It is clear that access to some directories in Windows may be restricted or denied so that users cannot delete or change the system elements located in them. Similarly, access can be limited to user folders if there are several registered in the system. Finally, when combining computers into a single local or virtual network, the terminals can interact with each other, but they cannot see the directories. In all cases, you will have to figure out how to open access to the folder or file. True, it’s worth mentioning right away that this is a different type of access.
How to share a folder in Windows for a network environment?
Let's start with the simplest. Suppose that the user computer is connected to the local network, and the user needs to make sure that some directory (for example, with music, video or photos) is seen by other users. How to open access to the folder in this situation? There is nothing easier.
Select the desired directory, through the PCM menu, go to the properties, and simply press the corresponding button on the access tab. After that, a window will appear in which you will need to select and add users connected to the network, and click the "Share" button. After completing this procedure, after a couple of seconds, the directory will appear in the public domain.
How to open access at the permission level?
However, with the above option, the third-party users will not be able to perform any actions with the folder itself and its contents, since they do not have sufficient rights (permissions) for this. How to open access to the folder in this case?
To do this, use the advanced settings button on the access tab, after which the access open point is marked, and then the permissions button is pressed. You can select users with the add button, but in most cases it’s enough to select the “Everyone” group and set the required permissions by checking the necessary items in the list below. Similar actions are performed on the security tab, where users are no longer selected, but groups for which the same permissions are set that were applied in the previous example.
How to open access to a folder in Windows, if it is locked?
Now a few words about locked directories. We are not talking about system folders now, although the proposed solution can also be applied to them. Most often, this option is useful if the directory, for example, remaining from the uninstalled program or virus, cannot be deleted in the usual way.
In such a situation, on the security tab in the properties of the selected directory, you must use the "Advanced" button, and in the new window click the hyperlink to the owner’s changes, then specify yourself as a loved one and save the changes. Upon completion of the actions, the folder can be deleted without problems (provided that you enter the system under your own or administrator registration).
Using third-party tools
Finally, let's see how to open access to the folder using third-party programs. The most famous utility for carrying out such actions is considered a small Unlocker application. It is installed as a built-in tool in some Windows builds.
Since the program integrates its own command into the context menu, there is nothing easier than to make RMB on the selected directory or file, select the line with the application name from the menu, and simply click the Unlock button in the program window. After that, it will be possible to perform any actions with the directory up to deletion.
What to use?
In the end, it remains to add that from a purely practical point of view, opening it normally is enough for network access, so that the user who has allowed such access has the right to change the contents of the folder. In the case when you want to remove the lock from the folder (but not password protection or encryption), it is easiest to use the Unlocker program, since it takes a minimum of time, and the actions are simplified to the limit.