How to Share a Folder the XP Way in Windows Vista

Gman496

Super Moderator
Staff member
Here's a post on how to share a folder. I know for many of you this is a very simple operation, but I finally realized there’s a reason for the confusion users are having.

Windows Vista includes a “Share” button on the explorer toolbar, but it doesn’t work the way people used to XP/Win2k expect it to. Instead it pops up a wizard to make things “easier”.


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By default, this share button will not let you choose the name of the shared folder. Even more annoying, sharing a folder within your user directory will have a weird share name like \\computer\Users\geek\Contacts, which is much more difficult to remember.

If you want to share folders the way you used to on Windows XP, simply right-click the folder, and choose the Properties option.


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Now choose the Advanced Sharing button.


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Now you should be able to check the box “Share this folder”, and choose a share name, which will be accessible from \\computer\myshare, for example.


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You can also click the Permissions button if you want to allow write access to this share, or allow access to only a particular user.


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