Home Networking Annoyances: How to Fix the Most Annoying Things about Your Home Network

SHARE WINDOWS XP MY DOCUMENTS FOLDERS ON THE NETWORK

The Annoyance:

I usually work on a particular Windows XP computer, but sometimes one of my kids is at that computer and I have to do my work from another one. I can't figure out how to get to my documents on the Windows XP computer. I know my My Documents folder isn't marked "private" because my kids can access it when they are logged on to the computer. Why can't I get to the folder from another computer on the network?

The Fix:

The fact that you didn't configure your My Documents folder as private means its contents are accessible to other users, but only on the computer on which the folder resides. To access the folder over the network, you must specifically enable the option to share the folder on the network.

  1. Right-click the folder icon and choose Properties.

  2. Click the Sharing tab and check the "Share this folder on the network" box (see Figure 4-1).

Figure 4-1. You must specifically enable the option to share your documents folder on the network if you want to use the contents from another computer.

SHARE WINDOWS 98SE/ME MY DOCUMENTS FOLDERS ON THE NETWORK

The Annoyance:

I want to share my Windows 98SE My Documents folder on the network so that when I'm working at a different computer I can access my own files. When I right-click the folder's icon on my desktop, the shortcut menu doesn't have a Sharing command. It's annoying that Windows won't permit sharing of My Documents.

The Fix:

The My Documents icon on your desktop isn't a folderit's a shortcut to a folder, and you can't share a shortcut. The actual My Documents folder, which you can share, exists within your user profile at c:\ Windows\username (substitute your logon name for username).

Luckily, you don't have to go to all the trouble of opening Windows Explorer and navigating to the real folder because you can ask the shortcut to take you there. Right-click the desktop icon and choose Properties from the shortcut menu to open the shortcut's Properties dialog box (see Figure 4-2).

Click the Find Target button and voilà, you're transported to your user profile. Right-click the My Documents folder and you'll see the Sharing command.

Figure 4-2. A shortcut's properties include the path to the target, and a button that lets you travel that path in a split second.

UNDERSTANDING THE MY DOCUMENTS FOLDER

Every user who logs on to a computer running Windows sees a folder named My Documents. Even though the folder has the same name (My Documents) for each user, it is not always a single folder being presented to each user. Most of the time, the My Documents folder is specific to each user's login name. The desktop icon or Start menu listing for My Documents is a shortcut to the unique My Documents folder for the current user.

  • In Windows 2000 and XP, the My Documents folder is located in c:\documents and settings\username (substitute a username for username).

  • In Windows 98SE and Me, if user profiles are enabled, the My Documents folder is located in c:\windows\profiles\username. If user profiles aren't enabled, every user who logs on to the computer shares a single My Documents folder. (See Chapter 2 to learn about user profiles in Windows 98SE and Me.)

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