Windows 7’s network security hatches are pretty
tightly battened down right out of the box, but you need to do a couple
of things to ensure the most secure networking environment: Make sure
that password-protected sharing is turned on, and disable the low-end
Sharing Wizard so that you can use high-end sharing permissions instead.
Making Sure Password-Protected Sharing Is Enabled
Password-protected
sharing means that the only people who can access your shared network
resources are those who know the username and password of a user account
on your system. This is the most secure way to share resources on a
network, which is why Windows 7 comes with password-protected sharing
turned on by default. So, unless network security isn’t an issue for you
at all (in which case I’m not sure why you’re reading this!), it pays
to take a few seconds to double-check that password-protected sharing is
enabled:
1. | Click the Network icon in the notification area.
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2. | Click Open Network and Sharing Center.
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3. | In the sidebar, click Change Advanced Sharing Settings. Windows 7 opens the Advanced Sharing Settings window.
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4. | In
the Home or Work section of the window, locate the Password Protected
Sharing group and click the Turn On Password Protected Sharing option,
as shown in Figure 1.
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5. | Click Save Changes.
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Deactivating the Sharing Wizard
Sharing can be a
complex business when you get into file permissions and other minutiae.
Windows 7 minutiae are what this book is all about, so sharing holds no
terrors for the likes of you and me. However, novice users want sharing
to be simple and straightforward, and to that end, Windows 7 offers the
Sharing Wizard. This wizard presents the wary with a stripped-down set of sharing options and a method for letting other people know that a shared resource is available.
The Sharing Wizard is
activated by default, and in a second I’ll show you how to deactivate
it. Just so that you know what you’re giving up, Figure 2
shows the initial wizard dialog box. (To get there, click a folder or
file, click Share With, and then click Specific People.) You use the
list to select a user account on your computer, and then you assign that
user one of two permission levels: Read (read-only) or Read/Write (read
and write). When you click Share, the Sharing Wizard shows the address
of the share and offers a link to email the share address to other
people.
The Sharing Wizard is
fine for new users. However, the rest of us want the full power of
permissions and other sharing goodies. To get at them, you have to
deactivate the Sharing Wizard feature by following these steps:
1. | Select Start, type folder, and then click Folder Options in the search results. (Or, in any folder window, select Organize, Folder and Search Options.)
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2. | Display the View tab.
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3. | Deactivate the Use Sharing Wizard check box.
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4. | Click OK. |
