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.

1. NETWORKING IN WINDOWS

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.

10. ADMINISTRATOR, STANDARD AND
ACCOUNT

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.