Windows 2000/XP ---Watching your shares I & II

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<u>Windows 2000/XP</u>

Watching your shares-I

If you don't set the right permissions for your shared folders, unwanted users might gain access to them. Unlike in Windows 95 or 98, Windows 2000 allows you to close files that have been opened by unauthorised users-without unsharing the folders that contain them. To do this, right-click on the My Computer icon and choose Manage. In the window that opens, click on Shared Folders and then on Open Files. In the right pane, you can see all the files on your machine that have been opened by various users. Simply right-click on the file that you want to close, and click Close Open File.

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Watching your shares-II

The above method is quite effective, but the unauthorised user can again open the same file if he wants to, because the folder that contains the file is still shared. Use the following method to share folders selectively-it ensures that only the person who knows the exact name of the folder can access it.

Open Windows Explorer and click on the folder you want to share. Now right-click on it and choose Sharing to display the properties window for that particular folder. Click on the check box against 'Share this folder'. In the Share Name option, put any name and add the '$' sign at the end. For example, you can give the share name 'DOCS$'. Now, if you want your boss to read a document in that folder, just tell him to access it using the Run menu and not through Network Neighbourhood because folders that are shared using the '$' technique can only be accessed through a Windows command line like the Run menu.

In the Run menu your boss will have to type \\machine name\DOCS$. To check whether you have done this correctly, type \\machine name with and then without the folder name. In the first case, you will see the folder while in the second case, you will not.

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