Setting Up Network Sharing

One of the main reasons you set up a network is to share things files, printers, even your Internet connection.

Sharing Files and Folders

To share files with other users on your network, you have to enable Windows XP's file sharing. You do this by putting the folders and files you want to share in a shared network folder. You can make these files editable by other users, or read-only.

To share a file or folder, follow these steps:

1.	From My Computer or My Documents, open the drive or folder that contains the file or folder you want to share.
2.	Right-click the file or folder that you want to share, and select Sharing and Security from the pop-up menu.
3.	When the Properties dialog box appears, select the Sharing tab (shown in Figure 20.4). Figure 20.4. Configuring file sharing over your network.
4.	Check the Share This Folder On the Network option.
5.	If you want this file to be read-only, uncheck the Allow Network Users to Change My Files option. If you want your files to be fully editable by all users, check this option.
6.	Click OK.

You'll need to do this for each folder or file you want to share. If you choose to share a folder, all the files and subfolders within that folder are also marked for sharing.

Sharing Drives and Devices

Not only can you share individual files and folders, you can also share complete disk drives, including hard disk drives, CD-ROM or DVD drives, and removable disk drives. Just follow these steps:

1.	From within My Computer, select the drive or device you want to share.
2.	From the activity center Tasks list, select either Share This Disk Drive, Share This CD, or Share This Disk.

Sharing Printers

Sharing one printer between several computers is a cost-effective measure. Very seldom do you need dedicated printers for every PC in your home.

To share a printer with all the other computers on the network, you need to configure the PC to which the printer is connected. Follow these steps:

1.	From the Control Panel, click the Printers and Faxes icon.
2.	When the Printers and Faxes utility opens, right-click the printer you want to share, and then select Sharing from the pop-up menu.
3.	When the printer's Properties dialog box appears (shown in Figure 20.5), select the Sharing tab. Figure 20.5. Configure the printer's host PC to share the printer with the rest of your network.
4.	Choose the Share this Printer option and enter a name for the printer in the Share Name box. (Make and model number is always good.)
5.	If any other computer on your network is running something other than Windows XP, you'll need to install printer drivers for that operating system. Click the Additional Drivers button to display the Additional Drivers dialog box, then check those operating systems in use in your network. Click OK to install the drivers.
6.	When you return to the Properties dialog box, click OK.

After the printer's host PC is configured, this printer should now appear automatically on the other PCs on your network. You can check this by opening the Printers and Faxes utility on the other PCs and looking for the newly networked printer. If the printer doesn't appear, you may have to click the Add Printer icon to add the network printer to that PC.

Sharing an Internet Connection

When you ran the Network Setup Wizard, you activated Internet Connection Sharing for your network. As long as your host computer is connected to the Internet, all your other computers have simultaneous Internet access.

To learn more about sharing an Internet connection, turn to Chapter 7, "Making the Connection."