If you wish, you can dig into the sharing menus to assign different levels of access privilege (read-only, read and write, full access, etc.) to everyone, or to just the individuals or groups you wish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This approach has obvious limitations and works best in low-volume SOHO-type uses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you asked for “the cheapest,” and you can’t beat free! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Permalink: https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=2177<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n COMMENT \/ QUESTION<\/strong> on THIS ITEM?<\/strong> See the<\/em> Comment box<\/strong> at bottom of this page!<\/em> How about $0.00? Plug the drive into any PC that’s on the network; use that PC’s built-in OS tools to “share” the drive on the net. For example, let’s say you plug the drive into a Windows 10 PC. When Windows recognizes the drive and assigns it a drive letter, right click on that drive’s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,31,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-reader-asks","category-networking","category-windows"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paaiox-z7","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2820,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/23\/can-a-mac-and-pc-share-a-network-hard-drive\/","url_meta":{"origin":2177,"position":0},"title":"“Can a Mac and PC share a network hard drive?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-05-23","format":false,"excerpt":"Sure! Although only one operating system can \u201cown\u201d the drive, it can share that same drive with one or more other OSes. Let\u2019s say a Windows PC shares one of its drives to the local network; its permission can be adjusted as you like, but in general, any device on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/ethernet_cables.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/ethernet_cables.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/ethernet_cables.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2205,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/03\/13\/readers-reply-to-cheapest-way-to-network-post\/","url_meta":{"origin":2177,"position":1},"title":"Readers reply to “cheapest way to network” post","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-03-13","format":false,"excerpt":"In \"What\u2019s the cheapest way to network an external hard drive?\" I suggested a fully-functional, zero-cost option: Connect the drive to any PC that's already on the network, and use the OS's built-in network sharing function (e.g. Win10's Give access to\/Advanced Sharing\/ option) to let others access the drive. Several\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "From the InBox"","block_context":{"text":"From the InBox","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/from-the-inbox\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1917,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/05\/a-reader-asks-how-do-i-transfer-files-from-an-old-possibly-infected-laptop-to-an-external-hdd\/","url_meta":{"origin":2177,"position":2},"title":"A reader asks: “How do I safely transfer files from an old, possibly infected laptop to an external HDD?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-02-05","format":false,"excerpt":"First, scan the \"possibly infected\" system using an external, self-contained, bootable, DVD- or flashdrive-based anti-malware tool. (Examples; many are free.) Boot and run the suspect PC from the anti-malware DVD or flash drive --- not from the possibly-infected hard drive. The anti-malware tool then runs, scans, and cleans all the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1837,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/04\/managing-pre-win10-file-ownership-issues\/","url_meta":{"origin":2177,"position":3},"title":"Managing pre-Win10 File ‘Permissions’ Issues","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-02-04","format":false,"excerpt":"Older Windows Secrets\/LangaList columns are in the process of being moved to their new home at AskWoody.com, and may not yet be publicly available. In the interim, I'm reprinting selected columns here to help ensure readers can find and access information I'm referencing in new columns. 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