Sharing files and folders between two computers means being able to use these files on two or more PCs, to be able to view, edit or even delete them. The utility is obvious: if I have two or more computers at home or in the office, it does not matter which computer the files are saved on, as long as they are set up to be shared so that they can be used from any of the PCs.
In small offices, real file servers are created that act as data archives and document repositories organized so that all employees can access them, all or only some of them depending on the permissions.
At home, however, it is useful to keep shared folders and files to be able to work on one computer or another without differences or even to listen to music without making a double copy, see photos saved on one of the computers and so on.
Sharing of files and printers is possible within a LAN, be it wifi or with Ethernet cables.
Very briefly: Each computer connected to the Internet is identified within the LAN with an IP address of the type 192.168.10.11, which is assigned by the home or office router.
The router is not only the device needed to connect to the internet, but it connects the connected PCs to each other so that they can see each other and talk to each other.
Given therefore that sharing can be done between PCs belonging to the same sub-network (in theory you could also create a sharing via the internet but that's a different matter), let's see how to share file and printer folders with Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10.
Wanting to make a brief and practical guide we follow these steps to share files and folders on a computer network .
1) Make sure that the computers are in the same network and are connected to the same router.
To do this, you can read how to find the router's IP.
2) Give a name to the computers and the workgroup
On each of the computers on the network, open the Control Panel> System and Security> System, press the Change settings link located in the middle, in the section relating to the computer name.
While the name can be any one (without spaces), the work group must be the same for all the PCs to be connected.
3) Activate computer sharing and discovery
To do this, open the Control Panel, in the Network and Internet> Network and Sharing Center section .
Then click on the link on the left Change advanced network and sharing settings to find all the options we need.
In this screen, the same options can be configured in three different sections, depending on the type of network to which you are connected.
There are therefore options for sharing in a Private network and in a Public network.
In the guide to the network and sharing center all the options are explained in detail.
The options that must definitely be activated are:
- network identification, with automatic configuration of devices connected to the network.
- file and printer sharing .
In the All networks section you can activate public folder sharing and choose to protect access to shared folders only with a password.
For security reasons, it is always advisable to activate sharing only on a private and non-public network.
In another guide we saw how to set up the private network in Windows 10.
4) Check the network services
Open the task manager (by pressing the CTRL-Shift-ESC keys together) to check, in the services tab, that these services are started and running automatically: Server, DNS or DNSCache Client, Publication of resources for discovery or FDResPub, Discovery SSDP or SSDPSRV .
Now, to share a specific folder, you just need to press the right button, go to the Properties and then open the sharing tab and click on " Share ".
For more control, better press the Advanced Sharing button and give a name to the shared folder.
Here you can also create a hidden share by putting, after the name, the character $ (for example photo $ ).
In this case the folder will not appear among the network resources from the other computers, but it will only be necessary to get there manually by typing the network path (as we will see below).
For the assignment of permissions you can put it on Everyone to do it first, or you can try to configure the management system of shared folder permissions explained on another article.
NOTE: On Windows 7, 8 and Windows 10 PCs you can also use the wizard to create a shared folder .
To do this, press the Windows-R keys together to open the Run box and write the shrpubw.exe command.
5) Access files shared by other computers
At this point, from the other computers on the network it is possible to access the shared folders and files directly from Windows Explorer, opening a folder and looking for the Network section on the left side.
If you expand the Network section, you should find the name of the other computers with shared folders and files that you can access.
If the password request was configured, it will be necessary to enter it in order to view the folder files.
If you do not see anything, try to open a Run box (by pressing the Windows - R keys) and write the ip address or name of the other pc preceded by two // (for example //192.168.1.122) and then press Enter.
Shared folders can also be accessed from other non-Windows PCs (Mac and Linux) and also from Android smartphones or other devices.
6) If you are using a firewall, you must put the IP address of the other home or office computers among the exceptions not to be filtered.
By doing the same operation on the other computer, you can start a mutual sharing.
Now the problems that can arise are many and varied and sometimes gives access denied.
I strongly advise against playing with Windows permissions, instead I recommend, before making changes, to create a restore point.
I then refer to the article on network troubleshooting, connections between PC and file sharing to check the most common ones and correct them.
To share a printer that does not have a wifi connection, you must go to the list of printers by looking for the word Printers in the Start menu, right-click on the printer used and then go to the Properties to find the sharing window.
On the other computer, the printer icon will always be visible from Network Neighborhood but you may need to install the drivers for that printer for it to work.
Obviously, the PC it shares must be turned on and connected to the network in order to start printing processes from other computers.
I refer to another article to know how to configure a network printer shared between PCs
If you only had computers with Windows 7 and Windows 8 you could take advantage of the easy sharing of resources of the so-called Home group, which however has been removed in Windows 10.
For Windows 10 PCs only, the sharing feature is available to transfer files between PCs directly .
Finally, nothing prevents you from sharing files between Windows PCs using OneDrive which is already integrated in Windows 10.
About file and printer sharing I also spoke in the article on how to enter other people's PCs and see shared folders, focusing on how some people who, involuntarily, leave the entire hard disk shared and accessible from the outside to everyone.
From this it is clear that, when configuring network functions, you must always pay attention to data security so that they do not end up in the hands of strangers.
In this regard, immediately check that the hard disk is not shared on the network by going to my computer, pressing the right mouse button on the disks and, from the sharing tab, check that it is disabled.
READ ALSO: Connect a disk to the router to share files on the network
