Did you know that you CAN add a password to shared folders under XP Home? Windows XP Home edition doesn't really allow this, but there's a way to turn on the Guest password, so any users accessing your computer from the outside get a password prompt. Windows XP pro has a much better system for adding passwords, but I'll assume you don't want to spend another $100 to upgrade simply for the advanced networking capabilities.
Go to your command prompt (in start menu, click run and then type "CMD")
Type "Net user guest password"
Now go to your user accounts menu in the control panel, turn ON the guest account, and set the password. After that, you can turn the guest account back OFF (as you probably don't need it) and all your shared folders will now be password protected when you reboot.
Of course, any user logged on under a different user name (physically ON your computer) wil be able to access the folder. Effectively, you have password protected your shared files from outside users.
I find this VERY useful at my university, where viruses routinely abound - yet I need to transfer files back through my firewall rather frequently. This allows me to keep a shared folder open, while keeping viruses out (so my virus scanner doesn't have to work TOO hard).
I've had this password for a couple of years now, but I just thought it might be useful to anybody out there who IS on a large network and wants to keep shared files. You can ALWAYS give the password to your friends if you want them to be able to access your files.
A quick google search produced this site which describes the process in case I've been too confusing.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,803367,00.asp
Go to your command prompt (in start menu, click run and then type "CMD")
Type "Net user guest password"
Now go to your user accounts menu in the control panel, turn ON the guest account, and set the password. After that, you can turn the guest account back OFF (as you probably don't need it) and all your shared folders will now be password protected when you reboot.
Of course, any user logged on under a different user name (physically ON your computer) wil be able to access the folder. Effectively, you have password protected your shared files from outside users.
I find this VERY useful at my university, where viruses routinely abound - yet I need to transfer files back through my firewall rather frequently. This allows me to keep a shared folder open, while keeping viruses out (so my virus scanner doesn't have to work TOO hard).
I've had this password for a couple of years now, but I just thought it might be useful to anybody out there who IS on a large network and wants to keep shared files. You can ALWAYS give the password to your friends if you want them to be able to access your files.
A quick google search produced this site which describes the process in case I've been too confusing.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,803367,00.asp
