This step-by-step guide describes the process of sharing folders on a computer that is part of a

workgroup, configuring security for the shared folders and the subfolders and files they contain, and
connecting over the network This step-by-step guide describes the process of sharing folders on a
computer that is part of a workgroup, configuring security for the shared folders and the subfolders
and files they contain, and connecting over the network to shared folders on other computers that are
members of the workgroup.
For example, assume that you have been asked to set up file sharing on a Windows-based computer
that is part of a workgroup. You need to create a share contains Accounts Receivable files that are to
be used by the Accounting and Sales staff at the company you work for, and to configure security to
ensure that only appropriate users get access to the data stored in the share. You need the
Accounting staff to be able to read, edit, delete, and create files in the share, while the Sales staff
should only be able to read files in the share. The manager of the accounting department (Jane Smith)
should be the only user who can change permissions on the contents of the share.
The computer you are working with has a drives C and D, and you have decided to create the folder
that will contain the data on drive D.

Setting Security on a Folder Before You Share It

1.

2.
3.
4.
5.

Log on to your computer as a user who is a member of the Power Users group or the
Administrators group. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then
click Windows Explorer.
Click the drive or folder in which you want to create a new folder.
On the File menu, point to New, and then click Folder. Type a name for the new folder (for
example, Accounts Receivable), and then press ENTER.
Right-click the new folder, and then click Properties. Click the Security tab.
Click to clear the Allow inheritable permissions from parent to propagate to this
object check box. In the Securitydialog box, click Copy.

NOTE: The inherited permissions are copied directly to this folder.

6. To add a set of permissions, in the Properties dialog box, on the Security tab, click Add. In
the Select Users, Computers, or Groups dialog box, double-click the appropriate user
accounts or groups (for example, Accounting, Sales, and Jane Smith). When you have selected
all the users and groups you want to assign permissions to, click OK.
The groups and users you added, along with the Everyone group, are displayed in the top half of
the Security tab. Follow the next steps to complete the process:
1. In the Name list, click each user or group one at a time, and then apply the correct permissions
in the Permissions list. For example, for the Accountants group, for the Modify permission,
click Allow. For the Sales group, for the Read & Executepermission, click Allow. For the user
Jane Smith, for the Full Control permission, click Allow.
2. After you have set the appropriate permissions, click the Everyone group, and then
click Remove.

Sharing a Folder
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Windows Explorer.
Right-click the appropriate folder (for example, Accounts Receivable), and then click Sharing.
In the folder's properties, click Share this folder. Use the default name for the share.
Click Permissions.
In the Permissions for dialog box, click Add.
In the Select Users, Computers, or Groups dialog box, double-click the Authenticated
Users group, and then click OK.

6.
7.

In the Permissions for dialog box, click the Authenticated Users group.
In the Permissions list, for the Full Control permission, click Allow. After you have set the
appropriate permissions, click the Everyone group, and then click Remove.

Connecting to a Shared Folder

When you share a folder, users from other computers can connect to the folder over the network.
When users connect to a shared folder, they can open files; save files; delete files; create, modify, and
delete folders; and perform other tasks, depending on the level of permission you grant them. There
are several ways of opening shares on another computer:
My Network Places
Universal Naming Convention (UNC)
Mapped network drive

To Connect to a Shared Folder by Using My Network Places

1.
2.
3.

4.

On the desktop, double-click My Network Places.

Double-click Computers Near Me.
Double-click the appropriate computer in your workgroup. If you are prompted to do so, type
the user name and password that is required to gain access to the computer to which you are
connecting. After you type the appropriate credentials, a window opens that displays all of the
shared folders and printers on the computer to which you are connecting.
Double-click the shared folder to which you want to gain access. You then see all of the
subfolders and files in that shared folder. What you can do with those subfolders and files
depends on the level of permission you have been granted.

To Connect to a Shared Folder by Using Universal Naming Convention (UNC)

Format
1.

2.

Click Start, click Run, and then type the name using UNC format, where computername is the
name of the computer to which you are attempting to connect and sharename is the name of
the shared folder on that computer:
\\computername\sharename
For example, if you want to connect to a share that is named Data on a computer that is named
Fileserver, type\\Fileserver\Data.
If you are to do so, type the user name and password that is required to gain access to the
computer. After you type the appropriate credentials, a window opens that displays the
contents of the share.

To Connect to a Shared Folder by Using a Mapped Drive

1.
2.
3.
4.

Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Windows Explorer.
On the Tools menu, click Map Network Drive.
In the Drive box, click the drive letter that you want to use for this mapped drive. You cannot
use any of the drive letters that are currently used by your computer.
In the Folder box, type the name of the share to which you want to connect by using Universal
Naming Convention (UNC) format:
\\computername\sharename
You can also map drives to subfolders of the shared folder. Therefore, you can map the drive to
a subfolder by including that information. For example:
\\computername\sharename\subfolder
Or, you can click Browse and then locate the computer to which you want to connect, the
share on that computer, and optionally the subfolder in that share.

Notes

By default, Windows attempts to reconnect any mapped drives the next time you log on. If you
do not want this to happen, click to clear the Reconnect at Logon check box.
By default, you are connected to the other computer with the logon credentials that you are
currently using. If you want to use other credentials, click Connect using a different user

name, and then type the appropriate user name and password to connect to this network
resource.
The mapped drive that you create is visible in the Folders pane in Windows Explorer, along with
all the other drives on your computer. You can gain access to the files in the shared folder with
any program on your computer by using the mapped drive letter.

Troubleshooting
Users Cannot Access Files and Folders That They Should Be Able to When Logged
On Locally
Access permissions are combined from any permissions that are assigned directly to the user and
those that are assigned to any groups of which the user is a member.
The exception to this rule is if there is an explicit Deny permission on the folder or file. This occurs
because Deny permissions are enumerated first when Windows is determining whether or not a
particular user can perform a particular task. Therefore, you should avoid using explicit Deny
permissions (that is, avoid clicking to select a check box in the Deny column) unless there is no other
way to achieve the permissions mix that you need.

Users Can Access Files and Folders with Incorrect Permissions When Logged on
Locally
For example, users can write instead of just read when they are logged on locally. Permissions, by
default, are inherited from the folder that contains the object. If you are experiencing inappropriate
permission levels, check for both inherited permissions that are incorrect for this object and for group
memberships that may grant different levels of permissions than you want to have.

Users Cannot Access Files and Folders That They Should Be Able to Access Over
the Network
When you access data over the network, both share permissions anto shared folders on other
computers that are members of the workgroup.
For example, assume that you have been asked to set up file sharing on a Windows-based computer
that is part of a workgroup. You need to create a share contains Accounts Receivable files that are to
be used by the Accounting and Sales staff at the company you work for, and to configure security to
ensure that only appropriate users get access to the data stored in the share. You need the
Accounting staff to be able to read, edit, delete, and create files in the share, while the Sales staff
should only be able to read files in the share. The manager of the accounting department (Jane Smith)
should be the only user who can change permissions on the contents of the share.
The computer you are working with has a drives C and D, and you have decided to create the folder
that will contain the data on drive D.

Setting Security on a Folder Before You Share It

1.

2.
3.
4.

Log on to your computer as a user who is a member of the Power Users group or the
Administrators group. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then
click Windows Explorer.
Click the drive or folder in which you want to create a new folder.
On the File menu, point to New, and then click Folder. Type a name for the new folder (for
example, Accounts Receivable), and then press ENTER.
Right-click the new folder, and then click Properties. Click the Security tab.

5.

Click to clear the Allow inheritable permissions from parent to propagate to this
object check box. In the Securitydialog box, click Copy.

NOTE: The inherited permissions are copied directly to this folder.

To add a set of permissions, in the Properties dialog box, on the Security tab, click Add. In
the Select Users, Computers, or Groups dialog box, double-click the appropriate user
accounts or groups (for example, Accounting, Sales, and Jane Smith). When you have selected
all the users and groups you want to assign permissions to, click OK.
The groups and users you added, along with the Everyone group, are displayed in the top half of
the Security tab. Follow the next steps to complete the process:
1. In the Name list, click each user or group one at a time, and then apply the correct permissions
in the Permissions list. For example, for the Accountants group, for the Modify permission,
click Allow. For the Sales group, for the Read & Executepermission, click Allow. For the user
Jane Smith, for the Full Control permission, click Allow.
2. After you have set the appropriate permissions, click the Everyone group, and then
click Remove.
6.

Sharing a Folder
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Windows Explorer.
Right-click the appropriate folder (for example, Accounts Receivable), and then click Sharing.
In the folder's properties, click Share this folder. Use the default name for the share.
Click Permissions.
In the Permissions for dialog box, click Add.
In the Select Users, Computers, or Groups dialog box, double-click the Authenticated
Users group, and then click OK.
In the Permissions for dialog box, click the Authenticated Users group.
In the Permissions list, for the Full Control permission, click Allow. After you have set the
appropriate permissions, click the Everyone group, and then click Remove.

Connecting to a Shared Folder

When you share a folder, users from other computers can connect to the folder over the network.
When users connect to a shared folder, they can open files; save files; delete files; create, modify, and
delete folders; and perform other tasks, depending on the level of permission you grant them. There
are several ways of opening shares on another computer:
My Network Places
Universal Naming Convention (UNC)
Mapped network drive

To Connect to a Shared Folder by Using My Network Places

1.
2.
3.

4.

On the desktop, double-click My Network Places.

Double-click Computers Near Me.
Double-click the appropriate computer in your workgroup. If you are prompted to do so, type
the user name and password that is required to gain access to the computer to which you are
connecting. After you type the appropriate credentials, a window opens that displays all of the
shared folders and printers on the computer to which you are connecting.
Double-click the shared folder to which you want to gain access. You then see all of the
subfolders and files in that shared folder. What you can do with those subfolders and files
depends on the level of permission you have been granted.

To Connect to a Shared Folder by Using Universal Naming Convention (UNC)

Format
1.

Click Start, click Run, and then type the name using UNC format, where computername is the
name of the computer to which you are attempting to connect and sharename is the name of
the shared folder on that computer:

2.

\\computername\sharename
For example, if you want to connect to a share that is named Data on a computer that is named
Fileserver, type\\Fileserver\Data.
If you are to do so, type the user name and password that is required to gain access to the
computer. After you type the appropriate credentials, a window opens that displays the
contents of the share.

To Connect to a Shared Folder by Using a Mapped Drive

1.
2.
3.
4.

Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Windows Explorer.
On the Tools menu, click Map Network Drive.
In the Drive box, click the drive letter that you want to use for this mapped drive. You cannot
use any of the drive letters that are currently used by your computer.
In the Folder box, type the name of the share to which you want to connect by using Universal
Naming Convention (UNC) format:
\\computername\sharename
You can also map drives to subfolders of the shared folder. Therefore, you can map the drive to
a subfolder by including that information. For example:
\\computername\sharename\subfolder
Or, you can click Browse and then locate the computer to which you want to connect, the
share on that computer, and optionally the subfolder in that share.

Notes

By default, Windows attempts to reconnect any mapped drives the next time you log on. If you
do not want this to happen, click to clear the Reconnect at Logon check box.
By default, you are connected to the other computer with the logon credentials that you are
currently using. If you want to use other credentials, click Connect using a different user
name, and then type the appropriate user name and password to connect to this network
resource.
The mapped drive that you create is visible in the Folders pane in Windows Explorer, along with
all the other drives on your computer. You can gain access to the files in the shared folder with
any program on your computer by using the mapped drive letter.

Troubleshooting
Users Cannot Access Files and Folders That They Should Be Able to When Logged
On Locally
Access permissions are combined from any permissions that are assigned directly to the user and
those that are assigned to any groups of which the user is a member.
The exception to this rule is if there is an explicit Deny permission on the folder or file. This occurs
because Deny permissions are enumerated first when Windows is determining whether or not a
particular user can perform a particular task. Therefore, you should avoid using explicit Deny
permissions (that is, avoid clicking to select a check box in the Deny column) unless there is no other
way to achieve the permissions mix that you need.

Users Can Access Files and Folders with Incorrect Permissions When Logged on
Locally
For example, users can write instead of just read when they are logged on locally. Permissions, by
default, are inherited from the folder that contains the object. If you are experiencing inappropriate
permission levels, check for both inherited permissions that are incorrect for this object and for group
memberships that may grant different levels of permissions than you want to have.

Users Cannot Access Files and Folders That They Should Be Able to Access Over
the Network
When you access data over the network, both share permissions an