Setting up shared access to a folder. How to allow access to a computer from a local network

Today we will tell you how to open a folder on a local network (popularly “share”) and give other computers access to your files. Instructions using Windows 10 as an example.

Shared folder

1. Settings on the tab General access

To create a network resource on a computer with Windows 10, create a folder or select an existing one, right-click on it and call Properties:

Go to the tab General access.

Select Advanced setup:

Check the box Share this folder.

Click the button Permissions:

Configure permissions for different users or groups. In most cases here you need read permission for the group All. In our example, we allowed full access to the network folder: both read and write.

After setting, click OK:

2. Settings on the tab Safety

Click the button Change:

Here you need to specify which users are allowed access at the NTFS rights level. Again, in most cases you should allow it for everyone. To do this, click the button Add:

Enter the word “Everyone” with a capital letter in the field and click OK:

Now the group All appeared on the list. Click Save:

Now, in order to have access not only to the folder itself, but also to subfolders and files, you need to change the NTFS settings.

Click Additionally:

Check the box Replace all permission entries of a child object with those inherited from this object.

Click OK:

Click Yes:

Wait until the rights are applied to all nested objects. The more files and folders there are inside a given directory, the longer the application process may take.

Attention! An error may occur while applying the parameters:

If you encounter it, read about how to fix it.

3. Configure sharing options

On Windows 10, click Start - Options and select Network and Internet:

Select an item Change advanced sharing options:

In Windows 7 and 8.1, it is best to right-click on the network icon near the clock, select Network and Sharing Center:

Expand section Private.

Enable file and printer sharing:

Now expand the section All networks.

Set the switch to position Disable password protected sharing.

4. Setting up a firewall

In order to connect to your PC over the network, you must allow incoming connections in the Windows Firewall.

Here you have two options:

• disable it completely (which is NOT recommended);
• create a rule allowing network traffic (in a separate article)

Many of us have more than one PC at home with different operating systems. The need often arises. But if one of them runs Windows XP, and the second one, this becomes a problem, because... Windows 7 pays a lot of attention to network security issues (what can we say about then). It is almost impossible to access network resources from Windows XP without making additional settings.

To make the necessary settings, go to the menu “ Start", and from there to "Control Panel" and select from the list that appears "Network and Sharing Center"

In the window that appears, we see the name and map of the active network. To configure the network, it is necessary that the “Home Group” is not created; if it is created, you need to exit it. If a homegroup has not been created, its status is defined as "Ready to create". Now we need to go to the menu item “Select home group and sharing options”.

In the window that appears, select "Change advanced sharing settings...".

After which a large list of settings will be displayed on the screen. To properly configure the network, we need to change the following parameters, as indicated in the picture:

We save all the parameters and open general access to the necessary ones, to do this, select the folder, right-click on it and select from the list that appears "Properties", in the folder properties, select the tab "Access". Click on the button "General access…".

In the window that appears, you need to select users and their level of access to the folder. In order for all network users to have access to the folder, you must add a user group called "All"(If it is not in the list, you must select it in the field at the top of the screen and click on the “Add” button).

Upon completion of these simple manipulations, press the button "General access" and a window appears on the screen with the specified network path to the folder. Now click on the button "Ready".

Attention!
If your hard drive is formatted with the NTFS file system, you need to either disable sharing or adjust the rights before reinstalling Windows, because If you open access to folders only for your account, you risk not being able to access them from the new operating system.

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 on 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.

Configuring 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 window that pops up, 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.

Make sure you have file and printer sharing turned on. It must be enabled to share the desired folders. The method for enabling it is slightly different depending on which version of Windows you are using. We strongly recommend that you do not enable sharing on a public network, such as a school or coffee shop.

Select the folder you want to share. Once File and Printer Sharing is enabled, you can share any folder on your hard drive with other network users. Find the desired folder in Explorer. Right-click on it.

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.