WinXP Important note: By default, Windows XP Professional (not Home Edition) installs a hidden share for EVERY drive. This means that every file on your XP computer can potentially be accessed from the network or the Internet. Since XP Professional was designed to be used in a business network environment, these shares were intended to allow a network administrator to access important files remotely. Only members of the Administrators group on your computer can access these shares.

Of course, the users created during the Windows XP install are members of the Administrators group... And they do not have passwords until you assign them manually.

Fortunately, unlike Windows 2000, XP does not allow remote file sharing by default, so you are not vulnerable until you enable this. If you intend to share files with other computers on your network, ensure that every account you have created has a password.

This can be done through the control panel/user accounts. It is also a good idea to change the name of the administrator account, since everyone knows that 'administrator' is the default user name for Windows 2000/XP.

To enable sharing in Windows XP first open 'My Computer' and browse to the drive or directory you wish to share. Right click the drive or directory and select 'sharing and security.' Under 'network sharing and security' select the 'enable sharing of files without running the network wizard' option. Select 'share this folder/drive on the network'

Share name specifies the name that will appear for the share on remote computers. Check the 'allow network users to change my files' box if you want remote users to be able to add, delete or modify files within the folder or drive. By default it is unchecked, giving read-only access. Click ok.

Now that wasn't too difficult in the end was it? If you have had any problems getting you home network up and running, go to the next page to scan through the Troubleshooting section for some help.