Next, arrange the sharing you need by choosing suitable sharing & discovery settings. You need to authenticate yourself to User Account Control for majority of these settings. Follow these steps:

1. To enable your Laptop to see & be seen by other computers on the network, click the drop-down button on the Sharing & Discovery bar to display its controls, select the Turn on Network Discovery option button, & then click the Apply button.

2. If you want to share files & folders within folders other than the Public folder, click the drop-down button on the File Sharing bar to display its controls, select the Turn on File Sharing option button, & then click the Apply button.

3. If you want to share items in your Laptop’s Public folder with other computers on the network, click the drop-down button on the Public Folder Sharing bar to display its controls. If you want to share items so that others can open them but not change them, select the Turn on Sharing So Anyone with Network Access Can Open Files option button. If you want others to be able to change the files you’re sharing or create new files in the folders you’re sharing, select the Turn on Sharing So Anyone with Network Access Can Open, Change, & Create Files option button. Click the Apply button.

4. If you want to share a printer attached to your Laptop, click the drop-down button on the Printer Sharing bar to display its controls, select the Turn on Printer Sharing option button, & then click the Apply button.

5. If you shared the Public folder in step 3 or a printer in step 4, but you want to restrict access to the folder or printer to those people who have user accounts on your Laptop but are accessing the folder or printer from another Laptop, click the drop-down button on the Password Protected Sharing bar to display its controls, select the Turn on Password Protected Sharing option button, & then click the Apply button.

6.If you want to share music, picture, and video files in your media library, click the drop-down button on the Media Sharing bar to display its controls, & then click the Change button. Win displays the Media Sharing dialog box, which walks you through the process of specifying what you want to share & whom you want to share it with. Article 22 shows the Media Sharing dialog box & explains the process in detail.

7.  button.´Click the Close button the  Win closes the Network & Sharing Center window.

Sharing Files & Folders

Win Vista provides two easy ways of sharing files & folders:

• Use the Public folder to share the file or folder with all other users of the Laptop & users of other computers on the same network.

• Change the permissions on a particular file or folder so that it’s shared with one or more other users. You can decide exactly who you want to share the file or folder with.

The next two sections discuss these ways of sharing a folder.

Sharing Files & Folders with All Other Users of Your Laptop & Network

To share a file or a folder with all the other users of your Laptop & the network to which it is connected, put the file or folder in the UsersPublic folder. If you’ve turned on Public Folder Sharing in the Network & Sharing Center, as described in “Choose Sharing & Discovery Settings,” earlier in this article, Win makes the file or folder available to all other users of the network; if you allowed others to change items, they can edit or delete a file or folder, or create new files within a folder. If you allowed others only to open the file, they can open it but not save changes to it within the Public folder. If you’ve turned off Public Folder Sharing, items you place in the Public folder are available to other users of your Laptop but not to users of other computers on the network.

Sharing a File or Folder with Specific Users

Sharing a file or folder with everyone can be useful, especially for items such as music files that everyone needs to access. But often you’ll want to share a file or folder with some people but not with others. To share a file or folder with specific users, follow these steps:

1. Open an Explorer window to the folder that contains the file or folder you want to share. For example, choose Start Laptop to open a Laptop window, & then navigate to the folder.

2. Select the file or folder, & then click the Share button on the toolbar. You can also rightclick the file or folder, & then choose Share from the shortcut menu. Win displays the File Sharing dialog box .

3. In the drop-down list, select the user with whom you want to share the file or folder. Select the Everyone All Users in This List item if you want to share it with everyone. Your own username appears in the list, but you already have access to the file or folder. You can also choose the Create a New User item in the drop-down list & create a new user, but normally it’s best to share only with the existing users.

4.Click the Add button to add the selected user or general public to the list in the list box. Win assigns the user or general public the Reader permission level. This permission level allows the user or general public to open the file or folder, but not change it.

5. If you want to give the user or general public a different level of permission for this file or folder, click the drop-down button next to the Reader item, & then choose Contributor or Co-Owner from the drop-down list:

Contributor The user or general public can open all the files in the folder, add new files, & change or delete files they add. They cannot change or delete files you’ve created.

Co-Owner The user or general public can work freely with all the files in the folder, changing or deleting them as needed, or adding new files.

6. Click the Share button to apply the sharing you’ve set up, & then authenticate yourself to User Account Control. Win Vista applies the permissions, & then displays a File Sharing window telling you that the items are shared. The window may include a link that lets you automatically send details of the shared file or folder to the user or users with whom you have shared it.

7. Click the Done button. Win closes the File Sharing window.

Seeing the Files & Folders You’re Sharing

When you share a file or folder, Win Vista adds to the file or folder’s icon a little square icon showing the heads and shoulders of a couple of regular folks. If you’re using Extra Large Icons or Large Icons in Explorer, & you’re sharing only a few files & folders, you may be able to use these squares to keep track of the items you’re sharing - but more likely, you could use an easier way of tracking these items. To see which files & folders you’re sharing, follow these steps:

1. Click the Start button, right-click the Network item, & then choose Properties from the context menu. Win displays a Network & Sharing Center window.

2.At the bottom of the window, click the Show Me all the Files & Folders I Am Sharing link. Win displays a Shared by Me window showing the items you’re sharing .

If you want to stop sharing one of the files or folders, click it in the list, & then click the Share button on the toolbar. Alternatively, right-click the file or folder, & then choose Share from the shortcut menu. Win displays the File Sharing window . Click the Stop Sharing button. Win removes the permissions, & then displays a File Sharing window telling you that you have stopped sharing the file or folder. Click the Done button.