WinXP firewall and file sharing

[awwwyeah206]

does anyone know how I can share folders while having the WinXP firewall on? when my firewall is enabled other users can't access my shared folders

 

[spyordie007]

Originally posted by: awwwyeah206
does anyone know how I can share folders while having the WinXP firewall on? when my firewall is enabled other users can't access my shared folders

not that I'm aware of. I havent used the built-in firewall too much but I would like to assume that it blocks access to fileshares (otherwise it would be a pretty weak firewall).

Get a hardware firewall!

-Spy

 

[Grminalac]

The windowsxp firewall is pretty weak. For a software firewall try zone alarm. You can add computers on the internal network to a trusted zone which will allow them to share data.

 

[Doh!]

With defaut firewall settings in WinXP, filesharing should not be affected (at least in your lan). If you're trying to setup filesharing with users outside of your lan, that's a diff. story. (just set it up to accept connections from certain users).

 

[prosaic]

The Windows XP Internet Connection Firewall running its default settings will prevent network browsing and file sharing via TCP/IP. You can turn it off, adjust it, use another firewall instead of it -- or you can install another protocol to enable browsing and sharing on your LAN. NetBEUI is ideal for this purpose. Just unbind NetBIOS from TCP/IP, install NetBEUI. Firewalls work on IP, NetBEUI doesn't use IP, you keep your firewall up, and you can still share files and browse the network. (Provided all clients on the network are using NetBEUI.) It's pretty good for an all-Windows LAN because NetBEUI is actually significantly faster on small networks than TCP/IP, and it isn't routable. Sharing via NetBEUI (only) means no one can come in from outside and get access to shares.

- prosaic

 

[spyordie007]

Originally posted by: prosaic
The Windows XP Internet Connection Firewall running its default settings will prevent network browsing and file sharing via TCP/IP. You can turn it off, adjust it, use another firewall instead of it -- or you can install another protocol to enable browsing and sharing on your LAN. NetBEUI is ideal for this purpose. Just unbind NetBIOS from TCP/IP, install NetBEUI. Firewalls work on IP, NetBEUI doesn't use IP, you keep your firewall up, and you can still share files and browse the network. (Provided all clients on the network are using NetBEUI.) It's pretty good for an all-Windows LAN because NetBEUI is actually significantly faster on small networks than TCP/IP, and it isn't routable. Sharing via NetBEUI (only) means no one can come in from outside and get access to shares.

- prosaic

For a while I was running NetBEUI under XP because an old game ran over it... If you are looking to install Netbeui you will need your windows CD:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=301041
and of course to do what Prosaic said...

-Spy

 

[prosaic]

Ooops! Thanks. I should have mentioned how to install NetBEUI after making the suggestion that it might be useful!

- prosaic