Windows 7 - How to share a folder

In the previous article we learned how to enable file sharing in Windows 7. Now you will see how to share a folder in Windows 7.
There are more than one way to share a folder and in this tutorial I'll show the one I consider the fastest and simplest.
Navigate to the folder you wish to share and right-click it and choose Properties. After the properties window appears, go to the Share tab and click on Advanced Sharing...:

In the Advanced Sharing window click the Share this folder check box, enter a name for your share and
then click on Permissions to set the folder's permissions:

In the Permissions window you can set the network users rights on your shared folder. You can give full control over folder meaning read/write access or you can make it read only. To give full access to your network folder click the Full control check box. To make it read only make sure only the Read check box is checked:

Now click OK to close the Permissions window, then click Apply and then OK to close the Advance Sharing window and your folder will appear in your network.

Windows 7 - How to enable files and folders sharing

In this tutorial I would like to help Windows 7 users who migrated to 7 straight from Windows XP, how to join a network and share files and folders on the network.

First of all you need a Windows 7 computer connected to a local area network. Network computers must be on the same workgroup so you can easily share files and folders between them.
To join the workgroup in your local network:

Open the Start menu and then right click Computer and choose Properties:

In the Properties window navigate to Computer name, domain and workgroup settings and click Change Settings:

A new window will appear. Here you can enter a brief descriprion of your computer (optionally). To join a workgroup click on Change button:

In the new window enter you computer's name and the workgroup's name and click Ok.

A welcome to the workgroup message will appear and click Ok. Then a warning message will pop up and click Ok to close it. Now click Close on the System Properties window and restart your computer.

Now your computer is on a Workgroup in your local area network but due to Windows 7 default network settings your computer is not yet ready to share files and folders. To enable file sharing you must:

Open Control Panel from the Start button and then go to Network and Sharing Center:

In the Network and Sharing Center window click on Change Advanced Sharing Settings from the left panel:

 To enable file sharing and make you computer discoverable on the network make sure you check the settings like in the picture below:

Restart computer for all the changes to take effect.