Resolved you might not have permission to use this network resource

I have 3 PC's on my home network.
This is the error I now get (NOTE it didn't happen yesterday) -

I cannot access shared folders on PC 'A' from PC 'B' (I get error message 'you may not have permission to use this network resource') yet I have no problems accessing shared folders on PC 'B' from PC 'A'.

As stated above there was NO problems yesterday and the only thing which has changed on PC 'A' is that FIREFOX was updated.

I 'googled' this error message and found a \n artivle at the Microsoft Support web site which suggested that the value (in the registry) for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\restrictanonymous is 0 (zero) and IT IS!.

I have Windows firewall DISABLED on both PCs allowing the firewall within my Router to control this and the ip addresses for both PCs are set up in the router (as they were yesterday - nothing changed here).

I have Windows XP Home installed on PC 'B' and Windows XP Professional installed on PC 'A' both with SP3.

I am at my wits end to resolve this problem.

Any ideas?

Thanks

John

 

Thanks Tony
Simple File Sharing is already ON.
Please also note that I have REALVNC installed so that I can access/control PC A from PC B and that won't work anymore either.
Any more suggestions. I look forward to solving this problem.

 

Can you ping the other PC? I think there are three likely causes:

1. The IP address of the PC has changed. Check the address of the PC and try accessing it via \\ipaddress replacing 'ipaddress' with the IP address. For example, \\192.168.0.1

2. Your firewall is blocking access. Check the firewall settings.

3. Your anti-virus program is blocking access. Check the AV software for firewall or application blocking settings.

 

The problem is fixed (see bottom) but firstly I tried the following (as suggested) -

I checked the IP address of the PC with IPCONFIG (192.168.0.3) and entered that as \\192.168.0.3 in CMD>RUN at the other PC and nothing happens - obviously not finding it. If I use the ip address of another PC it opens a window displaying all the shared folders.

I run AVG FREE anti-virus and I could not find any Firewall within it.

WHAT I DID find though is that if I open SECURITY CENTER in the CONTROL PANEL it shows (Windows) FIREWALL is ON. If I then select MANAGE SECURITY SETTINGS FOR WINDOWS FIREWALL and set it OFF and then exit the FIREWALL (in Security Center) remains ON. Thsi does not happen with my other PC (ie if I set it OFF then it shows OFF).
Could this be the problem?
How can I turn it OFF and make it stay off? Or can the Windows firewall be configured (settings changed)? Remember this PC has XP PRO installed.

I still find this all very confusing as everything (shared folder access) was working one minute but not the next.


FIXED.
In a desperate attempt to fix this problem which has caused me quite a few hours of trying and frustration I decided to do a REPAIR WINDOWS INSTALLATION. After that I was able to ping the PC and (whoppee) access the shared folders on it.
I would still LOVE to know what caused the problem as it had also occurred last weekend and I fixed that (once again after hours of frustration) by RESTORING WINDOWS to the previous day - not the ideal situation but it worked FOR A FEW DAYS until yesterday.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what the problem may have been?

 

You may not have permission to use this network resource

Similar, but not quiet, problem: Could not access the "Shared Documents" folder on one PC, from other PCs in network. Got the "you may not have permission to use this network resource..." error message.

It turned out that, I don´t know why, the "Everyone" entry, under "Group or user names" of the "Security" tab, in the file properties window, had disappeared for Shared Documents. Went via "My Network Places" > Computer Name > "SharedDocs "(the name I use for the file) - to get to the properties window. Added entry "Everyone" and it worked OK again.

Going to the properties window via Windows Explorer, before doing this, did not show any problems - Permissions seemed to be OK.