Windows 3.11 for Workgroup - Sharing folders and printers

Enable sharing

1. The first step in sharing folders and resources on your Windows for Workgroups 3.11 PC is to enable this in Network Setup.
   
2. Open the Network Group in Program Manager.

3. Select and double-click the Network Setup icon (above) to open the Network Setup window (below).

4. Click the Sharing... button (above) to enable file and printer sharing.

5. Select whichever of the two boxes (red) seems appropriate to your needs: "I want to be able to give others access to my files" and "I want to be able to allow others to print to my printer(s)". Obviously, if you have no printer attached to your Windows for Workgroups 3.11 PC then you need only select the first box.
   
6. Now click OK (blue)
   
7. This will return you to the Network Setup window (below).

8. Now click OK to return you to the Program Manager (below).

Sharing folders

1. In Program Manager open the Main group and select and double-click File Manager to open.

2. If the drive that holds the folder you wish to share is not already selected, select it from the drive icon bar (red). In this example I have selected drive C.
   
3. Select a folder in the treeview on the left. In this example I have selected c:\gareth

4. Now click on Disk on the Menu bar, and select Share As... (below).

5. A window will appear called Share Directory (below). Enter the following information:

• Share Name (red)
  This is a name that will help other users know what the drive is. Make this something recognisable. You are limited to 8 characters.
  
  If you would like the drive to be re-shared with the network each time the PC boots up click and select the box marked Re-share at Startup.
  
• Path
  This will be filled in by default based on what you selected above. You do have the option here of changing your mind and sharing another folder.
  
• Comment
  You can make a comment here that will also help other users know what is on the drive. You are limited to 48 characters.
  
• Access Type (green)
  How would you like other users on your network to access this drive? The options are Read-Only, Full or Depends on Password. If you would like a password assigned for any of these options you can enter any password into the Password boxes.

6. Now click OK (blue) to return you to the File Manager.
   
7. You will notice that the folder icon has now changed to that of an open folder with a hand. This indicates that this folder is shared.

Connect to a network drive

1. As well as setting up folders (directories) that other users on your network can connect to, you can connect to folders that have been made available on other users' computers. To do this you have to set up what is known as a "Network Drive".
   
2. In File Manager click Disk on the Menu bar, and then select Connect Network Drive...(below).

3. A new window, Connect Network Drive, will appear with various options for selecting the Network Drive connection (below). If you know the path address you can simply enter it into the Path box. If not, you can let the computer work it out:

• Drive (Red)
  This is the drive letter that you would like to refer to the shared folder on the other PC. You can select a drive letter from those on the drop-down list.
  
• Show Share Directories on:
  Select which PC you wish to find the shared folder on. In this case it is STUDY.
  
• Shared Directories on \\STUDY:
  I can now see which directories are currently shared on that PC. In this case SharedDocs.

4. Click OK (purple, above)
   
5. You will now see a new network drive icon on your drive bar (below).
   
6. Remember that Windows for Workgroups 3.11 cannot understand long filenames and so will reduce them to the DOS 8.3 standard, substituting the long filename usually with the first 6 characters (removing any spaces) of the long file name and adding a tidle (~) and a number to the end.

{^top}

Sharing Printers

One of the bonuses of a Local Area Network (LAN) is that you can share resources such as printers.

On the first NIC-to-NIC network I set up I had two printers:

• Hewlett-Packard 400 on the Windows for Workgroups 3.11 PC
• EPSON Stylus Color 440 on my Windows 98 Second Edition PC

The process has two stages: first share the printer on the host machine, and second, connect to the printer on the guest machine.

Sharing the WfWg 3.11 Printer

1. In the Main group in Program Manager double click the Printer Manager icon.

2. This will open the Print Manager window (below).

3. Highlight the printer you want to share (above).
4. In the menu select Printer | Share Printer As...

5. This will open another dialog window (below).
6. In the dialog select the Printer you wish to share, in this example "HP DeskJet 400 on LPT1".

7. Enter the following information about how you would like this printer to be seen by other network users:
   
   Share As
   Give the printer a recognisable name (max. 12 characters) e.g. HP DJ500 or COLOUR.
   
   Comment
   Allows you to give a comment about the printer which might help other users identify the printer.
   
   Password
   If you would like to secure your printer you can assign a password to the printer
   
   Reshare at startup (checkbox)
   Make sure there is a cross in this box, otherwise you'll have to do this every time you switch on the PC.

8. To finish click the OK button. This will return you to Print Manager where you will see now that your printer is shared.

{^top}

Connecting to a shared network printer

With so few printer manufa

1. The first step is to install to your Windows for Workgroups 3.11 machine the printer drivers for the printer you wish to connect to over the network.
   
2. In the Main group in Program Manager double click the Printer Manager icon.

3. Printer Manager will open (below).

4. On the menubar select Printer | Connect Network Printer...

5. A new dialog box will appear, Connect Network Printer (below) into which you can enter the path name of your network printer. There are two methods of doing this...

Method 1 (Manual)

6. You will have to specify the following settings manually:
   
   Device Name
   Your options are LPT 1:, LPT 2: or LPT 3: Select one which is currently free. If you currently have a printer attached to your machine, select LPT 2:
   
   Path
   This is the path to the printer, e.g. \\STUDY\LASER -- this is in XXXX format, i.e. two back-slashes (\\) followed by the computer name (STUDY) and the name of the shared printer (LASER).
   
   Reconnect at Startup
   Click this check-box if you wish to automatically reconnect to the network printer each time you start Windows for Workgroups 3.11.
   
   Always Browse
   Dunno!

Method 2 (Semi-automatic)

6. Method 2:
   Allow Windows to work it out for you. Click on the computer to which the printer is connected on the network in the Show Shared Printers on: box, and then select the printer required from the Shared Printers on box. When you select a printer the PATH: box is automatically completed.
   
   (Note: neither of the two printers listed below are compatible with Windows for Workgroups 3.11, but I can't be bothered to install on my Windows XP machine the HP DeskJet 400 which is compatible... a bit too much work for just one screen capture! Sorry.)

8. Click OK to return you to the Print Manager.
   
9. If you have not already installed the printer drivers you may be prompted to do so now.