Windows 7: Locked folders aren't

Hello,

I have folders in My Documents which I have chosen to lock so they are not shared on the network, but when I browse to my computer from another computer on the network, the locked files are present and accessible.



I'm pretty sure there's another way to lock folders from being shared on the network, but I don't know what it is.

How can I truly lock these folders so they're not accessible on the network?

You would need to make sure that the actual drive properties doesn't have sharing permissions or security permissions that would allow access remove "Everyone" from the shared with list on both the security and the sharing tab.

Once you are sure the drive is secure choosing the "Nobody" setting for the Documents folder should lock the folder down.

When I look at the properties for drive C:, it says "not shared". When I look at "Authenticated Users" in the Security tab, the only thing that's checked in "Special Permissions", which is muted.

I'm not even sure if you are using Homegroups or not.

If you are sharing through the Workgroup then you would also need deny access through the User folder > then choose the Documents folder choose share with then choose "nobody" there as well.

If you are using Homegroups it may help to change the permissions to "not shared" for the Documents folder in the Homegroup file sharing list.

This works for me using both Homegroups and Workgroups.

Yes, I am in a Homegroup. We share all libraries. I want to exclude two folders in My Documents from being shared.

When I look at the two folders in Windows Explorer, they have a lock by them; when I look at them following the instructions in >Control Panel, >Homegroup, >Change homegroup settings, the folders do NOT have a lock on them.

If I change the "share with" setting to "Homegroup read" the status bar shows the folder as shared. When I return the setting to "Nobody", the shared indicator goes away. But the folders are still accessible through the network!

Yes as I mentioned earlier you may need to go to your actual Local disk C: "User" folder, then your name, then Documents, then choose the files you don't want to share and adjust the sharing permissions there as well.

The User folder is usually shared by default when you set up Homegroups but it uses a different set of permissions compared to Homegroups.

Sorry, I didn't get that from what you said before. The two folders have a lock on them when I look under C:\Users\.... etc.

Here's something weird. When I expand My Documents in the left pane of the WinExp window, the folder icons have a lock on them, but viewing them simultaneously in the right pane of WinExp, the same folders do NOT appear locked!

I'm using Windows 8 on this machine so the locks don't appear anymore and it only says "stop sharing" as opposed to "Nobody" with no more little lock like on my Windows 7 machines.

In any event it works for me but the folders that I unshared simply don't appear on the other machines any more until I share them again.

The only thing I can think of is that if you shared the folders or file's "more than once" you would need to click on the "nobody" setting more than once also. Sharing a file more than once usually makes an extra copy of the file appear.

Try clicking on the "Nobody" setting a few times then reboot all machines and see if it has any effect. You also may need to take ownership of the file before you are allowed to lock it down.
The link below may help with that part.
Take Ownership Shortcut