How to share a file. How to share a folder in Windows? The role of homegroups in local data sharing

Quickly and easily set up folder sharing using a simple wizard. Whatever the purpose of creating a shared resource, the wizard allows you to significantly simplify this task.

Step 1: Run the Wizard

To launch the Shared Folder Wizard, open the Run dialog box by pressing +[R] from the Start menu and enter the command shrpubw.exe. In Windows 7, you can also do this by typing “shrpubw” (without quotes) in the search bar and clicking .

Step 2: Welcome Page

Figure A. Standard Welcome Window. To move on to the next step, click the "Next" button.

Step 3: Select a Folder

The next step is to specify the path to the folder. Click the Browse button and select a folder, then click OK. You can also give your computer a different name, but this is not recommended to avoid system conflicts. After selecting a folder, click Next.

Figure B To share a new folder, click the Make New Folder button in the folder selection window.

Step 4: Naming the Share

The next step (Figure C) is to give the share a name and description (the latter is optional). The folder path has already been specified.

Figure C: The description should be descriptive so that users understand what files are stored in the folder.

Step 5: Setting Up Offline Mode

In the same window, you can click the “Change” button to adjust the settings for accessing the shared folder in offline mode (Figure D).

Figure D. Offline settings.

When choosing the last option, it is worth checking the “Optimize for Performance” checkbox, otherwise the computer may seriously slow down if the synchronization is too large or is started at the wrong time.

It's worth noting that storing sensitive documents offline on an unsecured computer poses a security risk, so the offline access option should be used with caution. After completing the setup, click the “Next” button.

Step 6: Setting Permissions

In the next step, you can configure permissions to access the shared resource. There are four options (Fig. E):

“All users have read-only access”;
“Administrators have full access; other users have read-only access”;
“Administrators have full access; other users have no access”;
“Customize permissions”.

Figure E To grant read and write permission to all users, use the Set Access Permissions option.

Once you have configured the permissions, click the “Finish” button.

Step 7: Complete setup

On the final page of the wizard (Figure F), you can complete the setup and/or create another share.

Figure F If you do not intend to create another share, click Finish and the folder will be immediately available to other users.

Finally

Now you know how to quickly set up shared access to a folder in Windows 7. It’s strange that the Create Share Wizard is not included in any of the popular Windows menus, but one way or another, you can still use it to easily and quickly publish folders.

Users of a single local network often perform interconnected tasks, so there is often a need to share certain files/folders. Windows 7/10 operating systems have all the necessary tools for setting rights and providing shared access to individual users and groups. In this article, we will look in detail at how you can create a shared folder and “share” it over a local network.

Setting up sharing in the Control Panel

First of all, we will make the necessary settings in the “Network and Sharing Center” section. Let’s go into it through the “Control Panel”, and then on the left click on the link “Change additional sharing settings”.

Here we will expand the active network profile and enable all the options except for the “Sharing with password protection” item.

If you want to set password protection, then make this function active.

Now in the “Network” section you will see computers from the network environment. You can go to any of them and look at the folders for which sharing is already enabled. Let's try to share some folder and check its visibility on other computers.

Sharing folders and files

Note that the procedure for sharing in Windows 7 and Windows 10 is practically the same. In our case, “seven” will be used. For example, let’s create a new folder named “General” in the root of the disk or in any directory. Next, right-click on the icon and select “Properties” from the menu that opens. Let's go to the "Access" tab.

Now click on the “Sharing...” button.

In the “File Sharing” window, open the drop-down list and select the “Everyone” user.

Click on the “Add” button and make sure that the selected user has been added to the list. By default, the list contains the owner of the folder - the Administrators group. She has the right to set permissions for regular users. For example, you can set the permission level for the Everyone group to Read or Read/Write.

Having selected the desired option, click the “Sharing” button and thereby share the folder with computers located on the same network. A corresponding message window will appear.

Second way to share

There is another way to share a folder over a local network in Windows 7/10. In the “Properties” window, on the “Access” tab, click the “Advanced settings” button.

As we can see, the list already contains the “Everyone” group. We can configure access rights for it or click the “Add…” button and select another user.

In the “Enter names of selected objects” field, enter the desired user and click “Check names”.

If such a user is not found, a warning message window will appear.

To select a user from the list of all available users and groups, click the “Advanced” button and then “Search”.

For example, let’s select the “Guest” account, confirm the selection with the “OK” button, and then “OK” again. The corresponding entry appears in the list. Let's set the necessary permissions and apply the changes. The fact that the folder has become publicly available will be indicated by the appearance of a network path next to the “Sharing...” button.

In Windows Explorer, you can define shared folders without going to Properties. Just select the directory you are interested in and check if there is a corresponding inscription on the bottom panel.

How to quickly share folders in Windows 7/10

In Windows 7, you can open shared access in just a couple of clicks. Mark the desired folder and click on the corresponding button in the top horizontal menu.

Let's select users and distribute permissions to them according to the already familiar scheme.

Opening public folders on network computers

In order to get to the shared directory from another PC, you need to select the target computer in the “Network” section of Windows Explorer.

If you plan to use the folder constantly, you can use it. To do this, right-click on the icon and select “Map network drive...”

The created drive will appear in the Explorer directory tree and in the Network Locations area.

Home groups

The functionality of Windows 7/10 systems includes the ability to create so-called, with which you can also provide shared access to files and folders. To create a group, go to .

Click the “Create a home group” button, then check the boxes for those elements that we want to share, and at the end set a password for connecting to the group of PCs located on the local network.

Now let's try to join the created group. To do this, on another computer go to the same section Control Panel - HomeGroup. Here we will find information about the already created group. Click the “Join” button, and then “Next”.

Set the sharing settings and enter the password in the next window.

We complete the procedure by clicking the “Finish” button.

Now in the Explorer tree, select the “Home Group” branch and click on the name of the group (it will be assigned a user name).

The Videos, Pictures, and Music folders will appear on the right. The composition and number of folders will depend on the settings specified when creating the group.

Now you can easily add folders to a group. In Windows 7, after selecting the desired folder, click on the “Sharing” button at the top and set “Homegroup (read)” or “Homegroup (read and write)”.

We perform the necessary actions, and then log in from another PC and make sure that the folder has been shared.

That's all. We hope that the information provided will be useful to you.

In order to use a local network normally, you need to be able to share folders. In this material we will talk about how to share a folder in Windows 7, 8 or 10, and also tell you what settings you need to make on your computer in order for access to folders to work normally.

Setting up your computer before sharing folders

Before you open access to folders, you need to make sure that your computer is configured correctly. Otherwise, you will not be able to access the folders you need. To do this, follow the path " Start – Control Panel – Network and Internet – Network and Sharing Center" In this window you need to click on the link “ Change advanced sharing options».

After this, a window with sharing settings will open in front of you. In this window, all functions must be enabled except “ Password protected sharing" This function must be disabled and click on the “Save changes” button.

If you do not disable this feature, you will have to enter a password when trying to access the folder.

How to Share a Folder in Windows 7, 8 or 10

Sharing a folder in Windows 7, 8 or 10 is quite easy. To begin, right-click on the desired folder and select “ Properties».

After this, a window with the properties of the folder will appear in front of you. In this window you need to go to the “ Access" and click on the button " General access».

After this, a window will appear with the name of the shared folder. Here you just need to click on the button " Ready».

This completes access to the folder.

An alternative way to open access to a folder

There is also an alternative way to open access to folders. To use this method, press the Windows + R key combination and enter the command in the window that opens shrpubw.

After this, “ Create Share Wizard" With it you can quickly and easily share a folder. To start creating a shared folder, simply click on the “ Further».

The first step is to select the folder you want to share. Select the desired folder and click on the " Further».

The final stage is choosing folder access permissions. Select the folder access rules that suit you and click on the “ Ready».

This completes the setup. In order to open access to the folder, you just have to click on the button again. Ready».

If necessary, at this stage you can enable the function of re-running the “Share Resource Wizard”.

When setting up a local network on Windows 7,8 and 10, you need to correctly assign user access and configure services. Otherwise, a network error with codes 0x800070035, 0x80004005, or 0x800704cf occurs and a message appears that Windows cannot access the desired network folder, drive, device, or file.

The error message, depending on the OS version, may look like this:

1. Windows cannot access a computer on the local network. Network path not found. Error code:
2. Windows cannot access a network folder/drive/other location on the local network.
3. Windows cannot access *Folder or file*. There is no permission to access *Folder Path*. Contact your network administrator to gain access.

[Update] It is possible to quickly fix errors with code 0x80004005 (and sometimes with others) with just one registry entry:

1. Open “Start” -> “Run”, enter regedet and press Enter.
2. In the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry key, go to the path \Software \Policies \Microsoft \Windows\LanmanWorkstation.
3. RMB - create a new parameter name AllowInsecureGuestAuth type REG_DWORD Enabled Value 1 (value 1 - enabled). Restart your PC.

Fixing network errors 0x800070035 and 0x80004005

The reasons why Windows 7 or 10 can access a network folder or files almost always lie in incorrectly configured system settings rather than in any errors. For similar reasons, on a local network, the system may and will display the error “The connection could not be established. Network path not found." with similar codes. Most problems can be easily fixed with simple settings changes.

If Windows cannot access a network folder and displays errors 0x800070035 or 0x80004005, you need to:

1. Check your sharing settings.
2. Make sure that the “Server” network service is enabled.

Checking sharing settings

Errors when accessing a network folder often occur in Windows due to incorrect access settings. If a disk, folder, file or computer is not shared, other participants on the local network will not be able to establish a connection.

Sequencing:

1. Select the network folder or drive that you want to share.
2. Right-click and select “Sharing” from the context menu.
3. Go to the submenu item “Specific users”.
4. In the window that opens, click on the triangular arrow located next to the “Add” button.
5. Select from the list that appears the user to whom you want to grant access. If there are no users in the list, you should select the “All” option.
6. Set access rights for the user: read only (view files), or read and write (the ability to change, add and delete files from a network folder).

After this, you need to click the “Sharing” button and, if the system does not show any errors or warnings, click on the “Finish” button.

After this, the system should open access to the specified path for all users of the local network.

Checking the functionality of the Server service

“Server” is a built-in service in Windows necessary for the operation of the local network and connection to remote computers, devices or files. If the computer has not previously been used as a server or to connect to a home network, the service may be disabled. This often causes errors in accessing network folders, even when the rights for all users are set correctly and other OS settings are normal.

Turning services on and off in Windows 7 and 10 occurs in the Control Panel:

1. Click “Start” - “Administration” - “Services”.
2. If the “Administrative Tools” tab is not in the “Start” menu, go to “Control Panel” and find the “Services” item in the list in the “Administration” tab.
3. A window will open with all services in which you need to find “Server”.
4. Right-click on the “Server” line and select “Properties” from the context menu that appears.
5. In the window that opens, in the “General” tab, select “Startup type”: automatically or manually.

If the service was initially disabled, the Startup Type will be set to Disabled. Starting it manually will force you to restart the service every time you need to access a network folder, remote computer, or files in your homegroup. In automatic mode, the service will start on its own, and you will not need to perform these steps again.

Setting network card properties

Errors connecting to network devices with codes 0x800070035 and 0x80004005 can be resolved by adjusting the network connection settings. In the network card settings, you need to uncheck the iPv6 protocol, and also configure iPv4. The method works equally well in all versions of Windows 7 and 10. First, you should only try to disable the iPv6 protocol, and only then perform the remaining steps if this simple method does not help.

Step-by-step instruction:

1. Go to the “Start” menu, go to “Control Panel”.
2. IN Windows 7: Go to the “Network and Sharing Center” section, then “Change adapter settings”. For Windows 10: In the control panel, select “Network and Internet”, then “Network and Sharing Center”, select “Change adapter settings” in the left menu.
3. Select the local network connection that cannot be accessed. Right-click on it and select “Properties”.
4. In the properties of the network card, remove the icon from the iPv6 protocol.
5. Open the properties of the iPv4 protocol, go to the “Advanced” tab.
6. Open the tab called “WINS”, click on “NetBIOS Settings”.
7. Check the box depending on the type of IP addressing: “Default” for dynamic IP addressing and “Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP” for static.
8. Press “Ok”, “Ok”, “Ok” three times.

After this, you need to perform a few simple steps in Device Manager:

1. Open “Start” - “Control Panel” - “Hardware and Sound” - “Device Manager”.
2. Go to the “View” tab, select the “Show hidden devices” checkbox.
3. Click "Network adapters" and remove all 6to4 adapters.

The changes will take effect after you restart your computer.

Configuring Component Services

The settings of this service rarely cause access errors to network folders and devices. For this reason, it is advisable to change the service settings last, if other methods do not help.

Instructions for setting up local access via Component Service:

1. Click the "Start" button and type "Component Services" into the search box.
2. Right-click on the result found and select “Run as administrator” from the context menu.
3. In the pop-up window, allow the program to make changes to this computer. A window with the service should open.
4. Open the Component Services window and open the second Computers window.
5. Right-click on “My Computer”, go to the “Properties” tab, then “Default Properties”.
6. Set "Default Authentication Level" to "Default".
7. Set the "Default Impersonation Level" to "Impersonate".
8. Click the “Apply” button.
9. Click the “Ok” button.
10. Close the Component Services window.

It is advisable to immediately restart the computer and then try to connect again. If the error persists, you should check your network folder access settings.

Network folder access settings

Windows may display an error when accessing the folder and ask you to contact the administrator if the settings of the shared folder where the distributed files are located are incorrect. In this case, all devices within the local network can normally detect each other, and the connection is established without problems.

Only those users who have access can view the contents of a network folder. It's easy to check:

1. Right-click on the desired folder and open “Properties”.
2. Go to the "Security" tab.
3. In the “Groups or Users” window, “Everyone” should be selected.

If so, then everything is fine. Otherwise, you need to add a new group:

1. Click the “Edit” button under the “Groups or Users” window.
2. Click on the “Add” button and go to the “Advanced...” tab.
3. Click “Search”, select the line “All” in the search results, and then click “OK”.
4. Click “Ok” again.

It remains to set the rights for the created user group “Everyone” - read, access, change, and so on. Similarly, you can set different settings for individual groups, but this is not necessary. The same settings for all users will reduce the risk of repeated access errors to a minimum.

In addition to unlimited access to the virtual world wide web, the most important task of a local network is the exchange of information between various devices connected to it. And this information, as a rule, is packed into a folder and lies in the bins of the hard drive of a network computer.

Accordingly, the question arises: how to share a folder in Windows 7 on a local network, which we will consider in this article.

By the way, to open access to folders on Windows 8 and Windows 10, you need to perform similar steps: the only difference here is the operating system interface.

How to share folders in windows 7?

So, to share a folder in Windows 7 over a local network (LAN), you first need to:

Assign the local network the value “Home” (if all network members enjoy absolute trust) or “Enterprise network” (or “Work”).

To check or change this option, you need to go to “Start” -> “Control Panel” -> “Network and Internet” -> “Network and Sharing Center” and click the link on the left side of the active networks section

You should add only those users to your home group to whom you are willing to provide unlimited access to any network resources.

This is necessary so that the firewall does not block access to the folder for this type of local network connection.

Change network profile properties.

To do this, go to “Start” -> “Control Panel” -> “Network and Internet” -> “Network and Sharing Center” -> “Change advanced sharing settings”

expand the “Home or work” line here and check all the items with the words “enable” and “allow” (except for “password protection” - it is recommended to disable it).

Encryption can be left at default (128 bits), and skip the “Multimedia” section for now.

These options will allow other systems to “see” the computer’s disks, open the way to shared resources, and also make it possible to independently manage the “HomeGroup”.

At this point, the preparatory stage is over - you can share the folder on Windows 7. To do this:

Right-click once on the desired network folder;

Go to the “Sharing” column, then in the right context menu select the capabilities of other local network users in relation to this folder.

How to restrict access to a folder to other users?

To partially block access to the Windows 7 folder, go to the “Specific Users” context menu subsection and in the window that opens, select “Home Group” or one specific user to whom you do you allow access to a network folder. For other computers on the local network, this directory will still remain inaccessible.

You can also create a shared folder on the local network through the object properties:

Right-click once on the future network folder and select the “Properties” menu item;

Here go to the “Access” tab;

In the window that opens, click “Sharing” and select the users you want do you allow access to the specified network folder;

Click “Share” and “Done” again to save the settings.

To configure additional sharing settings, click “Advanced settings”.

In the window that opens, select the “Share” checkbox, and then click the “Permissions” button.

You will be taken to the next dialog, where you need to click the “Add” button, in the window that opens, click on the “Advanced” command, and then click “Search”.

Here a list will open in which you need to select the “Network” line, and then double-click the “Ok” command to save the changes.

Returning to the “Advanced Settings”, at the bottom of the window, provide the necessary permissions or restrictions for the selected user group.

By default, the right to open and view files from this folder is given.

If you allow “Edit”, then visitors will be able not only to read them, but also to make changes. But they will not be able to create new files or delete existing ones. This also applies to launching programs, if any, in this folder.

“Full access” removes all of the above restrictions.

Confirm sharing the folder by clicking the “Ok” button.

If after such “operations” there is still no access to the Windows 7 network folder, you should go to the “Security” tab in the properties window and do similar manipulations there:

At the top of the window, click the “Change” button;

Select the user group you need and assign it the right to access the network folder (there are many more permission options here, but check only the rights discussed above).

To configure access to a network folder using a password, you must enable the password protection item at the “Change additional sharing settings” stage.