Quincy Center for Technical Education
Computer Technology Department

Securing shared drives

In Windows 2000, all drives on your computer, such as drive C or D, are automatically shared using the name drive letter$, such as C$ or D$. These drives are not shown with the hand icon that indicates sharing in My Computer or Windows Explorer, and they are also hidden when users connect to your computer remotely.

However, any user can gain access to your computer over a network or the Internet if the user knows your computer name, and the user name and password of a user who is a member of the Administrators, Backup Operators, or Server Operators group. A user who gains access to your drive over the network or Internet can view all folders and files on that drive, even those that are protected using NTFS permissions, provided the NTFS permissions allow access to members of the Administrators, Backup Operators, or Server Operators group.

To keep your drives secure, you should:

• Create a difficult password for the Administrator account. Many people leave this password blank, which leaves the computer vulnerable to security breaches because any user can log on as the Administrator using a blank password. It is also a good idea to rename the Administrator account using the Local Users and Groups snap-in.

If for some reason you must leave your Administrator password blank, you can disable sharing by doing one of the following:

• Disable the Server service. Disabling this service removes the ability to share folders on your computer. No user will be able to connect to any drive or folder on your computer. However, you can still access shared folders on other computers. When you disable the Server service, under Startup, be sure to click Manual or Disabled or else the service will start the next time the computer is restarted.



• Uninstall File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks. This option appears when you view the properties of any connection in Network and Dial-up Connections. Click the Uninstall button to remove this component; clearing the File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks check box will not work.

Note

• To stop sharing a drive temporarily, right-click it, click Sharing, and then click Do not share this folder. However, keep in mind that Windows 2000 will share the drive again once the computer is restarted.