How can i set up network file sharing - Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Edition

Turning sharing on or off

The first time you connect to a network, you'll be asked if you want to turn on sharing between PCs and connect to network devices such as printers. Your answer automatically sets the appropriate firewall and security settings for the type of network that you connected to. You can turn sharing on or off at any time.

To turn sharing on or off

1. Tap or click to view available networks.
   

2. Press and hold or right-click the network you're connected to, then tap or click Turn sharing on or off.
   Menu used to turn sharing on or off

3. Do one of the following:
   

   • Choose Yes, turn on sharing and connect to devices for home or small office networks, or when you know and trust the people and devices on the network. This setting allows your PC to connect to devices on the network, such as printers.
     

   • Choose No, don't turn on sharing or connect to devices for networks in public places (such as coffee shops or airports), or when you don't know or trust the people and devices on the network.
     

     Notes

     • Turning sharing on prepares your PC for sharing files and devices on a network. For more information about sharing with other people on your network, see Sharing files and folders on a network or a shared PC.
       

     • The network sharing setting is only available for WiFi, Ethernet, VPN (non-domain) and dial-up (non-domain) connections. It's unavailable for domain networks. On VPN or dial-up connections, you must connect to the network first, then press and hold or right-click the network name to change the network sharing setting.
       

     • Turning on sharing changes your firewall settings to allow some communication, which can be a security risk. If you know you won't need to share files or printers, the safest choice is No, don't share or connect to devices.
       

     • Choosing No, don't turn on sharing or connect to devices blocks the following applications and services from working: PlayTo, file sharing, network discovery and automatic setup of network devices.
       

About network discovery

Network discovery is a setting that affects whether your computer can see (find) other computers and devices on the network and whether other computers on the network can see your computer. It's one of several settings that are turned on when you turn on network sharing. You can turn network discovery on or off independently of network sharing, but we discourage this. Here's why. If you're connected to a network in a public location and you decide to turn on network discovery but leave network sharing turned off, the network discovery setting will be on for every public network you connect to from then on. This wouldn't be safe. That's why we recommend using the network sharing setting instead.

However, if for some reason you need to turn network discovery on or off independently of the network sharing setting, here's how to do it:

1. Tap or click to open Advanced sharing settings.
   

2. Tap or click the chevron to expand your current network profile.

3. Tap or click Turn on network discovery or Turn off network discovery, then click Save changes. You might be asked for an admin password or to confirm your choice.
   

If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, check for the Network and Sharing settings.
Step by step procedure:
1) click on start, then click on Control panel.
2) then, click on network and internet.
3) then, click on network and sharing.
4) then, click on "Change Advanced Sharing settings".
5) then, check if the settngs mentioned below are turned ON.
network discovery
file and printer sharing
public folder sharing
media sharing
file sharing connections
password protected sharing homegroup connections
6) all the above settings should be turned ON.
7) also, apply the same settings for the public folder which should be mentioned below.
8) Also check in the router's settings that it is configured for the correct number of computers that are connected to it.

Hi

make sure the client computer you have logged into is been logged in with administrator rights.

Hope this solves the issue, if not revert back.

If you want to share a file on your network right click the file select properties, in the sharing tab check share this file. Make sure all you computers have the same workgroup name.

In the start menu click network,on the bar on top click network and sharing center,scroll down and enable network discovery.

Follow the steps to Sharing the files

Your computers are already connected to a network — i.e., they’re all already able to browse the Internet using the same router..

1 : Open the Network and Sharing Center window by clicking on the Windows orb in the lower left corner, and then either right-clicking on Network and selecting “Properties”, or opening the Control Panel and double-clicking “Network and Sharing Center.
2 : If your network type is “Public,” you need to change it to “Private”:

1. To the right of the network name and location type, click Customize.
2. In the Set Network Location dialog box, click Private, and then click Next.
3. In the Successfully set network settings dialog box, click Close.

3 : Under “Sharing and Discovery” in the bottom half of the Network and Sharing Center window, you need to turn all the settings from “Off” to “On” by clicking on the down arrow next to each setting, clicking on “Turn on …”, and clicking on “Apply.” But see some pointers below:

1. For the “Password protected sharing” setting: you may want to leave this “On” or turn “Off” at your discretion. (I turned mine off.)
2. For the “Public folder sharing” setting:
   1. If you want to share the public folder so that other computers on the network can access the Public share to open files, but not create or change files, click Turn on sharing so anyone with network access can open files. This is the default setting.
   2. But if you want to share the public folder so that other computers on the network can access the Public share to open files and also create or change files, click Turn on sharing so anyone with network access can open, change, and create files.

4 : You’re done with the Network and Sharing Center window. Close it via the “X” button.
5 : Click the Windows orb at the lower left corner of your computer, and click on Computer
6 : n the Computer window, navigate to the folder containing the file(s) or folder(s) that you want to share — e.g., “Pictures” or “Documents” or a specific file or folder within. Note: don’t open the folder itself that you want to share — just navigate to the folder that contains this folder.
7 : Right-click the folder that you want to share, and then click Share. The File Sharing window is displayed. (Click picture for a larger version.)
8 : If you have password protected sharing enabled: Use the File Sharing window to select which users can access the shared folder and their permission level. To allow all users, select Everyone in the list of users. By default, the permission level for a selected user is Reader. Users cannot change files or create new files in the share. To allow a user to change files or folders or create new files or folders, select Co-owner as the permission level.
9 : If you have password protected sharing disabled (like I do): Click the drop-down arrow inside the blank field in the File Sharing window, and select the Guest or Everyone account. Click “Add.” Then for that new account, click on the down arrow under “Permission Level” to change it to Co-owner (if you want anybody to read and modify files) or leave it at “Reader” (if you want other computers to just read but not modify your files).
10 : Click “Share”, then “Done.”


CRITICAL NOTE: If you selected “Everyone” when sharing a folder, you’re also making its contents available to any computer that joins this network. Many households, including mine, have wireless Internet via a wifi router. If you don’t have WEP encryption turned on, then I could just drive up and park on the street near your home, open my laptop, let it join your network via your wifi, and then nose around through your files. It’s particularly important that you have WEP encryption turned on for your wifi network.

it is possible

If you have multiple computers in your home and they are connected through a home network, you can share files among your computers. That means you no longer have to copy files to a floppy disk or USB flash drive to transfer them to another computer. Once you configure your computer to share files, you (or another user with the appropriate permissions) can, by using Windows Explorer, open them from other computers connected to the network, just like you’d open files that are stored on a single computer. You can also choose to have folders visible—but not modifiable—from other computers on the network.
To share files on your computer with other computers on a network, you need to:
• Share a folder on your computer. This will make all of the files in the folder available to all the computers on your network (you can’t share individual files).
• Set up user accounts on your computer for everyone who needs to connect to your shared folder. If any of the accounts are Limited User accounts (unless an account is a Computer Administrator account, it is a Limited User account), follow the steps in Set permissions for files and folders to enable them to open your files.

To access shared files that are on another computer on your network, you need to:
• Connect to the shared folder from other computers on the network. This procedure is described in Map a network drive.

Note: By default, file permissions only allow your user account and administrators on your local computer to open your files, regardless of whether a person is sitting at your keyboard or at another computer. It may help to keep these three things in mind when setting up file sharing:
• Files have user permission settings.
• Every computer has its own user database.
• Some accounts are administrator accounts and some aren’t.

Configure your computer to share files To share a folder on your computer so that files stored in the folder can be accessed from other computers on your home network
1.
Log on to your computer as an administrator. For more information, see Access the administrator account from the Welcome screen.
2.
Click Start, and then click My Documents.
3.
Right-click the folder that you want to share, and then click Sharing and Security.
Tip: If you want to share your entire My Documents folder, open My Documents, and then click the Up button on the toolbar. You can then select the My Documents folder.
4.
If you see a message that reads, As a security measure, Windows has disabled remote access to this computer, click the Network Setup Wizard link. Then follow the instructions in How to set up your computer for home networking. On the File and printer sharing page of the Network Setup Wizard, be sure to select Turn on file and printer sharing. If you do not see this message, skip this step and go to step 5.
Note: If you do not see the Network Setup Wizard link or the Share this folder on the network check box, your computer probably has Simple File Sharing disabled. This is a common change made to computers used for business. In fact, it happens automatically when a computer joins an Active Directory domain. You should follow these instructions to share a folder instead.
5.
In the Properties dialog box, select the Share this folder on the network check box.
6.
If you want to be able to edit your files from any computer on your network (instead of just being able to open them without saving any changes), select the Allow network users to change my files check box.
7.
Click OK.
Windows Explorer will show a hand holding the folder icon, indicating that the folder is now shared.
To connect to the shared folder from another computer, follow the steps described in How to map a network drive.
Note: By default, only you and other people with an administrator account on the computer sharing the folder will be able to open your files. To limit access of specific users with an administrator account on the computer sharing the folder, read How to set permissions for files and folders.

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hello Danj29,

I suggest you make sure that your Vista is configured to connect to a private network. To do this follow these steps:

1. Click Start, right-click Network, click Properties.
-The Network Sharing Center window displays the network type in parenthesis after the network name.

2. To the right of the network name and type click Customize.
3. In the Set Network Location dialog box, click Private, and then click Next.
4. In the Successfully set network settings dialog box, click Close

By changing your network location type to private, network discovery is automatically enabled in the Sharing and Discovery section of the Network and Sharing Center window. The following additional file and printer sharing options must be manually enabled:

• File sharing
  
• Public folder sharing
  
• Printer sharing
  
• Password protected sharing
  

When all of these sharing and discovery options are enabled, your computer can:

• Locate other computers and devices on your home network and have other computers locate your computer
  
• Share its folders
  
• Share its Public folder
  
• Share its printers
  
• Require user names and passwords for other computers that connect to the shared folders and printers of this computer
  

To enable file sharing, do the following:

1. In the Sharing and Discovery section of the Network and Sharing Center window, click the down arrow next to File sharing.
   
2. Within the File sharing settings, click Turn on file sharing, and then click Apply.
   

To enable public folder sharing, do the following:

1. In the Sharing and Discovery section of the Network and Sharing Center window, click the down arrow next to Public folder sharing.
   
2. Within the Public folder sharing settings, click one of the following:
   
   • If you want to share the public folder so that other computers on the network can access the Public share to open files, but not create or change files, click Turn on sharing so anyone with network access can open files. This is the default setting.
     
   • If you want to share the public folder so that other computers on the network can access the Public share to open files and also create or change files, click Turn on sharing so anyone with network access can open, change, and create files.
     
3. Click Apply.
   

To enable printer sharing and share all of your connected printers, do the following:

1. In the Sharing and Discovery section of the Network and Sharing Center window, click the down arrow next to Printer sharing.
   
2. Within the Printer sharing settings, click Turn on printer sharing, and then click Apply.
   

[Optional] To enable password protected sharing, do the following:

1. In the Sharing and Discovery section of the Network and Sharing Center window, click the down arrow next to Password protected sharing.
   
2. Within the Password protected sharing settings, click Turn on password protected sharing, and then click Apply.
   

Hope you find this helpful info and thanks for using the FixYa service
Kind regards