I am trying to understand what the Windows 11 Pro v24H2 setting “File and printer sharing” located at Settings> Network & internet> Advanced network settings> Advanced sharing settings actually does. I have configured two testbed Windows 7 Pro v24H2 computers’ workgroup networking identically as follows:
For Private Networks:
- Network discovery = On
- Setup network connected devices automatically = Unchecked
- File and printer sharing = Off
For Public Networks:
- Network discovery = Off
- File and printer sharing = Off
For All Networks:
- Public folder sharing = Off
- File sharing connection = 128-bit encryption
- Password protected sharing = Off
Relevant Windows Services Status:
- Function Discovery Provider Host = Running … Manual start
- Function Discovery Resource Publication = Running … Manual (Trigger start)
- SSDP Discovery = Stopped … Disabled
- UPnP Device Host = Stopped … Manual start
Relevant Workgroup Networking Protocols:
- Server Message Block v2.0 (“SMB”)
- NetBIOS Over TCP/IP = Disabled in network adapter
- NetBIOS Name Service = Disabled in registry
- Local-Link Multicast Name Resolution (“LLMNR”) = Running
- Multicast DNS (“mDNS”) = Disabled in registry
Bothe computers’ Ethernet adapters are assigned as Private networks. When I disable File and printer sharing on either or both computers, nothing changes on the network. I can still copy files from one computer to another. I don’t use shared printers (all printers are network connected) so I don’t care (and wouldn’t know in my testing) whether printer sharing is affected. I have tested disabling File and printer sharing when LLMR is disabled and mDNS is enabled. Same results – file sharing works fine.
I have the following questions:
- Is the “File and printer sharing” setting some legacy setting that doesn’t apply to current-generation Windows workgroup networking?
- Given my workgroup networking configuration, should I disable or enable this setting?
- What, exactly, does turning this setting “On” and “Off” affect?
