Windows XP: Disable or Enabling Windows Shares

Windows Shares provide network access to the files on your local computer from a remote system. This is a handy feature if you need to move files from one computer to another, or if you need to make files available to other users on your network.

The problem with network share if you don't manage the security permissions on them properly, you can accidentally expose files to others you may not intended to. In this article I talk about how to disable this feature for those who don't want to use it. Or by using almost the same procedure you can enable this option if it has been disabled.

To enable or disable Windows shares:.

• From the Start menu, open the Control Panel folder.
• Open the 'Network Connections' folder.
• Right-click the active network connection (i.e.: 'Local Area Connection') and select Properties.
• To disable this feature uncheck (or to enable it check) the 'File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networking' checkbox.
• Press the OK button when done.