Creating User-Specific Wireless Connections
By default, when you
connect to a wireless network and then elect to save the network (by
activating the Save This Network check box after the connection has been
made), Windows 7 makes the wireless connection available to all users
of the computer. (That is, Windows 7 stores the wireless network
connection in the computer’s All Users profile, which is the profile
that Windows 7 uses to make objects available to every user account on
the computer.) This is usually the best way to go because it means you
only have to make the connection to the wireless network once, and then
the connection is set up for every user account.
Sometimes, however,
you might not want other users to have access to a particular wireless
network connection. For example, your neighbor might allow you to use
his wireless network, but only on the condition that your kids not use
the network.
For these kinds of
situations, Windows 7 enables you to create user-specific wireless
connections. This means that when a user connects to a wireless network,
Windows 7 enables that user to save the wireless network connection in
the user’s profile. The other users on the computer will not see the
connection.
Here are the steps to follow to activate Windows 7’s user-specific profiles (or per-user profiles, as Windows 7 calls them) for wireless networks:
1. | Open the Manage Wireless Networks window, as described earlier.
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2. | Select Profile Types in the taskbar. Windows 7 displays the Wireless Network Profile Type dialog box.
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3. | Select the Use All-User and Per-User Profiles option, as shown in Figure 8.
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4. | Click Save. Windows 7 puts the new setting into effect.
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Now, when a user creates a wireless network connection, Windows 7 displays the dialog box shown in Figure 9, which gives the user three options:
Save This Network for All Users of This Computer— The
user selects this option to save the wireless network connection in the
All Users profile, which means that every user account will have access
to the wireless network.
Save This Network for Me Only—
The user selects this option to save the wireless network connection in
the user’s profile only. Other user accounts will not have access to
the wireless network.
Don’t Save This Network— The user selects this option to bypass saving the network connection.
Removing Wireless Connections
If you no longer use a
wireless network, or if an existing wireless network has changed and
you’d like to create a fresh connection for it, you can remove the
wireless network from the Manage Wireless Networks window. Here are the
steps to follow:
1. | Open the Manage Wireless Networks window, as described earlier.
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2. | Select the wireless network you want to remove.
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3. | Click Remove or press Delete. Windows 7 warns you that you’ll no longer be able to connect to the network automatically.
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4. | Click OK. Windows 7 removes the wireless network.
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