it can take a long time to reconfigure your personal settings on a new computer: desktop background, sounds, screensavers, and wireless network configurations to name just a few

However, a little prevention can go a long way to avoiding this ordeal. To help save you lots of time and aggravation, we recommend that you take the precaution of regularly backing up your data and settings.

This article describes how to manually back up your personal files and settings in Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003. It also describes how to use the data tools in Windows to back up your files and settings.

More Information

Method 1: Manually back up your files and settings to removable media or to a network location

The simplest method is to manually back up your files and settings to removable media or a network location. You can specify the files and settings that you want to back up and how often you want to perform a backup.

Note Examples of removable media include external hard disks, DVDs, CDs, and USB memory cards. You can back up files to a different computer or a network device if your computer is connected to a network such as a wireless network.

To manually copy your files to a network location or to removable media on a computer that is running Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003, follow these steps:

Click Start , click Computer and then double-click the drive where you currently have Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003 installed.

Open the Users folder, and then open the user folder that contains the files that you want to back up.

Copy the necessary folders from the user folder to a network location or to removable media.

To back up data for all users, repeat steps 2–3.

To determine the size of all the files in the user folder, select all the folders, right-click those selected folders, and then click Properties.

The saved files can be copied to any computer. However, you must have corresponding applications installed on that computer to open those individual files.

Not all applications save their files to the user folder. You should make sure that you check other applications and the file system location where the applications save files by default, and then copy those files to the network location or to the removable media.

Method 2: Use the Easy Transfer feature to back up data to a different computer

The next easiest method is to use the Easy Transfer feature in Windows to transfer data to a different computer. This section discusses the following scenarios in which you can use the Easy Transfer feature to back up data to a different computer:

I just bought a new Windows 7 machine with Windows 7 Home Edition. I already have Windows XP Professional SP2 machine.

I want to share folders and files between these two machines. They are connected to the same switch.

How can I do this?

4 Answers 4

This is the ONLY guide that really works, without putting a password on the user account on the Win7 machine, and turning on password protected sharing for the workgroup/homegroup network and sharing settings.

The password-solution sucks (e.g. on a screenless media server) because you have to type in the password whenever the machine restarts, and whenever you want to access its shared folders from another machine.

I had tried all the other guides, which all say that I should use a homegroup to link the computers, and apply a bunch of settings for network-sharing, which I did, but alas my XP machine could only enter the folder “Users” on the Win7 machine, and none of its other shared folders, despite it being able to see them in the listing.

The only thing that worked, was creating a new usergroup for “Guest”s on the Win7 machine, and giving that group Full Control to the chosen folder, as per the guide linked to above. Also, this guide suggests enabling 40- and 56-bit encryption for the homegroup network and sharing settings. I don’t know it that is really needed.

Because the Internet is unreliable, I’ll post the steps here also:

First, make sure you add the XP machine to your workgroup. There are plenty of guides for that on the web. If your homegroup is named “WORKGROUP”, it should already be added to it.

1. Go to the Windows 7 machine
2. Right click on folder/drive to Share
3. Select “Share With” and “Advanced Sharing”
4. Select the “Security” tab
5. Click “Edit”
6. Click “Add”
7. Click “Advanced”
8. Click “Find Now”
9. Find “Guest” in the list of results at the bottom (NOT “Guests”)
10. Click OK
11. Click OK
12. You should now be back at the Permissions.
13. Under “Group or usernames”, click on the new “Guest” item.
14. Go to the tick boxes on the right, under the “Allow” column and select the Full Control tick box.
15. Click “Apply”, and then “OK” twice.

You should now be able to browse the shared folder or drive on your Windows 7 machine from the Windows XP machine 🙂

I have a small business network, where there is a centralized imaging machine. This machine then has a shared folder with all the stored images. Originally the imaging machine was an XP, and the shared folder was easily accessed by all. However, we recently had to upgrade that machine to a new one with Win7 installed. The same shared folder is no longer accessible from the XP machines. I’m also assuming that the local firewall isn’t causing issue since previously the connection was fine.

The Exact error that I get:

Steps that I’ve taken:

1. Turned off firewall on both computers
2. Made sure that ‘everone’ and specific user connecting has full permission
3. I can run net view command from command prompt and see the imaging machine
4. I CANNOT ping the ‘imaging.domain.localhost’ successfully from the XP
5. I CAN ping the specific ip address of the imaging machine (win7) from the XP
6. I CANNOT access the shared folder from another Win7 machine
7. I CAN connect via ip address: \192.168.1.1

Note: this is joined to a domain

Although the static ip address and NAT routing table appears to solve the situation, whenever I use the host name (\imaging) vs ip address (\192.168.1.1) the ip address resolves immediately while the ‘imaging’ takes roughly 30 seconds to 1 min.

3 Answers 3

You can try these steps:

1. Make sure that the imaging system has a static ip address
2. Make sure that the NAT routing table correctly resolves the host name to the ip address:
   \imaging –> \ \192.168.1.1
3. Make sure that public folder sharing is enabled
4. Make sure that File and Printer Sharing is enabled

Both steps 3 and 4 can be found in Control Panel–>Network and Internet–>Network and Sharing Center–>Advanced sharing settings

You should be able to connect to the machine by typing in the UNC path name (\\computername). On most machines, you will get an empty explorer window. If you get that far, try sharing the folder again.

You do this by right clicking on the folder and going to properties. Under the Sharing tab, click the share button and specify who you want to share the file with. This will generally create the NTFS permissions for you. You could also hit the Advanced Sharing button and manually set the share level Permissions.

The only other issue could be some random Group Policy setting that is causing problems. Do you have other Win7 machines that work? This sounds like a weird configuration setting issue.

If you are unable to connect using a UNC path, then there is something weird going on. Make sure that the DNS name is resolving properly. That could be a domain issue.

Other than that, you should make sure that the network discovery and the like are turned on (step 2 on this page). You might also want to make sure that password protected sharing is off. Make sure that you are setting the correct network type for this. If you go to network and sharing center, make sure that it is not a “public” network.

Windows 7 and XP networks, in my experience, are not quite compatible. Interaction might work, or it might not. The network might work correctly today, but not work tomorrow.

One major problem is defining the master browser computer for the network. The article Computer Browser contains a good explanation of the problem, and how to assure that the right computer is elected as the master. The problem to avoid is for Windows 7 to come up and decide that it is the master browser of its own network of one, while the XP computers elect one of themselves as master browser of their own little network. Windows 7 should normally provoke in due course a re-election of the master browser for the network, but this can take quite a long time (unless you have a domain).

To make the XP machines discoverable by Windows 7, you should install on them the Link Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) Responder. Windows 7 should also have the Guest account enabled with the right permissions, since the XP machines might identify themselves as Guest (unless you have taken other steps).

If everything fails, the last resort is giving all the machines fixed IP addresses and updating the hosts files on your network to contain all the addresses.

• Workgroup Name of all the computers should be the same.
• In Vista Network and Sharing:
  Network Discovery: ON (So it can see the other computers)
  Network set to Private (Public is for hotspots, airports, etc)
  File Sharing: ON
  Public Folder Sharing: ON (Vista Public Folder is the same as XP Shared Docs)
  Password Protected: OFF (unless you want to set up identical usernames and passwords on all computers in your Network). If you have it ON, you will be asked for a username and password when you try to access a Vista computer from an XP computer.
• Run the XP Home Network File and Printer sharing Wizard.

Security component maker EldoS announced the availability of RawDisk, a raw disk access driver for Windows Vista and Windows XP systems. Fortunately, the company won’t make the product publicly available.

With the advent of XP, Microsoft introduced restrictions that prevent raw disk access for applications that aren’t run with administrator-level authority. The company went a step further with Vista by preventing raw disk access for all user-mode processes. The change effectively prohibits people from editing disk sectors to change content.

That sort of protection is useful in some cases. For example, in 2006, security researcher Joanna Rutkowska figured out a way to inject a rootkit into Vista. Rutkowska’s technique, called Blue Pill, basically forces Windows to page memory to disk where that memory can then be manipulated by editing raw disk sectors. After changes are made to the paged memory, Windows could be coaxed into calling instructions in that memory space, thereby allowing the changed code to begin executing–and Vista would be none the wiser that the exploit had occurred.

Legitimate tools such as some disk defragmentation programs do need to have raw disk access. The developers of such tools for Vista need to provide their own methodology because the native ability for raw disk access is no longer present as it was in Windows versions prior to Vista.

EldoS said its new raw disk access driver allows raw disk access for both administrative-level and limited-access user accounts.

“We have developed kernel-mode drivers for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows. Demand for such a solution is high, because preparing the applications for Windows Vista appeared to be a daunting task for many developers,” said Eugene Mayevski, EldoS CTO. “Many system utilities stopped working under the new operating system. No solution for the problem was yet offered by Microsoft. For the majority of developers of various utility applications, creation of their own kernel-mode driver is not possible, as it requires the presence of special qualifications and investment of time.”

Entities that want to obtain a copy of the EldoS RawDisk driver must contact EldoS directly. The requesting company must have an established business with software already on the market and must explain to EldoS how it intends to use the driver with the product.

EldoS provides a downloadable demo program that allows a person to verify that the driver does work as advertised. However, the company said that the driver in the demo can’t be used with any other application.

Last Updated : 16-Dec-2011
Issue Number : 8200291000

Solution

• Shared Folder without Access Control
• Shared Folder with Access Control

• Shared Folder without Access Control

• Shared Folder with Access Control

• Network-level access permission

• Local-level access permission

Shared Folder without Access Control

• Do not select [Turn on sharing so anyone with network access can open files]. Otherwise, you will not be able to store a document scanned with this machine in a shared folder.
• If the [User Account Control] dialog box appears in Windows Vista, click [Continue].

Shared Folder with Access Control

• If the [User Account Control] dialog box appears in Windows Vista, click [Continue].
• Access permissions in Windows Vista

Related Information

• Settings before Using the Scan to File Server Function (SMB)
• Setting the IP Address
• Setting the Machine for Scan to File Server (SMB)
• Setting Shared Folder (Windows 2000)
• Setting Shared Folder (Windows Server 2003)
• Setting Shared Folder (Windows XP)
• Setting Shared Folder (Mac OS X)
• Setting Shared Folder (UNIX/Linux)

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Because most versions of Windows do not include a method of password protecting your files and folders, this page provides steps for encrypting files and folders instead. To password protect your files and folders in Windows, you need to use a third-party program.

Before password protecting any document, you may want to create a backup of the non-password protected files and folder in case you forget the password in the future.

• Microsoft Windows Vista, 7, 8, and 10 users.
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional users.
• Microsoft Windows XP Home users.
• Other security solutions for protecting your files and folders in Windows.
• Things to remember when encrypting or password protecting files and folders.
• How to password protect Microsoft Word and Excel documents.

Microsoft Windows Vista, 7, 8, and 10 users

Unfortunately, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10 do not provide any features for password protecting files or folders. You need to use a third-party software program to accomplish this.

If you want to encrypt a file or folder, this can be done by following these steps:

1. Select the file or folder you want to encrypt.
2. Right-click the file or folder and select Properties.
3. On the General tab, click the Advanced button.
4. Check the box for the “Encrypt contents to secure data” option, then click OK on both windows.

If the “Encrypt contents to secure data” option is not selectable or available, you likely have a Home edition of Windows, which does not support this feature. It is also possible that the hard drive where the files are located is not formatted as NTFS, which is required.

Microsoft Windows XP Professional users

The steps below for encrypting the files on Windows XP Professional apply to users who are using a computer with two or more accounts. If you are using a single account, see the other security solutions section.

1. Select the file or folder you want to encrypt.
2. Right-click the file or folder, and click Properties.
3. On the General tab, click the Advanced button.
4. Check the box for the Encrypt contents to secure data option.
5. Click Apply and then OK.

You won’t be prompted to enter a password when encrypting a folder in Windows XP Professional. However, other user accounts on your computer won’t have access to files contained in the encrypted folder.

Encrypt contents to secure data is grayed out

If you are using the Home edition of Microsoft Windows XP, see the Windows XP Home steps.

Show “Encrypt” on the context menu

The newest version of TweakUI also enables you to show the Encrypt option in the context menu. To do this, follow the steps below.

1. Open TweakUI.
2. In the TweakUI window, select Explorer.
3. In the right side of the window under Settings, locate Show ‘Encrypt’ on the context menu and check the box. This option should be below Prefix ‘shortcut to’ on new shortcuts and above Show ‘View workgroup computers’ in NetPlaces.

• I’m missing Show Encrypt on the context menu in TweakUI.

Microsoft Windows XP Home users

1. Select the file or folder you want to encrypt.
2. Right-click the file or folder and click Properties.
3. Click the Sharing tab.
4. Check the box Make this folder private.
5. Click Apply and then OK.

Make this folder private is grayed out

For this option to work on Microsoft Windows XP Home edition, you must meet the below requirements.

1. The hard drive must be formatted in NTFS and not FAT32 file system.
2. The folder you are attempting to encrypt is your folder. For example, if your name is Bob, you must encrypt the following folder, or a folder within it:

C:\Documents and Settings\Bob\

You cannot encrypt any folders outside of this folder. If you want to encrypt folders outside of this folder, see the other security solutions section below.

Other security solutions for protecting your files and folders in Windows

File and folders not frequently used – An easy way to password protect files is to create an archive of the files using a compression tool. When the archive is created, you can encrypt the contents by specifying a password.

Windows ME and Windows XP users – Windows ME and Windows XP comes with a compression utility. This utility can also be used to compress and password protect files.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 users – Windows Vista and Windows 7 includes a compression utility. However, password protection for the compressed files is not possible without the use of a third-party software program.

Users can still view a list of the files within a compressed file. If you want both your file names and contents to be hidden, move all the files into a single folder and password protect that folder.

File and folders frequently used or accessed

If you need to password protect or encrypt data you frequently use, you need to install a third-party program that allows you to protect your files and folders. Below are some free and commercial solutions.

• 7-Zip – A free file and folder zipping utility, that includes the ability to password protect zipped files and folders.
• AxCrypt – An excellent free encryption utility that enables users to encrypt all files within a folder and not allow those files to be viewed unless a passphrase (password) is known.
• Folder Guard – A commercial version of a password protection software that enables you to password protect files, folders, and other Windows resources.
• Protected Folder – For a small fee, it’s an excellent software program that enables you to password protect folders.

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FAQ: How to share files in Windows XP (Simple File Sharing)?

In this article, we’ll show you how to set up your Windows XP Professional computer to share the disks and folders with other Windows computers on a network using the new feature call Simple File Sharing in Windows XP.

Setup Procedures:

• Double click on My Computer or use Windows Explorer to browse your file.
• Highlight the folder that you want to share out.
• Right click the folder and select Sharing and Security
• Choose the Sharing tab.
  1. If this is the first time to use the feature, you will see the following screen. Then click on the If you understand the security risks but want to share files without running the wizard, click here
  2. Choose Just enable file sharing and click OK.
• From the Network sharing and security group, check the option Share this folder on network in order to enable the the Sharing feature. (If you don’t want others to change or modify you files, you should uncheck the option Allow network users to change my files) (We suggest use not more than 12 characters for the share name, if any Windows 9x user would access this share folder)
• Press OK to confirm this operation.
• Now you can see an icon with a hand holding the folder.

Connecting from client:

• First of all, logon the client machine (e.g. PC-B).
• Then we need to locate the host machine (e.g. PC-A). There are couple of ways to do so.

Method 1:

• Double click the My Network Place from the desktop.
• click View workgroup computer on the left hand side.
• Scroll untill you found the host (e.g. PC-A). Then double click on it.

Method 2:

• Click Start ->Search ->For Files or Folders. .
• From the Search Result windows, click Computers or people.
• Then click A computer on the network.
• In the Computer Name box, enter the host’s name (You can use computer name, IP address or MAC address if you know either one). Then click the Search button.
• Double click on the host PC (e.g. PC-A)

Now you can found the folder that shared out from host (PC-A) called temp.

Note: There are no passwords or access restrictions and, everything that’s shared is accessible by everyone on the network.

Use this document to repair Internet connection problems in Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista and XP. These commands reset TCP/IP, Windows Socket, and Windows Firewall.

NOTE: Windows 95/98, Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista are no longer supported by the Help Desk. We can only provide best effort support. If we are unable to resolve your Windows 9x/2000/XP/Vista issue, you may be able to find help in Microsoft’s Knowledge Base.

These products are no longer actively supported by Microsoft. No further development will take place on these products and security updates are no longer issued. It is highly recommended that you upgrade to Windows 10 or 8.

NOTE: In some cases, a simple restart of your computer can solve various networking problems. If you restart your device and are still experiencing networking problems, continue through this document.

Programs like firewalls, antivirus applications, VPN clients, and various malware can cause Internet connection problems. When there are Internet connection problems in Windows 7, Vista, or XP, make sure there are no firewalls installed other than the Windows Firewall. If other firewalls are in use, consider uninstalling them and re-enable the Windows Firewall. If problems persist, try the following commands.

To automate this process, download and run networkquickfix.bat.

Note: The processes is the same for Windows 8 and Windows 10.

Windows 10

Open the Metro screen and type “command” which will automatically open the search bar. Right-click on Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator at the bottom of the screen.

Type the following commands, pressing Enter after each command:

Restart the computer.

Windows 8

Open the Metro screen and type “command” which will automatically open the search bar. Right-click on Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator at the bottom of the screen.

Type the following commands, pressing Enter after each command:

Restart the computer.

Windows 7 & Vista

Click Start and type “command” in the search box. Right-click on Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator.

Type the following commands, pressing Enter after each command:

Restart the computer.

Windows XP

Click Start, then select Run.

Type “command” and press enter.

Type the following commands, pressing Enter after each command:

Note: Windows XP must have Service Pack 2 (or later) installed in order for these three commands to work properly. Otherwise, only the first command will work.

Restart the computer.

Summary

If the commands are typed in properly but errors occur, Windows networking may be heavily damaged. In addition, if these commands do not return errors, yet do not fix the Internet connection after the computer has been restarted, consider further troubleshooting:

Help older computers find and use it

Once you have setup a homegroup using Windows 7/8/10 on your network, the next step is to fine-tune it so that all the older computers can find each other. All Windows 7 and higher computers will easily be able to join the homegroup by just using the password, but if your network contains computers running older versions of Windows, you’ll have to put them into the same workgroup.

If computers running Windows XP are part of your network, it’s important to use the same workgroup name for all of the computers on your network. This makes it possible for computers running different versions of Windows to detect and access each other. Remember that the default workgroup name is not the same in all versions of Windows. 99% of the time it is just called WORKGROUP, but in case it’s not, make sure to change it to that.

Configure Workgroup

To find or change the workgroup name on a computer running Windows XP click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.

In System Properties, click the Computer Name tab to see the workgroup name. If it’s not WORKGROUP, click Change, and type the new name under Workgroup.

In Windows 7/8/10, you can verify the workgroup by going to the Control Panel and then clicking on System. At the bottom, you will see the workgroup name.

Basically, the key to adding XP computers to a Windows 7/8/10 homegroup is to make it part of the same workgroup as those computers. However, you will run into issues when trying to access the Windows XP computer from Windows 7/8/10 or vice versa. Don’t worry though, a little bit of troubleshooting will fix it.

Troubleshoot Windows XP Network Issues

The first issue I ran into was when I went to My Computer, clicked on My Network Places and then clicked on View workgroup computers, I got the following error:

This got me Googling and I tried a whole slew of solutions including turning off the firewall, trying to start the Computer Browser service, enabling NetBIOS, etc. Though those items have to be working properly, they were not exactly causing the problem. First, follow all the directions in this Microsoft support article to make sure the basics are covered.

Once you have done that, try connecting from the Windows XP machine to your Windows 7/8/10 computer by opening Explorer and typing in the network path like below:

In my case, the \\AseemVostro computer is a Windows 10 computer. Oddly enough, even though I get the error when clicking on the View workgroup computers link, I was able to access the shared folders on my Windows 10 machine. My Windows 10 machine logs in using a Microsoft account, so when it asked for the username and password, I entered my email address and password, which worked.

Also, when trying to connect to the XP machine from Windows 10, I kept trying to enter the username and password for my local account on the XP machine, but it simply wouldn’t connect. It finally worked after I did two things. First, I clicked on the Setup a home or small office network link that you see in the screenshot above. I went through the wizard, making sure to name the workgroup WORKGROUP.

Secondly, I connected to the Windows 10 machine first from Windows XP. Once I did that, I was able to connect to my XP machine from Windows 10 without any issue. If you run into any problems, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll try to help. Also, be sure to checkout my complete guide to troubleshooting homegroups in Windows. Enjoy!

Founder of Help Desk Geek and managing editor. He began blogging in 2007 and quit his job in 2010 to blog full-time. He has over 15 years of industry experience in IT and holds several technical certifications. Read Aseem’s Full Bio

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How to Take a Screenshot in Microsoft Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7?

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You may also receive error message when using Microsoft Windows, and taking a screen shot of your internal computer problems to illustrate your points through e-mail can be a better and quicker way for solution. Besides, screen shots may be useful when you need to demonstrate some information on your screen to other people, or save your screen.

How to take a screen shot remains a problem among some people. There is various screen capture software online for you to choose. But I don’t give a damn to the screen capture software. You can take a screen shot and capture an exact image of what’s on the screen with Microsoft Windows.

In Microsoft Windows XP

Note: The only times you can’t take a screen shot are before you log on to your computer and when you are playing a video in Microsoft Windows Media Player.

1. Press the screen shot keyboard shortcut that your keyboard uses to take a screen shot.

Click the window you want to capture. Press ALT+PRINT SCREEN by holding down the ALT key and then pressing the PRINT SCREEN key. The PRINT SCREEN key is near the upper right corner of your keyboard. (The exact key name of the screen shot keyboard shortcut may vary slightly, it depends on the type of keyboard you have.) Or you can take a screen shot of your entire desktop rather than just a single window by pressing the PRINT SCREEN key without holding down the ALT key.

2. Open Microsoft Paint.

To do this, click Start > All Programs > Accessories > Paint.

3. Go to the Edit menu and click Paste or you can press and hold “Ctrl” and tap V.

In the Paint window, click Edit, and then choose Paste. Then you may crop if you like.

4. Click File > Save As.

In the box that pops up, change the “Save As Type” to PNG or JPG, and type in a filename for your image. Choose a place to save, like the Desktop, and click Save.

You can also find how to take a screen shot in Microsoft Windows XP in:

In Microsoft Windows Vista

1. In Windows Vista (except in Home Basic), there is a tool called the Snipping Tool.

To open it, click on the Start menu, type snip, then press Enter on your keyboard (the latest version of Windows Vista updates the search results as you type each letter).

2. Click on Snipping Tool.

3. The Snipping Tool opens, and a white mask is applied on the screen.In the drop-down menu for the ‘New’ button, choose from a free-form snip, rectangular snip, window snip, or full-screen snip.

4. In free-form snip mode, draw around the area you want to be captured. Drag a rectangle in rectangular snip mode. For window snip mode, select the window you want to capture. In full-screen mode, just selecting it from the drop-down menu makes the capture.

5. The snipped image is then opened within the Snipping Tool, but is also copied to the Windows clipboard for use in other applications.

In Windows 7

If you want to take screen shots in Windows 7 it comes with little program called Snipping Tool, which can be found in the Start Menu/All Programs/Accessories.

You can take a screen shot of the entire screen, a window or just a selection of the screen that you select.

In Windows 7, you can also take a screen shot by pressing Alt, Print Screen. You must hold down alt when you press print screen. I think this is easier to take a screen shot than the snipping tool if you want the whole screen.

How do I share a folder on a network Windows XP?

You share a folder in Windows XP by obeying these steps:

1. Find the folder you want to share.
2. Right-click the folder’s icon.
3. Choose Sharing and Security from the shortcut menu. …
4. Choose the option Share the Folder On the Network.
5. (Optional) Type a share name. …
6. Click OK to share the folder.

How do I turn on file sharing?

How to Enable File and Printer Sharing (Windows 7 and

1. Click the Start button, type Control Panel, and press Enter. …
2. Double-click the Network and Sharing Center icon and then click Change Advanced Sharing Settings. …
3. Click the down arrow next to the network you want to enable file and printer sharing for. …
4. Select the Turn on File and Printer Sharing option.

How do I enable file sharing between two computers?

To enable simple file sharing in Windows, head into the Control Panel and go to Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center. Hit Change Advanced Sharing Settings and make sure network discovery, file and printer sharing, and public folder sharing (the first three options) are all turned on.

Why can’t I access a shared folder?

If your PC still cannot see shared folders in Windows 10, check the credentials in the computer you are trying to access files from. Open Control Panel, User Accounts and Credential Manager. … Add the IP address of the PC hosting the file and the admin username and password of that PC. Select OK to save.

Can Windows 10 Network with Windows XP?

The Windows 10 machine cannot list/open the folders and files on the XP machine. You might not have permission to use this network resource. …

How many users can access a shared folder simultaneously from Windows XP?

Windows XP Home permits a maximum of 5 simultaneous inbound connections. XP Pro permits 10. The following note is from KB Article 314882: Note For Windows XP Professional, the maximum number of other computers that are permitted to simultaneously connect over the network is ten.

How do I access a shared folder from another computer?

Right click on the Computer icon on the desktop. From the drop down list, choose Map Network Drive. Pick a drive letter that you want to use to access the shared folder and then type in the UNC path to the folder. UNC path is just a special format for pointing to a folder on another computer.

How do I turn on file sharing on Android?

1. Open the homescreen for Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, or Google Slides.
2. Open or select a file.
3. Tap Share or Share Get link,
4. Under “Get Link”, tap the Down arrow .
5. Select Restricted.
6. Tap Done.

Where is file and printer sharing?

FAQ: How to enable/disable ‘File and Printer Sharing’ option?

1. Click “Start” -> “Control Panel” -> “Network and Sharing Center”
2. From the left panel, click “Change advanced sharing settings”
3. Then under the “Domain (current profile)” session, you can choose either “Turn on file and printer sharing” or “Turn off file and printer sharing”.

What is the fastest way to transfer files between computers?

Here are the five most common methods you can try for yourself.

1. Cloud storage or web data transfers. …
2. SSD and HDD drives via SATA cables. …
3. Basic cable transfer. …
4. Use software to speed up your data transfer. …
5. Transfer your data over WiFi or LAN. …
6. Using an external storage device or flash drives.

How do I share a folder?

Choose who to share with

1. On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
2. Click the folder you want to share.
3. Click Share .
4. Under “People,” type the email address or Google Group you want to share with.
5. To choose how a person can use the folder, click the Down arrow .
6. Click Send. An email is sent to people you shared with.

How do I access another computer on the same network without permission?

Set Up Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection

First, you or someone else must physically sign into the PC you want to remotely access. Turn on Remote Desktop on this computer by opening Settings > System > Remote Desktop. Turn on the switch next to “Enable Remote Desktop.” Click Confirm to enable the setting.

How do I give permission to access a shared folder?

1. Access the Properties dialog box.
2. Select the Security tab. …
3. Click Edit.
4. In the Group or user name section, select the user(s) you wish to set permissions for.
5. In the Permissions section, use the checkboxes to select the appropriate permission level.
6. Click Apply.
7. Click Okay.

Why is network sharing not working?

Open Control Panel, click Network and Sharing Center and click Change advanced sharing settings. In the pop-up window, under Private section, check Turn on network discovery, check Turn on file and printer sharing, and check the option Allow Windows to manage homegroup connections. Click Save changes to continue.

Can not access network drive?

If you receive “Error message 0x80070035” while trying to access your network drive, the network path can’t be found by your computer. … To resolve the issue, go to Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center > Advanced Sharing Settings.

OtrzymaЕ‚em wiele próЕ›b o artykuЕ‚ o udostД™pnianiu folderu. Wiem, Ејe dla wielu z was jest to bardzo prosta operacja, ale w koЕ„cu zrozumiaЕ‚em, Ејe istnieje powód, dla którego uЕјytkownicy majД… zamieszanie.

Windows Vista zawiera przycisk “UdostД™pnij” na pasku narzД™dzi Explorera, ale nie dziaЕ‚a tak, jak oczekiwali tego uЕјytkownicy XP / Win2k. Zamiast tego wyskakuje czarodziej, aby rzeczy byЕ‚y “Е‚atwiejsze”.

Domyślnie ten przycisk udostępniania nie pozwala wybrać nazwy udostępnionego folderu. Jeszcze bardziej irytujące, udostępnianie folderu w katalogu użytkownika będzie miało dziwną nazwę udziału, taką jak \ computer \ Users \ geek \ Contacts, o wiele trudniejszą do zapamiętania.

JeЕ›li chcesz udostД™pniД‡ foldery w taki sam sposób, jak w systemie Windows XP, po prostu kliknij folder prawym przyciskiem myszy i wybierz opcjД™ WЕ‚aЕ›ciwoЕ›ci.

Teraz wybierz przycisk Zaawansowane udostД™pnianie.

Teraz powinieneЕ› byД‡ w stanie zaznaczyД‡ pole “UdostД™pnij ten folder” i wybraД‡ nazwД™ udziaЕ‚u, która bД™dzie dostД™pna na przykЕ‚ad z \ computer \ myshare.

Możesz także kliknąć przycisk Uprawnienia, jeśli chcesz zezwolić na prawo do zapisu na ten udział lub zezwolić na dostęp tylko do określonego użytkownika.

Introduction: Share Files Between Windows 7 and Windows XP

Hello,
A few weeks ago, I installed Windows 7 Ultimate, Build 7600 on my Gaming Computer and Laptop. Everything was wonderful, until I tried to access the files on my Windows XP File Server. It would constantly ask for a password, so, after trying numerous ‘fixes’ on the internet, I tried my own way, which worked! So I was very happy.

Step 1: What You’ll Need

A Windows 7 Computer
A Windows XP File Server
An Administrator account on both PC’s

Step 2: Let’s Begin!!

Okay, so you have everything you need.
First, on the Windows 7 Computer, click Control Panel – Network and Internet – Network and Sharing Center – Advanced Sharing Settings
Once in there, Enable the following:

Turn On File And Printer Sharing
Turn On Password Protected Sharing
Enable sharing with devices that use 40- or 56-bit encryption

Step 3: Further Steps

Alrighty then!
If the last step fixed file sharing for you, then you’re finished!!
If not, then you’re in the same position I was 🙁
You need to make sure the user name you are entering to log into the computer has a password, then enter that same password into the login box. I use the Administrator account because it is hidden. This is kind of bad practice, but it works to show the principle

Step 4: The End

I hope that this is a happy ending for you all. Happy fixing 🙂
Thanks,
CodeFreakC

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After a hiatus, the gang behind the Storm worm is attempting to exploit people’s curiosity about a fictional love interest to tempt users into downloading the malware, according to security training organisation the Sans Institute.

Tom is a technology reporter for ZDNet.com, writing about all manner of security and open-source issues.

After a hiatus, the gang behind the Storm worm is attempting to exploit people’s curiosity about a fictional love interest to tempt users into downloading the malware, according to security training organisation the Sans Institute.

Donald Smith, a security expert from the Sans Institute, warned on Tuesday that a Storm worm download site had been detected by security researcher “DavidF”. A link that contained the site’s IP address was being spammed out in emails, wrote Smith in a blog post.

He noted that spam is being sent with the message: “‘Crazy in love with you’ hxxp://122.118.131.58”. Smith wrote: “I checked that site and could only find an index.html, lr.gif and loveyou.exe.”

Smith said that index.html encourages visitors to run the “loveyou” executable by asking: “Who is loving you? Do you want to know? Just click here and choose either ‘open’ or ‘run’.” Loveyou.exe is a version of the Storm worm, also known as Trojan.Peacomm.D by Symantec and Troj/Dorf-AP by Sophos. Smith recommended IT professionals block the IP address until it gets “cleaned up”.

The unknown gang behind the Storm botnet tried a similar technique in January in the run up to Valentine’s Day. At the time, Sophos warned that the gang was using a social-engineering technique in an attempt to trick users into clicking on a link in a “Valentine’s Day” email.

Storm worm attacks then dropped off, leading some security vendors to report that the influence of Storm worm was waning. However, in May, Symantec researchers warned they had identified a number of nascent Storm worm hosting domains using fast-flux techniques to mask their URLs.

The original Storm worm code, which appeared on 19 January, 2007, derived its name from the fact that the first spam linking to the malware coincided with a severe winter storm in Europe.