blocking folders in windows xp home

  • Thread starter Thread starter Darrell
  • Start date Start date
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Darrell

my desktop and laptop are connected to a home network
which also has several other computer connected to it. I
want to share files between my laptop and desktop but I
don't want the others on the network to be albe to access
them. Is there anyway to put a password on them so that
only I can access them?

Thanks
 
Darrell said:
my desktop and laptop are connected to a home network
which also has several other computer connected to it. I
want to share files between my laptop and desktop but I
don't want the others on the network to be albe to access
them. Is there anyway to put a password on them so that
only I can access them?
Click to expand...

No.
Use NTFS file/folder permissions and only give your user rights to said
folders is your best option.
 
Exactly how one does this depends on whether you have
Home or Pro edition.
If you share an area in Home and the Guest account is
enabled, then anyone may connect to the share, and then
they will be able to access what is shared wherever the
Guest account has been granted access at the NTFS
filesystem permissions level (or anywhere if FAT instead
of NTFS is used). If you disable Guest then they will need
to provide the username and password of an account that
is defined on the sharing-out system. For Home or Pro with
SImple sharing turned on, then it is still the Guest account
grants on the filesystem (if NTFS) that will govern what they
may access even though they logged in with some account.
 
You cannot password protect individual folders in XP. You restrict access by assigning permissions to drives, folders and files.

To do this, you must be running NTFS as your file system on the drive in question. If your hard disk/partition is not NTFS you will need to convert it. To do this, open a Command Prompt window and enter the following command:

CONVERT X: /FS:NTFS

Where X: is the drive letter you wish to convert. You may also want to see http://www.aumha.org/a/ntfscvt.htm to ensure that you're getting the optimal conversion.

After this step is completed and you've rebooted the computer, if necessary:

XP PRO: In Windows Explorer, go to Tools, Folder Options, View and uncheck Use Simple File Sharing. Now, when you right click on a drive, folder or file (on an NTFS partition) and select Properties, you'll see a Security tab. Here you can assign or deny permissions based on user name or user group membership.

XP Home: By default, you can only make files and folders under My Documents "private". This is done by right clicking a folder or file and selecting Properties, Sharing. To change the permissions on other folders, you need to boot the computer to Safe Mode and log in on the built in Administrator account. In this mode, you'll see the Security tab in Properties, and you can assign permissions based on user name or group membership.

How Do I Get the Security Tab in Properties - XP Home (makes the Security tab appear outside of Safe Mode)
http://www.dougknox.com, Win XP Tips section

HOW TO: Set, View, Change, or Remove File and Folder Permissions in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308418

HOW TO: Set, View, Change, or Remove Special Permissions for Files and Folders
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;308419

HOW TO: Disable Simplified Sharing and Password-Protect a Shared Folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;307874
 
Not True!

In XP Home, disabling the Guest account only diables
access to the desktop for guests. Network users still
athenticate as Guest when simple file sharing is enabled.
And you can't disable SFS in XP Home. Disabling the guest
account has no effect on network users. And since ALL
remote users use the Guest account, you can only control
access levels, not who has access. When you share a
folder in XP home, you give EVERYONE on the network full
access, readonly access, or no access. Those are the only
choices you have. If you have NTFS, you can customize the
secruity a little. For example, users can have write
access but not delete access. But again, it will be the
same for all network users. You can't control who has
access. If you want more control, you have to upgrade to
XP Pro.
 
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