Administrative shares on Windows NT/2000/XP/2003

An administrative, or C$, share is a hidden share used in Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 networks for the administration of workstations and member servers. Hidden shares can also be created by users for their own purposes.

Hidden administrative shares do not exist on Windows XP Home.

What to do

• For information on creating and deleting administrative shares on Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, Windows 2000 Professional and Windows XP Professional, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 314984.
• For information on removing administrative shares on Windows NT 4.0 Server, Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2003 Server, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 318751.

Other articles on hidden share administration are linked to from those two articles.

Note: Administrative shares must not be removed on Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) or Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM).