Maximum PC

Got a question regarding sharing files between a few Windows 7 machines.

First, the configurations: All machines run Windows 7 Pro (some are 32-bit and some are 64-bit, but this shouldn't matter for what I"m doing here).
The configurations vary slightly (some are quads, some are dual cores, most have at least 2GB of RAM, and some has 4GB+). They are all "client" computers (no server software is being used).

Now here are my question: Is there a way that I can share a folder on a particular PC, and allow people others connected to the network via one of the other Win7 machines to view all of its contents, but only change certain files within the folder, but at the same make other files read-only so people can view them, but not delete or rename them.

What I want to be able to do is rather than share a bunch of seperate folders, I'd like to have a big folder (called something like "Public" or "Shared") and have sub folders within that for Documents, Music, etc). For the most part, I want document files to be able to be changed/removed/renamed, etc. But I also want to have a few files in there that are documents that cannot be changed or deleted/renamed. I also want my media files (music/video) to be accessible for viewing/listening, but so that no other computers on the network can delete/rename them.

Suggstions as for how I could configure individual files like this. Someone told me that since Windows 2000, with NTFS, you cna have individual read/write/access permissions at the file level, and not just a directory or drive, but all the way down to the file. My presumption is that this is still true with the newer OSes as well that use NTFS.

Any I right here for the individual file-level permissions on NTFS partitions, and how would I go about doing it (if you still can)?

Yes, you can do that - because, yes, NTFS does make it possible. What it does not necessarily do, though, is make it easy.

Right-click (file or folder) > Properties > Sharing tab. Click the Advanced Sharing button - here, you can set custom permissions on the share as a whole, or on a subfolder or file in the share.
Keep in mind, though, that (by default) NTFS permissions are propagated from the parent to the child - whatever permissions are set on the top-level folder are also given to anything below that, unless you either disallow this (often makes management a major PITA), or explicitly modify the permissions on a child object (can also be a PITA, depending on how many children are involved.)

My recommendations:
- start small-scale to get a feel for what you're doing. Test functionality as you go. Keep notes on what you did.
- back up the directory before you start. If you seriously bung up the permissions, you may find it easier to restore from a backup, rather than try to fix it (although, this can be a good learning experience, too. Still, a backup would be a good idea.)

Generally, anything that you want anyone to be able to modify/delete, you'll want to grant the Everyone group Full Control; anything that you want to be unmolested, you'll want to deny Full Control to Everyone, and grant Everyone Read, Traverse, and Execute rights, among other things - it's easier if you start at Full Control (which grants all rights), remove Full Control, remove Delete, and remove Modify. You may need to explicitly add Deny privs (on the share!) regarding Delete and Modify to the Everyone group, too.

OK, I've played around with that a bit (not so much at a file-level, but with folders) and know what you're talking about..... I'm starting to think that I'll sort things by folder (full control vs. read/execute only) rather than at the file level because this could be tedious...