Setting Security on a Folder Before You Share It

1. 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.
2. Click the drive or folder in which you want to create a new folder.
3. 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.
4. 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 Security dialog 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 & Execute permission, 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.

Back to the top

Sharing a Folder

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Windows Explorer.
2. Right-click the appropriate folder (for example, Accounts Receivable), and then click Sharing.
3. In the folder's properties, click Share this folder. Use the default name for the share. Click
Permissions.
4. In the Permissions for dialog box, click Add.
5. In the Select Users, Computers, or Groups dialog box, double-click the Authenticated Users
group, and then click OK.
6. In the Permissions for dialog box, click the Authenticated Users group.
7. 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.

Back to the top

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. On the desktop, double-click My Network Places.

 2. Double-click Computers Near Me.
3. 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.
4. 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:
\\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.
2. 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. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Windows Explorer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Map Network Drive.
3. 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.
4. 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.

Back to the top

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 and file and folder permissions
apply. Share access permissions are combined from any permissions that are assigned directly
to the user and those assigned to any groups of which the user is a member. The exception to
this 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, if Frank, for example, is a member of a group that has
the Deny check box selected for Read in the Deny column, he is unable to read the file or folder,
even if other permissions should allow him to do so.

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.
Check both the share permissions and the file and folder permissions for the user and any groups
of which he or she is a member.

There Is No Security Tab in the Folder Properties Dialog Box

If you do not see the Security tab in the folder properties, it is likely that you are using the FAT or
FAT32 file system. Windows includes a utility that can safely convert your drive to from the FAT
or FAT32 file system to the NTFS file system.

WARNING: Do not convert your drive if you are running both Windows and another operating
system on the computer (that is, if it is a dual-boot computer) and the other operating system
cannot read NTFS drives.

To convert a partition to NTFS:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.
2. Type convert drive: /FS:NTFS, where drive is the drive that you want to convert.

For example, to convert drive D to NTFS, type the following line:

convert D: /FS:NTFS
3. If you attempt to convert a drive while it is being accessed by Windows, Windows displays a
message that prompts you to convert the drive when the computer is restarted. Click Yes, quit
any running programs, and then restart your computer.