XP cant do domain controller etc.... and home has no passwords or ACLs so how about a windows port of samba? It would basically turn an xp home machine into a 2k3 server

Yes, that's true. And it's quite possible to run Samba on Windows, using cygwin (Linux enviroment for Windows).
http://smithii.com/node/36

i cant do that to my system its my dads

incorrect, it would turn it into a samba server. fileshare is a VERY small part of 2003. As for xp home, boot into safe mode to access ACLs.

You pay for a scaled down version of windows for users with limited computer experince ... then get upset when it can not do what the more costly versions can.

why not just regedit xp home into xp pro? google it

my pc came with home and i cba paying £70 for a student XP pro upgrade just so i can do ASP.NET and have any decent network security

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