# Creating Separate Workgroup on one Network



## }v{iss Ducky (Mar 8, 2007)

Hey everyone,

I'm in a house on a network that has 2 Macbooks, 4 notebooks running either Windows Vista or Windows 7, and 3 desktops running either Windows Vista or Windows XP.  (Sidenote: No, they're not all accessing the network at the same time; actually some of them are hardly ever even turned on but it's important to include them because of the questions to follow.) Out of all those machines, one desktop running XP and one notebook running Vista are mine.

Now, my family's pretty private, so we have file sharing turned off on all the computers. The problem is it's really a pain to have to transfer files between my laptop and my desktop, which I do fairly often because some of my schoolwork is done on the desktop (bigger screen), while some is done on my laptop (portability), and I also have a partition on the desktop's hard drive specifically for backing up files. When I want to transfer files, whether it's one file or 10,000 files (which I had to do the other day, actually), I either have to:
a) e-mail the file to myself if it's not too large and open it on the other machine
b)use my flash drive to transfer files
c) use a usb transfer cable, start the software, log in to the connection, etc etc.

Now, the actual questions. The idea I had was to simply create a new Workgroup on the network with just my 2 machines in it, so I can put all the files I want to share/move between them on the network instead of manually transferring them. I've already taken care of that step (creating the Workgroup, that is), so for the sake of not being confusing, I'll call my network "Network" and my workgroup "Mygroup" and whatever workgroups the other computers might be in "Theirgroups". :smile:

Now that I've figured out that it's possible for Mygroup and Theirgroups to co-exist on Network, what about the actual file sharing? If I set up file sharing will only the 2 computers in Mygroup have access to them, or will the computers in Theirgroups have access as well since we're all on the same network? If the computers on Theirgroups will have access as well, is there any way I can make it so that only Mygroup will have access?

Also, is there any special protocol or any extra steps I need to follow since the two computers are running different versions of Windows? Or anything I need to be careful of with anti virus/firewall, etc? Any help/advice you could give me on this is greatly appreciated.


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## Tony_2007 (Jan 17, 2011)

Just a thought, why not just enable password protected sharing?


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## }v{iss Ducky (Mar 8, 2007)

Honestly I hadn't thought of it. Would it be virtually as secure as the way I had intended? It at least sounds a whole lot _easier_...

Security is probably the biggest issue because the rest of my family is notorious for never running malware scans on their machines...ever... so on top of keeping my stuff to myself I also don't want to run the risk of any files getting accidentally infected by something that might be on one of their machines.


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## Tony_2007 (Jan 17, 2011)

Its the easiest way i have found to keep my stuff shareable. Only users on that particular machine have access. If there are multiple user accounts on the machine, you can say share a folder and on the security tab under properties deny all users but yourself access. If only you have an account on the machine all you need is to enable password protected file sharing.

Here is what microsoft has to say and howto: File and Printer Sharing in Windows Vista


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## Wand3r3r (Sep 17, 2010)

I would suggest you just setup sharing between your pcs and then with the windows firewall BLOCK the rest of the pcs on the home network by host name. 

This will provide you with real protection whereas just having file sharing not enabled isn't any protection at all from infection.

You also wouldn't need to password/secure your shares at all since the family couldn't get to your pcs or their shares.

This does assume they can not logon your pc/laptop.


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## }v{iss Ducky (Mar 8, 2007)

That sounds a little closer to what I'm looking for, Wand3r3r. Is there anything I need to know with regards to third party firewalls, though? The computer running XP is using Zone Alarm as opposed to Windows Firewall, though if it would be easier (and equally as secure) I can just switch over.


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## Wand3r3r (Sep 17, 2010)

One of the advantages of using a single firewall product is you can match the configs on both machines. I have used ZA in the past and it was fine. I use the windows firewall now because I like to install as few programs as possible.


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