i have ubuntu 8.10 .
how can share any folder from a drive such that every person in lan network computer can see that.
(in xp we can just share in one right click)
but how can we share in ubuntu.

please would you guide me from begining.

You need to setup and configure "samba"

First, see if this hasn't been done already.
Open Network on the Ubuntu box and see if you have a share defined. If not, right-click to share a folder.
Open Network places on the XP box. Windows network. I believe Ubuntu defaults to Workgroup, and you should find your Linux share in there.
You can edit the Samba config file to change the Workgroup:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...etwork-454120/
Or, just change the XP workgroup name to "Workgroup".
This is much easier than it used to be.

i just want to share a folder to lan from ubuntu such that my friends in this lan can visit my shared folder

Did you try any of my suggestions?
They were written to be of assistance, and we won't get very far without your participation.

i cant get ubuntu box or xp

Have you installed Samba using synaptic?

yes
when i try to share a folder "Tools" from a NTFS partition /media/Backup i get this information
'net usershare' returned error 255: net usershare add: cannot share path /media/Backup/Tools as we are restricted to only sharing directories we own.
Ask the administrator to add the line "usershare owner only = False"
to the [global] section of the smb.conf to allow this.
I had tried this by right clicking on the folder then sharing options then mark on share this folder then click on create share. aftr that i see the above information. now i think you can fix the problem

The problem is exactly as it says, you dont own the folder you are trying to share.

go to the console and type "sudo nautilus" then navigate using that window to the folder, and try sharing it again. (using the sudo command will give that explorer window admin privileges)

You must have Samba installed and you must edit /etc/samba/smb.conf.
Everything you need is here:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SettingUpSamba
Post smb.conf if you continue to have problems.