Stop sharing network shares without removing them?

Question

I have several shares on my Win7 machine. I need them to disappear from the network (and stay gone across reboots), without my having to actually remove the shares (because they need to re-appear in a week).

Is there something I can disable/stop on my machine (I'm thinking a service?) that will get this done? There are no network shares I need to keep available to the network (during this time).

Answer 1

1. Go to Network Connections (Windows Key, type "network connections", select "View Network Connections").

2. Bring up the Properties of your main network connection (probably "Local Area Connection").

3. Uncheck "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks". Click OK.

4. Disable, then Enable the network connection (or reboot).

Now, the shares you have set up on your machine should still stick around. When you want them back on the network, just repeat all the steps (except check the box instead of uncheck). :-)

Answer 2

if hiding them is not enough you can save the reg key that pertains to shares

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\LanmanServer\Shares

then delete it then reimport when necessary!

Answer 3

You need to stop Server windows service.

1. Start Menu / Run / Services.msc
2. Stop the service and set startup type to Manual.

To restore sharing just start the service and set startup type to Automatic.