Need Help securing my network..

Right now I am at school and I share my printer on the network with my roommate so he wouldnt have to buy his own printer, recently ive noticed random ass people have printed stuff to our printer, so after some investigation i figured out this secret file...

C:\Documents and Settings\Jimmy\NetHood

so i go there and i see like 5 other peoples computers in that folder that i had access to and like all there shared documents and stuff.. weird huh? Also I saw my computer networks name in that file so i clicked my computers name and there was my printer and shared pics and shared music.. so for now ive deleted all the stuff in my shared folder and put a file in there that if anyone clicks they will learn their lesson the hardway, but how do I get my computers name out of the Nethood? Its still there and the printer is still there too =(

A simple "Net Share" at the command prompt will list all of your shares. You can also right click "My Computer" and select manage. Select Shared Folders and you can view your "Shares, Shared Sessions, & Open Files". Make sure your messenger service is disabled and file and print sharing are disabled if you do not want anyone having any access to your computer on the network.

There is a way to only share your printer with your buddies computer...

Set the permissions to only allow the two computers. If you are running home edition here is the only other work around I can make up in my head:

You create * shared folder on your computer. We will call this folder "Secure Print". You create a simple batch script that shares the printer as "Virus" if a correct password is entered. You also create a simple batch script that unshares the printer if a correct password is entered. Convert the two batch scripts to .exe and place them in the shared folder called "Secure Print". So far this is what you should have:

*. Shared folder "Secure Print"
2. .exe that shares the printer if the right password is entered
*. .exe that unshares the printer is the right password is entered

The computer connected to the printer is now ready to share itself securely. How???

[url=http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/PsExec.html]PSEXEC[/url] - Your buddy will need to use psexec and run the share printer program from his computer. He will need to know the password. Once he types in the right password the printer will then be shared. After he finished printing he will run the unshare exe using psexec and the printer will no longer be available.

Might sound a bit complicated but its veryyy very easy to set up. Let me know how things turn out.

ok i disabled file sharing and printer sharing in my network connections and turned off messenger service, as for the psexec i decided i dont need that now because its not that big of a problem to mess around with. when i type net view in command i can see lots of peoples computer, anything cool i can do lol?