How to hide shared folder in Windows Environment?

windows-8-logo-excerpt1When you share a folder, the folder will visible in a network. But in some scenario you want t hide the shared folder from users who are browsing the network, you can create hidden shared folders.

Once you hide the shared folder, you cannot access it if you browse the server by using File Explorer. You can access a hidden shared folder by typing in its UNC path.

To hide a shared folder, you just need to append the dollar symbol ($) to the folder’s share name. 

For example, you can change a shared folder on File-Server1 named Sales into a hidden shared folder by naming the folder Sales$. 

The shared folder will be accessible over the network by using the UNC path \\File-Server1\Sales$.

If you have any others trick to hide the share folder, please share with me. 🙂

What is Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA)

I believe all of you might noticed that your Windows Machine sometime will get IP address between 169.254.0.0 – 169.254.255.255.

apipa ip

Do you really know why your Windows Machine will get the IP between 169.254.0.0 – 169.254.255.255?

IP Address range 169.254.0.0-169.254.255.255 is referring to Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA).  The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) has reserved 169.254.0.0-169.254.255.255 for Automatic Private IP Addressing.

In a scenario when there is no DHCP server on the network or the DHCP server is not available, Windows uses APIPA to automatically assign itself an IP address in the address range between 169.254.0.0 and 169.254.255.255. Because APIPA does not configure the computer with DNS and default gateway settings, computers with assigned APIPA addresses have limited networking functionality. APIPA can also be used for troubleshooting DHCP. If the network administrator notices that the computer has an address from the APIPA range, it is an indication that the computer cannot communicate with the DHCP server.