Networking in Windows Operating System
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The document discusses networking concepts in Windows such as workgroups, computer names, user accounts, and sharing resources. It provides explanations of key terms and how to configure different sharing options in Windows like using the Public folder, mapping network drives, and sharing a local printer with the Homegroup. The document recommends using a wireless printer for a home network instead of sharing a local printer due to issues that can arise with permissions and speed when printing from another computer on the network.
Networking in Windows Operating System
- 2. Common Terms Work Group Computer Name
- 3. What is a Workgroup The workgroup is a collection of computers that are part of the same network. All the computers are peers and do not have control over another computer. The workgroup facilitates the detection of the computers that are part of it and the sharing of resources like folders or printers. Workgroups are not protected by the use of a password and they can be created only for computers that are part of the same local network. They are designed for small networks like those found in your home or small businesses
- 5. What is the Computer Name Every operating system asks you to give a computer name when you install it on a PC or device. Windows is no exception to this rule. That’s because this name is important to identify the computer when it is part of a network. Your computer’s name can be learned by going to “Control Panel > System and Security > System”. There you will find a section named “Computer name, domain, and workgroup settings”. Look for the entry named “Computer name”.
- 7. Windows Network Sharing User Accounts, Groups, Permissions & Their Role in Sharing User Accounts A user account is a collection of settings and information that tells Windows which files and folders you can access, what you can do on your computer, what are your preferences, and what network resources you can access when connected to a network. The user account allows you to authenticate to Windows or any other operating system so that you are granted authorization to use them. Multi-user operating systems such as Windows don’t allow a user to use them without having a user account. In Windows, you can manage your computer’s user accounts by going to the “Control Panel” and then to “User Accounts and Family Safety > User Accounts.” A user account in Windows is characterized by the following attributes: User name – the name you are giving to that account. Password – the password associated with the user account (in Windows 7 or older versions you can also use blank passwords). User group – a collection of user accounts that share the same security rights and permissions. A user account must be a member of at least one user group. Type – all user accounts have a type which defines their permissions and what they can do in Windows.
- 9. Administrator The “Administrator” user account has complete control over the PC. He or she can install anything and make changes that affect all users of that PC. Standard The “Standard” user account can only use the software that’s already installed by the administrator and change system settings that don’t affect other users. Guest The “Guest” account is a special type of user account that has the name Guest and no password. This is only for users that need temporary access to the PC. This user can only use the software that’s already installed by the administrator and cannot make any changes to system settings.
- 11. What is a User Group? As mentioned earlier, the user group is a collection of user accounts that share the same security rights and permissions. Customizing Your Network Sharing Settings o find them, go to the “Control Panel > Network and Internet” and then to “Network and Sharing Center”. This window is very important when it comes to setting up your network connections and network sharing. Here you will find the options for changing your network adapter settings, a link to all network sharing settings, and wizards for setting up new connections or troubleshooting problems. To access your network sharing settings, click or tap the “Change advanced sharing settings” link on the left column. Now you will see a list with all the available network sharing settings that are found in Windows, grouped by network location. Network discovery This setting makes Windows search for other computers and devices on the network and broadcasts your computer on the network, so that others see it. “Network discovery” should be turned on in order for your computer to access other computers on the network and be able to share things with them.
- 12. What is the Public Folder The Public folder is a folder that’s found on all Windows computers by going to “C:UsersPublic”. All the user accounts that exist on your Windows PC or device have access to it. Also, all network computers and devices may have access to it, depending on how you have set your network and sharing settings This “Public” folder has several subfolders, including several hidden ones. The idea of the “Public” folder, is that anything you copy into this folder and its subfolders is shared both with other user accounts on your computer, and with other computers and devices on the network. You make things simple by putting the music you want to share in the “Public Music” folder, the documents you want to share in the “Public Documents” folder, and so on. Anyone can read, write or delete everything that’s found in the “Public” folder and its subfolders. Therefore, you should not use those folders to store files that you want to share only with certain people or only one user account. For that you should use the other sharing methods that will be shown in upcoming lessons.
- 13. Why Would You Share Something Using the Public Folder? Using the “Public” folder makes sense in the following scenarios: You want to share specific files with other user accounts on the same computer or device. You want to give someone access to a file or a set of files but not to entire libraries or folders. For example, you may want to share a set of documents but you don’t want to share your entire Documents library. Copying those documents to the “Public” folder is an easy and fast way to share them, without giving others access to your other work. The person doing the sharing is not very technical and he or she has a hard time understanding how everything works. The “Public” folder is a simple concept and you can train them to simply drop there everything that they want to share.
- 14. How to Stop Sharing with the Public Folder Turning off the use of the “Public” folder is possible only when dealing with network sharing. You can set it so that it is no longer available to other network computers or devices. However, you cannot set it so that it is not accessible to the user accounts existing on your computer. If you want to stop sharing with them through the use of this folder, simply delete everything you have stored inside. If you want to disable the use of the Public folder for network sharing, go to the Network and Sharing Center and click or tap “Change advanced sharing settings” on the left. Find the Public folder sharing setting for the active network location, set it to “Turn off Public folder sharing” and press “Save changes”.
- 15. What is Advanced Sharing in Windows? Advanced Sharing is one way of sharing resources in Windows. It allows for detailed customization of the way you are sharing and it has the following characteristics: You can use it to share folders, external hard drives and internal drives (your partitions, Blu- Ray or DVD drives). You can use it to deny access to a specific resource for a specific user account or user group. You can use it to limit the number of simultaneous users accessing a shared resource. You can use it to share resources with one or more share names. You cannot use “Advanced Sharing” for sharing libraries or printers.
- 16. What Are Network Drives and Network Locations In order to access shared network resources more efficiently, you can create a shortcut to a folder shared by another PC or device on the network. The process for creating this type of shortcut is called mapping a network drive. A mapped network drive has the following characteristics: It has a drive letter assigned like any other partition in your system. It points to a network shared folder. It points only to resources found on your network. You need the appropriate credentials to connect to it.
- 17. You can also create shortcuts to a web resources like a web share or an FTP server. The process for creating this type of shortcut is named creating a network location. A network location has the following characteristics: It is a shortcut to a web location like a website or FTP site. It can point to either external resources found on the Internet and to resources found in your network/intranet. You need the appropriate credentials to connect to it. It doesn’t have a driver letter assigned. Both network drives and network locations are stored individually for each user account. They are available only from the user account that has created them and they are not available for all the users on the same Windows computer or device.
- 18. How to Share Your Printer with the Homegroup Sharing your local printer with the Homegroup is incredibly easy. In Windows 8.x, go to PC Settings and then to “Network > HomeGroup”. There you will find several switches for sharing with the Homegroup. Find the one named “Printers” and set it to “On”. To remove this setting Find the one named “Printers” and set it to “Off”.
- 19. The Trouble with Sharing Local Printers or Why You Should Use Wireless Printers Back in the Windows XP era, local printers were the norm in the consumer space. Only businesses with lots of employees had network printers to which entire offices could print to. In recent years, wireless printers have become very affordable and commonplace. You can find lots of models at many price points in any decent computer store. We recommend you to purchase and install a wireless printer in your home network. This will help avoid lots of annoyances that are common when using a local printer that is shared with the network. Computers on the network can view and use the shared printer only when both the printer and the computer that it is attached to are turned on. Installing a shared network printer involves more steps and it is more error prone than installing a modern wireless printer. You can encounter problems with conflicting network sharing settings, permissions and so on. The printing process is faster because it doesn’t involve sending data to another computer before getting it printed. Printing from local printers can be done only from computers that are part of the network but not from tablets or smartphones.