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09.26.07
Disabling File & Printer Sharing In Windows XP
 By Dave Taylor
I know this is an old issue and I hope I'm not violating any blogging "netiquette" rules, but on the security issue you brought up on your business blog, isn't it feasible to just go into your network connection properties and unselect "File and Printer Sharing on Microsoft Networks" when you are connected to a hotel or cafe network?
This should stop anyone from seeing your files, correct? Since I have a password protected Administrator and other usernames on my laptop, they shouldn't be able to browse the file system with the standard double-backslash addressing ( \\GabesLaptop\C$ ).
You're talking about the article I wrote a while back on my business blog called Is this any way to set up a hotel Internet connection? In that article I note how incredibly easy it is to get onto other people's computers - particularly PCs - by simply plugging in and visiting the "network neighborhood". Since everyone in a hotel is on the same subnet, the same local area network, anything open is open to everyone, malicious, curious, or otherwise.
You're right that the first and most important step to protect yourself in these sort of situations is to disable your own file and printer sharing (though odds are good you don't have a portable printer, it just happens that the two are in the same place). Let me show you how to do that, then we'll talk a bit more about security settings.
In Windows XP, it's rather hard to find the sharing settings because, unlike Mac OS X, there's no control panel labeled "Sharing", and to my way of thinking, the "Security Center" is darn complicated and the wrong place to go to make this change anyway. Instead, as you suggest, you need to go to START --> Control Panel --> Network Connections. Now you'll see this:
Now you'll want to identify the one labeled "Local Area Connection" (like me, you might well have a variety of other network connections listed too). Double-click on it and you'll see the basic statistics for your connection:
Continue reading this article.
About the Author:
Dave Taylor has been involved with the Internet since 1980 and is
internationally known as an expert on both business and
technology issues.
Holder of an MSEd and MBA, author of twenty books and founder of four
startups, he also runs a strategic marketing company and consults with firms
seeking the best approach to working with weblogs and social networks. Dave
is an award-winning speaker and frequent guest on radio and podcast
programs.
AskDaveTaylor.com
http://www.intuitive.com/blog/
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