You can share resources with others by sharing folders containing those resources. To share a folder, you must be a member of one of several groups, depending on the role of the computer where the shared folder resides. When you share a folder, you can control access to the folder by limiting the number of users who can simultaneously gain access to it, and you can also control access to the folder and its contents by assigning permissions to selected users and groups. After a shared folder is created, you may need to modify folder sharing properties. You can stop sharing a folder, change its share name, and change user and group permissions to gain access to it. To access a shared folder, users must first have appropriate permissions and then make a connection to it. This lesson explains how to create and modify shared folders and how to connect to a shared folder.
After this lesson, you will be able to
Create and modify shared folders
Make a connection to a shared folder
Estimated lesson time: 20 minutes
Requirements for Sharing Folders
In Windows 2000, members of the built-in Administrators, Server Operators, and Power Users groups are able to share folders. The groups that can share folders and the machines on which they can share folders depend on the following requirements:
In a Windows 2000 domain, the Administrators and Server Operators groups can share folders residing on any machines in the domain. The Power Users group is a local group and can only share folders residing on the stand-alone server or computer running Windows 2000 Professional where the group is located.
In a Windows 2000 workgroup, the Administrators and Power Users groups can share folders on the stand-alone server or the computer running Windows 2000 Professional on which the group exists.
NOTE If the folder to be shared resides on an NTFS volume, users must also have at least the Read permission for that folder to be able to share it.
Windows 2000 automatically shares certain folders for administrative purposes. These shares are appended with a dollar sign ($). The $ hides the shared folder from users who browse the computer. The root of each volume, the system root folder, and the location of the printer drivers are all hidden shared folders that you can access from across the network.
Table 10.3 describes the purpose of the administrative shared folders that Windows 2000 automatically provides.
Table 10.3 Windows 2000 Administrative Shared Folders
| Share | Purpose |
|---|---|
C$, D$, E$, and so on |
The root of each volume on a hard disk is automatically shared, and the share name is the drive letter appended with a dollar sign ($). When you connect to this folder, you have access to the entire volume. You use the administrative shares to remotely connect to the computer to perform administrative tasks. Windows 2000 assigns the Full Control permission to the Administrators group. Windows 2000 also automatically shares CD-ROM drives and creates the share name by appending the $ to the CD-ROM drive letter.
|
Admin$ |
The systemroot folder, which is C:\Winnt by default, is shared as Admin$. Administrators can gain access to this shared folder to administer Windows 2000 without knowing the folder in which it is installed. Only members of the Administrators group have access to this share. Windows 2000 assigns the Full Control permission to the Administrators group. |
Print$ |
When you install the first shared printer, the systemroot\ System32\Spool\Drivers folder is shared as Print$. This folder provides access to printer driver files for clients. Only members of the Administrators, Server Operators, and Print Operators groups have the Full Control permission. The Everyone group has the Read permission. |
Hidden shared folders are not limited to those that the system automatically creates. You can share additional folders and append a $ to the end of the share name. Then, only users who know the folder name and posess proper permissions can gain access to the folder.
When you share a folder, you can give it a share name, provide comments to describe the folder and its content, limit the number of users who have access to the folder, assign permissions, and share the same folder multiple times.
To share a folder
Right-click the folder that you want to share, then click Sharing.
In the Sharing tab of the Properties dialog box (see Figure 10.5), click Share This Folder.
Figure 10.5 The Sharing tab of the properties dialog box for a folder
Type the name that users from remote locations use to make a connection to the shared folder in the Share Name box.
Optionally, type a description for the share name in the Comment box. The comment appears in addition to the share name when users at client computers browse the server for shared folders, and can be used to identify contents of the shared folder.
In the User Limit area, enter the number of users who can concurrently connect to the shared folder. If you click Maximum Allowed as the user limit, Windows 2000 Professional supports up to 10 connections total for all shares, services, etc. Windows 2000 Server can support an unlimited number of connections, but the number of client access licenses that you purchased limits the connections.
Click OK.
Assigning Shared Folder Permissions
After you share a folder, the next step is to specify which users have access to the shared folder by assigning shared folder permissions to selected user accounts and groups.
To assign permissions to user accounts and groups for a shared folder
In the Sharing tab of the Properties dialog box for the shared folder, click Permissions.
In the Permissions For dialog box for the shared folder (see Figure 10.6), ensure that the Everyone group is selected and then click Remove.
Figure 10.6 Permissions For dialog box for a shared folder
In the Permissions dialog box, click Add.
In the Select Users, Computers, Or Groups dialog box (see Figure 10.7), click the user accounts and groups to which you want to assign permissions.
Figure 10.7 Select Users, Computers, Or Groups dialog box
Click Add to add the user account or group to the shared folder, or double-click on an object. Repeat this step for all user accounts and groups to which you want to assign permissions.
Click OK.
In the Permissions dialog box for the shared folder, click the user account or group, and then, under Permissions, select the Allow or the Deny check box of the appropriate permissions for the user account or group.
NOTE In the Select Users, Computers, Or Groups dialog box, use the Look In list to see other domains or the local computer from which you can select user account and group names for assigning permissions. You can also search Active Directory for user accounts and groups by selecting Entire Directory from the Look In list.
You can modify shared folders. You can stop sharing a folder, add or remove the share name, and modify shared folder permissions.
To modify a shared folder
Click the Sharing tab in the Properties dialog box of the shared folder.
To complete the appropriate task, use the steps in Table 10.5.
Table 10.5 Steps to modify a Shared Folder
| To | Do This |
|---|---|
Stop sharing a folder |
Click Do Not Share This Folder. A warning message appears if another user is connected to the shared folder. |
Add a share name (share folder multiple times) |
Click New Share. This option appears only after the folder has been shared once. Do so to consolidate multiple shared folders into one while allowing users to continue to use the same shared folder name that they used before you consolidated the folders. |
Remove a share name |
Click Remove Share. This option only appears after the folder has been shared more than once. |
Modify shared folder permissions |
Click Permissions. In the Permissions For dialog box, click Add or Remove. In the Select Users, Computers, Or Groups dialog box, click the user account or group whose permissions you want to modify. |
NOTE If you stop sharing a folder while a user has a file open, the user might lose data. If you click Do Not Share This Folder and a user has a connection to the shared folder, Windows 2000 displays a dialog box notifying you that a user has a connection to the shared folder.
There are four methods for gaining access to a shared folder on another computer:
Map to a network drive using the Map Network Drive Wizard
Add a network place using the Add Network Place Wizard
Connect using the Run command
Connect using My Network Places
To connect to a shared folder by using the Map Network Drive Wizard
Right-click the My Network Places icon on your desktop, then click Map Network Drive.
In the Map Network Drive Wizard, shown in Figure 10.8, click Folder, then type a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path to the folder (\\server_name\share_name).
Figure 10.8 Map Network Drive Wizard
Enter a drive letter for the shared folder in the Drive list.
Select the Reconnect At Logon check box if you want to reconnect to the shared folder each time that you log on.
Click the link labeled Connect Using A Different User Name to connect to a shared folder with a different user account, then enter the user name and password in the Connect As dialog box.
To connect to a shared folder using the Add Network Place Wizard
Double-click the My Network Places icon.
Double-click the Add Network Place icon.
On the Welcome To The Add Network Place Wizard page, type the location of the shared folder in the Type The Location Of The Network Place box, then click Next.
On the Completing The Add Network Place Wizard page, type a name you want to use for the shared folder in the Enter A Name For This Network Place box, then click Finish.
Connect to the shared folder by double-clicking the folder in My Network Places.
To connect to a shared folder by using the Run command
Click Start, click Run, type \\computer_name in the Open box, then click OK.
On the windows containing the shared folders for the computer, double-click the shared folder to which you want to connect.
To connect to a shared folder by using My Network Places
Double-click the My Network Places icon.
Locate the computer on which the shared folder is located.
Double-click the shared folder to which you want to connect.
In this lesson you learned that you can share resources with others by sharing folders containing those resources. To share a folder, you must be a member of one of several groups, depending on the role of the computer where the shared folder resides. You can control access to a shared folder by limiting the number of users who can simultaneously gain access to it, and you can also control access to the folder and its contents by assigning permissions to selected users and groups. You also learned that you may modify a shared folder. You can stop sharing it, add or remove its share name, and change user and group permissions to gain access to it. Finally, you learned that in order to access a shared folder, users must connect to it and have the appropriate permissions.