Vista sharing woes 1

[disord3r]

I did some searching on this issue, and I didn't find anything applicable to my situation, so it's probably just easier to post it up here and see what I get. My issue is three-fold, and involves a simple way to share files between my Vista (Ultimate Business 32-bit) computer and my XP computer (SP3)

First, I tried to create a folder on my XP desktop called "Shared". I enabled file sharing for this folder with read-only permission (I have done this before with different computer with no difficulty). On my Vista computer, if I click Start > Run > "\\[XP_computer_name]", it will produce a list of shared folders, as expected, with my folder called "Shared" being one of those.

If I attempt to copy a file from the XP computer down to my Vista computer, Vista tells me that I do not have access to do this. Interesting - there should be no reason why my XP computer would stop my Vista computer from copying those files, but for kicks, I went to the permissions of the shared folder on my XP computer and gave Everyone "full control" of the folder.

Still, Vista tells me that I don't have permission to copy the remote files to any local folder. Is VISTA stopping me from doing this? Why would it stop my from reading/copying files from a remote location?

Second, I tried to do it the other way around. On my Vista computer, I created on my desktop called "Shared". I went into its properties and enabled sharing via the Sharing tab. Seems simple enough. I got a dialog that indicating it was updating file and folder permissions, but a full 7 minutes later it was STILL updating.

Finally it finished, and on my XP computer I clicked Start > Run > "\\[Vista_computer_name]", and it produced a list of shared folders, but it did not show what I expected to see. Rather than seeing "Shared", it shared... my Users folder!! It actually gave the Everyone group read access to Users, and everything inside of it. Eventually, you could make your way into my desktop where the Shared folder was, but I'm more concerned that it just exposed a bunch of stuff to the outside world without even telling me!

The clicher - the sharing dialog on my Vista computer has a link at the bottom that says "Show me all the files I am sharing". This produces a new explorer window for Searches > Shared By Me. It says "No items match your search", as though I were sharing no files/folders at all, yet I can still access them from my XP computer.

So, to recap...

1. Why is Vista stopping me copying remote files to local folders with a "you don't have permission" message? I am an local admin... I know I have permission.

2. Why is Vista sharing my ENTIRE USERS FOLDER when I was only trying to share a folder on my desktop?

3. Why is Vista telling me I'm not sharing any files, when I'm obviously sharing the Users folder (it has a little sharing icon when I view it via explorer)?

Any help would be appreciated. This is a bit worrying.

 

[disord3r]

Correction to the above: It's Vista Business 32-bit. I thought I deleted the word Ultimate.

 

[Gavona]

I can't answer your question definitively but I do +something very similar myself. I have 1 Win7, 2 vista and one XP computer with shared files on (i) a USB drive and (ii) c:\shared both on one of the Vista computers. The same computer also hosts a shared USB printer.

With the Vista PC
What resolves things for me is to have identical usernames and passwords on both pcs.
If the Host PC password expires or they get out of sink then (a) I can't print but there is no message to tell me why (b) I get prompted for a password.

The XP computer gives fewer issues than the Vista one and does not have synchronised usernames and passwords.

I hope this helps.

Gavin

 

[linney]

I can't explain why Vista ended up sharing all your USER folders unless there was an error either by you, or by the operating system?

You could try this on the Vista machine.

How do I restore security settings to the default settings?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313222/#appliesto

Try running ChkDsk to check your drive for errors. Right-click your Drive icon/ Properties/ Tools/ Error Checking. Try it first by not checking either box (this will run it in a Read-only mode) to see if it flags any hard drive or file problems. (IN YOUR CASE ONLY see the next link before doing this next step as I suspect all might not be well with Vista) - If it does, restart it by ticking both boxes, and rerun it to allow it to attempt to fix any found problems.

Is ChkDsk still a worry when run in Vista?

http://social.answers.microsoft.com.../thread/73df6210-7818-45fc-b9e6-d266541b96ae/

Another thing to look at is the actual NTFS File Access Permissions, besides any Sharing Permission.

Error Message: "Access Is Denied" When You Try to Open NTFS File System Folders

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q823306#appliesto

See the paragraph "Accessing a Shared Folder or Printer with Windows Vista"

File and Printer Sharing in Windows Vista

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727037.aspx

Windows Vista: Networking

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/networking.mspx

 

[Gavona]

linney: Your links and advice, as so often, deserve a star! The Technet one in particular helps me to better understand what is going on in my case.
Good luck disord3r!



Gavin

 

[linney]

Thank you for your kind comments, they are more rewarding than any star.