How to share a folder in Windows XP
Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional both utilize Simple File Sharing. This feature is turned on by default in Windows XP Home edition. Windows XP Professional uses this feature if the workstation is part of a Workgroup. Windows XP Professional does not use Simple File Sharing if the workstation is joined to a domain. This tutorial will cover both methods of configuring a shared folder.
How to determine if Simple File Sharing is enabled:
1. Open My Computer from the start menu or the desktop icon.
2. Click on Tools and Folder Options.
3. Click on the View tab at the top of the window
4. Scroll to the bottom of the Advanced Settings pane and see if “Use simple file sharing (Recommended)” is checked.
Create the shared folder:
Note: It is recommended that the folder be created on the root of the C: drive and does not contain any spaces. Also only use alphanumerical characters for the folder name.
1. Open My Computer from the start menu or the desktop icon.
2. Double click the C: drive
3. Click on File, New, Folder
4. The new folder name will be highlighted. Rename it “mfpshare” (without the quotes) and hit Enter
5. Right click the mfpshare folder and select Properties
6. Click on the Sharing tab
7. Under Network and security, click on the check box next to Share this folder on the network
8. Click on the check box next to Allow network user to change my files
9. Click OK
10. You can verify that the share is accessible by moving to another workstation and browsing the network to see if the shared folder is visible on the network. You should also copy a file to the shared folder to test folder permissions.
When Simple File Sharing is turned off an additional Security tab will be available in the folder properties. It is important to configure the security settings to allow user permission to write to the shared folder.
Create the shared folder:
1. Open My Computer from the start menu or the desktop icon.
2. Double click the C: drive
3. Click on File, New, Folder
4. The new folder name will be highlighted. Rename it “mfpshare” (without the quotes) and hit Enter
5. Right click the mfpshare folder and select Properties
6. Click on the Sharing tab
7. Click the radio button next to Share this folder
8. Click the Permissions button
9. Under Group or user name, highlight Everyone
10. Click the Full Control check box under Permissions for Everyone
11. Click OK
12. Click the Security tab
13. Click Add
14. Type Everyone in the field below ‘Enter the object names to select’
15. Click OK
16. Highlight Everyone and click the check box for Full Control
17. Click OK.
Test the share
It is recommended that after creating a shared folder that you perform a test to ensure it is accessible and that the permissions allow files to be created.
The best way to do this is to move to another workstation on the same Workgroup or Domain and click the Start button, then Run. Enter the path to the shared folder. In the above example you would type \\VISTA-MINILAB\MFPShare and then hit the Enter button. If prompted, enter the username and password of an account on the first workstation. Right click in the open folder and select New and then select Text File.
Go back to the workstation which you shared the folder on and ensure that the new text file is in the folder.