Sharing Network Resources

Sharing network resources is a core feature of Vista. A Windows Vista system is capable of acting as a network client for the purpose of connecting to resources shared from other computers, or as a basic network server that hosts the shared resources that other client computers connect to.

The specific feature that allows a Windows Vista system to share resources over a network is called File And Printer Sharing. Enabled by default, File And Printer Sharing enables other computers to connect to a Windows Vista system for the purpose of accessing:

• Shared folders. A shared folder is much like any other folder stored on the hard drive of a Windows Vista system. The primary difference between a regular folder and one that you share is that the contents of a shared folder are accessible to other computers on your network. For example, you might decide to create a new folder called SharedFiles, and then share this folder. When shared, other computers on the network can connect to the folder using a variety of techniques described later in this chapter.

• Shared printers. A shared printer is similar to any other printer installed on a Windows Vista system. The major difference between a regular printer and a shared printer is that a shared printer is accessible to other client computers on the same network. When a printer is installed but not shared, only the people using the computer it is connected to can print to it. When shared, other users can connect to the printer over the network, and then send print jobs to it in the same manner as they would with a locally attached printer.

You learn more about how to share and secure both folders and printers in the following sections.