Access denied to my documents on mapped computer

Hi,

My name is Ron and this is my 1st time posting here. I looked in the FAQ and hope I am posting in the right forum, as I don't want to waste anyone's time. If this has been answered or I did anything wrong, please accept my appologies and correct me.

I have 2 machines, xp pro sp3 main machine I am trying to access and xp pro sp1 on second machine. I wanted to map drive and I have simple file sharing enabled on both. I can print through the 1st machine and see the shared docs folder no problem.

I can't see the (c drive of the 1st machine, doesn't show up and when I try to access the my documents folder from 2nd machine it says: Access is Denied. The mapped folder also says: y:\ is not accessible. I've disabled both firewalls, PCTools, both have the same Workgroup, and right clicked on the main c drive and the my documents and enabled simple filesharing.

Last, on 1st machine with sp3 there is a security tab but on 2nd machine with sp1 there is only a sharing tab no security. What am I missing? Hope I provided necessary info and thanks to anyone who can help me.

 

Welcome to WindowsBBS Ron You've posted in the right place!

First, let me say that it is never advisable to share the drive root (Local Disk C: ) This gives full access to everything within the drive.

Is there a reason one of the machines is still running SP1? Lacking the service packs and updates, that machine remains vulnerable to a good many exploits. Now you're going to connect it to a machine that you've taken steps to protect with service packs and updates?

Good possibilty that the inaccessible My Documents folder is inaccessible because you've at some point made your files private. That means only the owner can access them. If you really want to share it (more on that to follow), you should turn off simple file sharing and go to the security tab for that directory, then add the user you'd like to give access with the proper permissions, eg; Read, Write or Full.

In general, files you want to share should be put into a folder that contains nothing other than what you want shared. The common Shared Documents folder, located at Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents is a good example. A user can go no further than the contents of that share. You can also create a folder anywhere and make it a share, which will restrict access to anything but that share and the files/folders in it.

Finally, make sharing work with your firewall. If you are unable to, get a different firewall. IMO, a firewall is your first and best line of defense against uninvited intrusion.

 

Thank you very much, good info

I appreciate your time and the answers you gave.

The machine with sp1 is just laziness of my friend and I will get to that in the next few days unless that is causing the problem then I will address that 1st.

The reason I wanted to share the c: drive is because of a rental property database he has that seems to be quircky when moved. Since it's only him on the 2 machines I thought it would be easier to just share c: and navigate to the database on the 1st computer.

I did turn off simple file sharing like you mentioned and can now see the c: drive but when I try to add a user like you mentioned, it only shows users from the 1st machine? I am confused about that and wonder why the 2nd machine doesn't show up to add a user from there?

Also, now that I can see the c: drive when I try to map to the folder I need it still says access denied. I did right click on that folder and add permissions but it won't map, yet I can see the root of c:

Any firewalls you would suggest? I do like the PC Tools firewall, seems to work good but open to your suggestion. Sorry for the long reply, I'll try to keep it shorter in the future. Thanks again for your time.

 

It's been a while since I did any home networking (been working in a domain environment for the past few years), so forgive me if I'm off base here.

Go to the Sharing tab of the share and click Permissions
Click Add, then click the Locations button
If the workgroup name is there, select it and click OK
Enter the name you wish to add and click Check Names

You might need to use the name Administrators


Ummm, why not just share the folder containing the database rather than the whole drive?

The PC Tools firewall is fine to use, and it should allow network sharing. I just wanted to make note that a firewall is important and that turning it off (and leaving it off) should not be an option to allow a network share.

 

Workgroup missing from Locations

"Go to the Sharing tab of the share and click Permissions
Click Add, then click the Locations button
If the workgroup name is there, select it and click OK
Enter the name you wish to add and click Check Names "

That's the problem, workgroup doesn't show up, nor the other computer.
I have tripled checked that the workgroup is the same name and can't understand why I only see the 1st computer I'm on? I'm going back later today and will try to impliment everything you said.

If I can't add the workgroup then not sure where to go from there. You definitely helped me, I'm on the right track now. I haven't mapped folders in a while, usually the computers I work on have static ip's and I don't go this route either. For only 2 computers that are about 10 feet apart thought this would be a piece of cake? Thanks much!

 

This is a bit of a flier, but try uninstalling the QoS Packet Scheduler from the network connection properties. I've seen this cause a lot of odd problems.

 

Qos removal

Thanks ReggieB,

I'll give that a try!

 

If all else fails, in the Network Connections folder, left pane (if common folder tasks are shown), you will see listed in the Network Tasks area, Set up a home or small office network. Clicking that will start the Network Setup Wizard. The wizard is also available via Start>All Programs>Accessories>Communications.
Run the wizard on both machines, using a different workgroup name than current. Make sure you type the workgroup name exactly the same on both computers. Be sure to Enable File and Printer sharing on both computers if/when prompted. When you reach the end of the wizard, no need to create a disk, just finish.
Reboot both computers when done, whether prompted to or not.

 

Thanks,

I did that originally but can try again. I'm assuming you want me to change the name of the workgroup again on both computers before I follow the directions? The Qos idea posted by ReggieB was good but didn't solve this issue, I'll remember that for other problems.

Heading back to try this, I'll rename the workgroups and run the wizard again. It's definitely something I'm missing. I've read a bunch of articles from MS on home networking and used all your steps. I think it has to do with permissions and adding users. Everyone mentions having the same account on both machines but he had it working before without that.

He just mapped the folder and it worked. I should mention, both machines orininally were xp home. One failed due to motherboard, was replaced last week with a new Dell with XP Pro and upgraded 2nd machine to XP Pro right after. I'm updating service packs today like you mentioned. TY

 

It is absolutely required that the workgroup name used is identical on both machines. What I meant was to just run the wizard and use a different workgroup name than you currently have. The connection method used when running the wizard is very important as well. Chances are your first choice should be Other, then This computer connects directly .........

 

Ok, but I thought there could only be 1 work group name at a time? The workgroups are both called OFFICE... I would be interested to know if you can have multiple workgroup names assigned to computers, lacking in that knowledge.

On a good note, I changed permissions on that folder and added the admin and ran the wizard like you mentioned and it now works, thank you for all your time. I just feel I got lucky rather then understanding what the problem really was. Also, updated to SP3 like you mantioned.

When asked to add a user, it only showed the 1st machine to choose from and I thought I should be able to see the 2nd machine as well as mentioned in my earlier statements. Back to school for me, thanks much noahdfear!!!