XP Home - How do I Turn Off File and Printer Sharing and Other Unwanted Home Network Crap?

Win XP Home edition seems to be configured out of the box for a home
network. I have a few computers in my house that share the same
router for the internet, but the computers have no need to connect to
each other.

Because part of my network is wireless I would be more confortable
turning off the unneeded file and printer sharing on each machine.

Also, is Netbios needed?

In Control Panel/Local Area Connection, it lists "Client for Microsoft
Networks," and "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks."
Should I just uncheck these? Or uninstall them? If I do will
anything else be affected?

Thanks for any replies.

Clark Kent wrote:
> Win XP Home edition seems to be configured out of the box for a home
> network. I have a few computers in my house that share the same
> router for the internet, but the computers have no need to connect to
> each other.
>
> Because part of my network is wireless I would be more confortable
> turning off the unneeded file and printer sharing on each machine.
>
> Also, is Netbios needed?
>
> In Control Panel/Local Area Connection, it lists "Client for Microsoft
> Networks," and "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks."
> Should I just uncheck these? Or uninstall them? If I do will
> anything else be affected?
>
> Thanks for any replies.

Uninstalling the MS F&P sharing will close the Windows networking ports
on the machine. If you're not using F&P, then you don't need Client for
MS Networks I would suspect too.

I got XP Pro on a dialup laptop and not using either one of them. The
computer works just fine.

I am not even using a NIC.

You don't want to network you don't want to network.

Duane

Clark Kent <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:

>Win XP Home edition seems to be configured out of the box for a home
>network.

Yep.

>I have a few computers in my house that share the same
>router for the internet, but the computers have no need to connect to
>each other.

That's what turning off file sharing will do. You can also block
access with the Windoze XP firewall and unchecking the "File and print
sharing" exception, on the exceptions page.

>Because part of my network is wireless I would be more confortable
>turning off the unneeded file and printer sharing on each machine.

Control Panel -> Network
Find the wireless icon. Right click. Note the various items listed
in the window. Uncheck "File and print sharing". Don't remove it as
you might wanna use it later. Do the same for the ethernet connection
if you're using that.

>Also, is Netbios needed?

Yes, all Windoze networking is NETBIOS over TCP/IP. It comes with
Windoze Networking and cannot be individually disabled.

>In Control Panel/Local Area Connection, it lists "Client for Microsoft
>Networks," and "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks."
>Should I just uncheck these? Or uninstall them? If I do will
>anything else be affected?

Uncheck "F&P sharing", but don't uninstall or remove anything. I'm
not sure about Client for MS networks. Probably safe to uncheck.

>Thanks for any replies.

If you wanna do some real damage, try disabling some services:

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/kba...rformance.html
Keep a record of what you change. Also, run System Restore to create
a restore point before blundering onward.

--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Jeff Liebermann <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> >Also, is Netbios needed?

> Yes, all Windoze networking is NETBIOS over TCP/IP. It comes with
> Windoze Networking and cannot be individually disabled.

NetBIOS is not needed, and can be turned off.

Adapter properties, TCP/IP properties, Advanced, WINS, disable NetBIOS.

I have file sharing and Remote Desktop running with NetBIOS disabled.
WinXP-SP2.

$ ipconfig /all
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

(E-Mail Removed) hath wroth:

>Jeff Liebermann <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> >Also, is Netbios needed?
>
>> Yes, all Windoze networking is NETBIOS over TCP/IP. It comes with
>> Windoze Networking and cannot be individually disabled.
>
>NetBIOS is not needed, and can be turned off.
>
>Adapter properties, TCP/IP properties, Advanced, WINS, disable NetBIOS.
>
>I have file sharing and Remote Desktop running with NetBIOS disabled.
>WinXP-SP2.
>
>$ ipconfig /all
> NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Oops. I was wrong. NETBIOS over TCP/IP is only used for
communicating with W95, 98SE, and ME machines. It can't be disabled
in W95, 98SE or ME, but can in W2K and XP.
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;323357
http://www.petri.co.il/disable_netbi...2k_xp_2003.htm
http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/...1/netbios.html
Most of my networks have legacy hardware attached so I just leave
NETBIOS running.


--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558