Windows 95 Network Share Monitoring Tool

In Windows 95, monitoring shared folders, printers, and active connections across a local network was handled by a dedicated administrative utility called Net Watcher. This article explains how Net Watcher functioned, its primary features, and how users utilized the tool to oversee peer-to-peer file sharing and track who was accessing their shared resources.

Net Watcher (netwatch.exe) was the standard utility provided by Microsoft to give Windows 95 users real-time visibility into incoming network connections. With Windows 95 introducing robust 32-bit peer-to-peer networking support, any workstation could act as a server by sharing local folders or printers with other machines using protocols like NetBEUI, IPX/SPX, or TCP/IP. Net Watcher served as the primary administrative console to monitor this activity.

The program was not always installed by default, but it could be added through the "Add/Remove Programs" Control Panel applet under the "System Tools" category. Once installed, it was accessible via the Start Menu under Accessories > System Tools > Net Watcher.

Net Watcher organized network monitoring through three primary views:

• By Connections: Displayed a list of all remote users and computer names currently connected to the local machine, along with the specific shared resources they were accessing, their connection duration, and their idle time.
• By Shared Folders: Listed all resources currently being shared by the workstation, showing which users were accessing each specific share. Users could also create new shares or stop sharing existing folders directly from this view.
• By Open Files: Showed a real-time list of individual files opened by network users, indicating who had each file open and the type of access (read or write) they possessed.

Beyond basic passive monitoring, Net Watcher included essential administrative controls. A user could forcefully disconnect a specific computer or user from a shared resource, close specific open files that might be locked, or immediately stop sharing a folder.

Additionally, Net Watcher supported remote administration. If a network administrator enabled the "Remote Administration" feature in the Passwords control panel on target machines, they could use Net Watcher on their own Windows 95 system to connect to other networked computers and inspect or manage their shares remotely.