Could My Simple File Sharing Be Damaged ?

4 PC's on a "HARD-WIRED" Home Network !
All 4 PC's w/WinXPproSPII & fully updated!!!
SIMPLE FILE SHARING / FILE & PRINTER $HARING ARE ENABLED!
Belkin-Wired F5D5231-4 Conected to a Clearwire Wireless Broadband Modem.
All 4 PC's are able to see each other just fine within the workgroup,as well as the USB2 Printer that is $HARED out via PC#2.We have had our Home Network intact for aprox 3 years now & I've never had a problem untill aprox 3 or 4 weeks ago.
All 4 PC's have always had a folder designated as a $HARE,in which we place all MP3 & AVI files.When PC# "2,3 or 4" try to access a file that is located on the problem $HARE of PC#1 there is an error((FILE NOT FOUND)).
But not always. Thats the tricky part!
It's like Simple File Sharing got damaged on a certian date & any file thats placed into the problem $HARE after that date somehow don't get the SFS-Permissions applied to it ! You see if the file was created Prior to the date of damage then all works fine,But if it was created after the date of damage then the error will arise.
Here is the Problem;
If I was to place a file into the problem $HARE of PC#1 rite now no one on My Home Network would be able to access it except for PC#1.
Things I have tried thus far;
Reset Router / Re-ran Networking Wizzard on all PC's /Turned off "SFS "/Turned it back on /Manualy set permissions on a file within the problem $HARE.
Now that worked but I shouldn't have to do that.
Has anyone heard of this Issue ?

 

Could you rewrite your post without the "$" symbol?
It is very confusing.

Under Windows Networking the "$" to preface a sharename asks the the sharename be "hidden" and not announced to the network.

Is this the issue you are asking about?

Your post is too unclear and using a reserved character in Windows Networking sharenames does not help.

 

"File Not Found Error" While Trying To Access a File on a Network Share

It's really very simple to Describe:
Located within a Home Network We have a "Shared-Folder" on a PC that allows older-files to be shared while newer-files will not.
For instance a file located in the share that was created say 1 month ago shares out just fine,however a file created today & placed in the very same folder is not accessible from any other Workstation.(FILE NOT FOUND ERROR)
The only difference I can see is that the files are created @ different dates.
Everything else within the network seems to work fine!
Mapped Optical Drives,Shared Printers. All PC's on LAN have WinXPproSPII
All PC's are Hardwired not Wireless,I have Re-Ran the Networking Wizzard
I have tried turning off Simple File Sharing then turning it back on.
I've Uninstalled My N.I.C. & ReInstalled it from within Device Mangler as to reinstall all Protocols or so I have read.
But in short none of that helped,rather it seems almost like at a certian date the File & Printer Sharing got damaged & any file created after that date exhibits the Issue.

 

! Thank You TonyT !

I thank You for Your time & expertise! I have learned 2 things straight away.
#1 The symbol($)stands for Hidden,I always thought that $ stood for Share.
#2 The Process ALG.exe is the winxp firewall.
I thought Application Layer Gateway was an XP feature to aid dial up networking.
Reguardless My PC Crashed 2 days ago when I installed Kerio
Most disturbing since the walkthru said that Kerio would Auto-Disable Winxp Firewall all on its own.
But None the less Once installed My PC would freeze while in normal-mode & when I went into safemode the uninstaller would give an error telling it could not run in safemode.If your wondering why I would install Kerio when I have a Router & XP firewall it's because I noticed what I thought was alot of traffic in Netstat.
So by time I was done trying to disable the conflicting program I had inadvertantly disabled & reinabled System Restore by disableing services via MSCONFIG ,so that was out of the question.
I haven't had any luck with repair installs so I just Deleted & Created a new Partition & Formated "C "then ran setup.I know this all sounds dumb but don't forget I am a new user, so be easy on me.
I don't expect to see the issue again but if I ever do I will surely try this step;

Thank You Very Much.
PS;I'll let you know if it does resurface after I've re-enabled all shares & rejoin the workgroup.