Chapter 5: Networking Your Computer
54
Sharing printers
To share printers:
1 Click (Start), then click Control Panel. The Control Panel window opens.
2 Under Hardware and Sound, click Printer The Printers window opens.
3 Right-click the name and icon of the printer you want to share, then click Sharing on the
menu.
4 On the Sharing tab, click Share this printer, then click OK.
Using the network
After the drives and printers on each network computer are shared, you can:
• View shared drives and folders
• Map a network drive
• Open and copy files stored on other network computers
• Print documents on network printers
Viewing shared drives and folders
To view shared drives and folders:
1 Click (Start), then click Network. The Network window opens.
2 If no drives or folders are displayed, click the option bar under the menu bar, then click Turn
on network discover and file sharing.
3 Double-click the name of the computer containing the drive or folder you want to view. All
shared drives and folders are listed.
Creating a shortcut to a network drive
After a shortcut is created on a computer for a drive or folder on another computer, the contents
of the drive or folder can be accessed as if the drive were attached directly to the computer.
For example, a shortcut is created on computer 2 to the Documents folder on computer 1. To access
the Documents folder on computer 1 from computer 2, double-click the shortcut icon.
To map a network drive:
1 Locate the drive or folder by completing the steps in “Viewing shared drives and folders”
on page 54.
2 Right-click the drive or folder, then click Create Shortcut. A shortcut is created for the drive
or folder and the icon for the shortcut is placed on your desktop.
3 Click × to close the window.
Opening files across the network
To open files across the network:
1 Start the program for the file you want to open.
2 Click File, then click Open.
3 Browse to the network drive that contains the file you want to open.
4 Double-click the folder containing the file, then double-click the file.
Help
For more information about workgroups, click Start, then click Help and Support. Type workgroups in the Search
Help box, then press E
NTER.
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