Nobody Can Access My Local File and Printer Shares

Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista

If you cannot access file or printer shares on a computer that has Windows Firewall enabled, verify that all the rules in the File and Printer Sharing group that apply to the active profile are enabled. In the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security snap-in, click Inbound Rules in the tree and scroll to the rules with the group name File and Printer Sharing. Verify that these rules are enabled. For each rule that is not enabled, select the rule and click Enable Rule in the Actions Pane.

Warning   Enabling File and Printer Sharing for any computer that is directly attached to the Internet is strongly discouraged because malicious users can attempt to obtain access to file shares and compromise your personal files.