Share an Entire Drive

I looked at the Sharing tab for my C : drive, and the "Share this folder"
option is selected, meaning the drive is currently being shared. However, I don't see it in My Network Places . What's going on?

In Windows XP Professional (and Media Center Edition), all drives are shared automatically. For instance, the Sharing tab for drive C: on your PC probably looks like the one shown in Figure. (None of this applies to Windows XP Home.)

Microsoft calls this an administrative share , and it's enabled by default so that tools such as the Computer Management utility (accessed by going to Start --> Run and typing compmgmt.msc ) running on a remote computer can operate on your PC. The dollar sign at the end of the share name (e.g., C$ ) identifies it as a hidden share, which means it won't ever show up in My Network Places . All it takes to view a hidden share is to type the share name into Windows Explorer's address bar, like this:

\\mycomp\c$

In this example, mycomp is the name of your computer. Provided there aren't any password or permission restrictions, anyone can access the files in this shared folder as readily as any non-hidden share.


Warning: Yes, administrative shares indeed constitute a potential security risk, as they allow access to any files on your hard disk, whether they're in folders you've specifically shared or not.

Now, you can use these administrative shares to access your drives remotely, as explained earlier, but if you want to share your drive so that it shows up in My Network Places , just click the New Share button at the bottom of the window. In the New Share dialog box, type a share name (e.g., C ), set any permissions, and click OK.

Note: Concerned about security? Instead of sharing the entire drive, just share the individual folders you need to access across your network .