I currently have some public computers running windows xp professional service pack 3. I tied these computers down with domain group policy, and no one can browse the network. I just added a brand new windows 7 professional computer and this feature is not disabled. I mean public users can browse our network, how do I remove this feature? I am running Windows Server 2003 service pack 2 standard edtition. Any help is appreciated.

Hi, Can you tell me which detail policy is used on Windows XP to avoid public user to access the network? On Windows 7 machine, you can select the “Turn off file and printer sharing” option in Advanced Sharing settings to avoid others to access the network. Thanks, Novak

Thank you so much Novak. I logged in as administrator and turned off network discovery. Then logged in as the regular user, and when I try to browse the network a get a message across the bar that 'Network discovery and file sharing are turned off. Network computers and devices are not visible. Click here to change. When I clicked, it ask for administrator username and password. Since the public users don't have these information thus they won't be able to log in. I will actually like to remove the network icon entirely. In windows 7 when you click on computer you see the following on the left colum: Favorite Libraries computer Network I would like to remove the network. Even if I cannot remove the network icon not a big deal because now I know they cannot browse the network. Thank you so much.

Hi, Based on my research, I would like to explain that the “Network” folder is built-in the system and it cannot be removed. Thank you for your understanding. Regards, Novak