Chinh Do

On my home network, I have a media file server running Vista 64-bit that serves out music and movies. Since everything is behind a router, I decided to make the shared media folders accessible to anyone on my home network. All you have to do is browse to the media server and start accessing content, without having to log in.

To enable anonymous browsing of a shared folder that is shared by a Vista PC (that is not on a domain), do the following:

• Enable the Guest Account:
• Run "lusrmgr.msc", select the Users folder.
• Right click on the Guest user and choose Properttes.
• Uncheck "Account is disabled".

  

• Enable "Public folder sharing" and disable "Password protected sharing":
• Choose Start, right click on Network, and choose Properties.
• Enable "Public folder sharing".
• Disable "Password protected sharing".

  

• For each shared folder:
• Grant Everyone Read permission to the Share.
• Grant Everyone Read and Execute (NTFS) permission on the shared folder itself.