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Control Panel - Network and Internet As you would likely suspect, the Network and Internet section of Control Panel deals with internal and external networking and connectivity issues. It used to be that networking seldom entered into the home environment. That's no longer the case with households having multiple computers, folks working from home, and the explosion of media file sharing and connected devices. There is quite a bit of duplication between this category and the Security category of Control Panel, but that comes as no surprise since the firewall and internet connections are closely integrated into networking. With that in mind, let's go through the different categories and see what is available.
Network and Sharing Center - For the most part, Vista has done a fairly admirable job of bringing together the majority of the functions related to networking that you are likely to need in the Network and Sharing Center. It's certainly not foolproof but the Sharing and Discovery section goes a long way to grouping the items that always seem to mystify users that don't deal with networking on a daily basis. While I normally deal with Control Panel in the Classic View, if you are relatively new to networking I'd suggest using the Category View to get started. The links provided in both the Sharing Center and the Tasks pane can save you a lot of searching for functions that can be very confusing to the novice.
Internet Options - This is a rehash of the same settings that are available from a number of different locations within Control Panel or from the Tools menu in the Internet Explorer browser. No matter which one of the links are clicked in this category you are going to be directed to the Internet Properties window. Only the tab you land on varies. It's just as easy, if not easier, to access this from inside the browser and save the trouble of digging down through Control Panel.
Offline Files - Offline Files is a category that normally doesn't receive a lot of attention. Unless you have ever needed access to files stored in a shared folder on a network, only to find the network was unavailable, it's easy to overlook. In a nutshell, you select the network files you want to make available offline and a copy of the files is placed on your system. If the network files being used become unavailable you can continue to work on the offline files. While you 'can' select however many files and folders you want to designate as offline files, it pays to be judicious in your selections. Remember that whatever you select will be copied to your system and that utilizes drive space. Obviously the most common use for offline files is on a laptop and they are notorious for having small hard drives.
Windows Firewall - When I think of a firewall I tend to look at it as a security item, although I can see why Microsoft decided to include it again in Control Panel > Network and Internet rather than the single entry in Control Panel > Security. Whatever your viewpoint, the entries in both locations are identical and take you to the same place. I noted this in the Control Panel > Security section but it's worth mentioning again; if you click on the 'Update Settings Now' link in the pale yellow caution area, rather than direct you to the Windows Firewall Settings screen, it will automatically enable Windows Firewall; no warning and no questions asked. Be aware.
People Near Me - Here's what Microsoft has to say
about the People Near Me program. It's " a feature that
identifies people using computers near you so that you can
use Windows Meeting
Space and other features and programs that use peer-to-peer
technology." I'm not going to get into setting this up at
this time. I'll save that for a later article, but be aware
it uses Windows Meeting Space and the application can have
privacy and security implications if it isn't set up and
administered correctly. If you do go ahead and set the
program up, I strongly suggest you use only trusted
contacts. Reading through "People Near Me" in Windows Help
and Support will answer a lot of questions and help you
decide if the program will be useful in your situation.
Sync Center - Sync [synchronization] Center tries to address the age old problem of keeping files synchronized between different systems and devices. It's closely tied to Offline Files which were discussed earlier on this page. It has always been a hassle to keep files synced between two computers, making sure you always had the latest and most up to date version available, especially when files were being pulled from a network server. Many of you may have previously used Briefcase to perform this function in earlier Windows versions. Briefcase is still available in Vista and works well, but Sync Center is much more useful where mobile devices and network servers are involved.
The first step to getting started is to set up Sync Center by clicking the Sync Setup option as shown above. If you haven't designated any Offline Files, you'll see the screen as shown below. Double click the Offline Files option and it will produce a screen telling you how to go about designating offline folders and files.
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