Windows 7 : Using a Windows Network - Using Shared Folders in Windows 7

1. Windows 7 Was Made to Network

Most homes and offices have more than one computer, and you’ll quickly find that as days go by, you end up using most or all of them. You’ll download a file, and a few days later, when you want to use that file... where is it? You hardly need to ask: If there’s a 50/50 chance that the file you want is on your computer rather than some other computer in the home or office, 9 times out of 10 it will be on the other computer. This is not just a fact of life, it’s a law of nature. But with a network, you can easily access any file and any printer, on any computer, from your own, short-circuiting the law—for a while, at least. A network also lets everyone in your home or office share printers and an Internet connection, saving you time and money.

In Windows 7, using files and printers on the network is exactly the same as using files and printers on your own hard drive. The “look and feel” are identical. The only new tasks you have to learn are how to find resources shared by others and how to make your own computer’s resources available to others on the network. Windows 7 also adds security enhancements that make the process of connecting to and using other resources more secure.

When I say resource, I mean a shared folder or printer on someone else’s computer, which you can access through the LAN or the Internet. The American Heritage Dictionary defines a resource as “an available supply that can be drawn upon when needed.” That’s actually a perfect description of a network resource: It’s there for you to use—provided that you can find it and that you have permission.

Windows networks work pretty much the same way whether they’re in your home, in a small office, or in a large corporate setting. Big “domain” networks managed by computers running Windows Server software, though, may have some additional features. The following are some notable differences you might see on a domain network:

• The network administrator can set up roaming profiles so that your settings, preferences, Documents folder, and so on are centrally stored on the network and are available to you on any computer on your LAN or even at other network sites.

• Active Directory (AD) gives you added search functions to find users and printers on your network. These search functions appear as added icons and menu choices that only AD network computers have.

• The network administrator might use policy functions to limit your access to applications, Windows features, and settings.
  

If you are using a home or small office workgroup network, don’t feel left out. Because a workgroup typically has fewer than 10 computers, the searching and corporate-style management functions provided by AD simply aren’t necessary.

2. Using Shared Folders in Windows 7

Windows 7 lets you share folders and their contents with other network users. Users within your network can see the folders and, if permission settings allow it, access the files in them just as they would any file on their own hard drive. In this section, I’ll show you how to use files and folders shared by other users.

Browsing Through a Homegroup

If your computer is a member of a homegroup, on the left side of any Windows Explorer display (for example, the Computer or Documents window), you’ll see the title “Homegroup.” Under this are entries for each user’s account, on each of the homegroup computers. Anyone who has elected to share materials with the homegroup—and whose computer is turned on—will be listed here.

You can open these entries to see what files and folders are being shared, as shown in Figure 1. It doesn’t matter whether the other user’s materials are stored on your computer or are on another computer on your network; it works the same way regardless. You can only see materials that the other user elected to share.

Figure 1. If your computer is a member of a homegroup, you can view the materials shared by other members of your group from any Windows Explorer display.

If the other user gave the homegroup permission to make changes to the folder, you’ll be able to edit, delete, and rename files and add new files. Otherwise, you’ll just be able to view, read, print, and play the files. If you want make changes in this case, just drag a copy from the other user’s folder into one of your own folders, or onto your desktop.

Whether you have a homegroup set up or not, you can also browse through files and folders shared by any networked computer using the Network list, described next.

Browsing a Network’s Computers

In any Windows Explorer display (for example, the Computer or Documents window), the left pane contains an item titled Network. If you open this item, you’ll see icons for every active computer on your network. You’ll see a display like the one shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. The Network display lets you browse through your network’s resources.

The Network window shows computers with shared folders, shared Media Center libraries, and network hardware. You can browse into any of the folder icons to locate shared files and folders that you want to use.

When you browse into other Windows 7 computers, you will notice that the entire \users folder structure is shared, with the name Users. This folder contains everyone’s user profiles and documents, and is shared by default. What preserves everyone’s privacy and security is that each user must give other users (or other groups, or everyone) permission to read a folder or file in order for them to even see that it exists. This scheme makes it much simpler to control which items you share, simply by changing the security settings on the files and folders themselves.

In particular, on Windows 7 computers, the Public folder is shared “in place,” meaning it’s found inside the Users share, and is not shared separately under its own name. The Public Folder Sharing option in the Advanced Sharing Settings window on Windows 7 just controls whether remote users can have access to the Public folder.

When you browse into Windows Vista and XP computers, the Public user profile is shared separately, under the name Public, or Shared Documents. And shared user profiles will be shared individually as separate shares.

Viewing a Shared Folder Directly Using Its UNC Path

If you know the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) pathname of a shared folder on a specific computer, you can instantly view its files by typing the UNC path into the Address box at the top of any Windows Explorer window. You can type a path that includes just the computer name, a computer name followed by a shared folder name, or a longer path that specifies subfolders or a file within the shared folder.

For example, suppose you want to see the folders shared by a computer named “laptop.” Open a Windows Explorer window by clicking Start, Computer. Click in the Address box and the “breadcrumb” path will disappear. Then, type \\laptop and press Enter. This will display all of laptop’s shared folders, without your having to browse your way there. Likewise, you can see the files shared by a user whose account is named “lucy” on that computer using \\laptop\users\lucy, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. You can instantly view a shared folder’s contents by typing its UNC pathname into the Address box at the top of any Windows Explorer display.