Question

You want to know how the Windows XP simple file sharing feature affects the ability of user's to share database content, and what to do to get around it.

Answer

Simple file sharing is enabled by default on Windows XP Professional. On Windows XP Home, simple file sharing cannot be disabled. This document is intended for users of Windows XP Professional who want to disable simple file sharing, or users of Windows XP Home who need to work around the feature.

Note: The following information is provided as a convenience. Sage Software, Small Business Division, does not provide support for Microsoft Products. For more information on this topic go to Microsoft.com

To disable simple file sharing in Windows XP Professional:

1. Launch Windows Explorer, click the Tools menu, and then click Folder Options. The Folder Options dialog box appears.

2. Under the View tab, in the Advanced Settings section, clear the check box to the left of Use simple file sharing (Recommended).

3. Click Apply, then click OK to save the setting and close the Folder Options dialog box.

4. Exit Windows Explorer and restart Windows.

Simple file sharing is a means to limit which users have access to particular folders on a computer. If simple file sharing is enabled, the following folders cannot be shared:

• Documents and Settings
• Program Files
• Windows system folders
• Any folders within a particular user's profile (including the My Documents folder and all its subfolders).

If you are setting up a shared multi-user database, and want users on other computers (or other users of the host computer) to be able to access ACT! Databases, e-mail attachments, documents, and so on, you must set the ACT! default locations for these files to folders that can be shared. Any user's My Documents folder cannot be shared if simple file sharing is enabled.

Read-only Backup Databases
Since the My Documents folder is set to read-only for other users when simple file sharing is enabled, database backups stored in a My Documents subfolder may have the read-only attribute if they are restored by a different user, or on a different computer. To resolve this, use Windows Explorer to disable the read-only attribute for each of the database files.

Windows XP Home
Although Simple File Sharing cannot be disabled in Windows XP Home, you can limit the folders that are available to other users. Follow the steps below:

1. Restart the computer in Safe Mode. To do this, follow these steps.

a. Restart your computer. Before you see the Windows XP logo, hold down the F8 key. A menu appears with startup options.

b. Click the Safe Mode option

c.  Login in as an Administrator. A warning appears about running in Safe Mode. Click Yes to continue.

2. Launch Windows Explorer and locate the folder(s) whose permissions you wish to change.

3. Right-click the folder, and then click Properties from the shortcut menu. The folder Properties dialog box appears.

4. Under the Sharing tab, you can enable the sharing property for this folder.

5. Under the General tab, you may designate this as a Read-only folder, if desired.

6. Under the Security tab, you can modify Permissions for specific user groups.

7. Restart the computer in normal startup mode to complete the process.

For additional information on this topic, please consult your Windows documentation or contact Microsoft.