2-PC file sharing only works in one direction

[John Blaustein]

Hi,

I have a small home network -- 3 PCs all running XP Home SP2 with all
Windows Updates applied.

I am trying to share files between two of the PCs -- P4 desktop and Dell
Latitude laptop.

If I use the desktop PC, I can copy files back and forth between the desktop
and laptop. However, if I use the laptop, I get an error message that says:
\\pcname\shareddocs is not accessible. You might not have permission to use
this network resource. Contact the administrator.... Access is denied.

I have checked every setting I can think of, and still can't get find a way
to use file sharing when initiated from the laptop.

Thanks for any help here.

John

 

[John Blaustein]

I've done further testing, this time with two laptops and one desktop on my
network, all running XP Home SP2.

All PCs are connected to a router (SonicWALL firewall/router) using CAT5
cable. All PCs have Windows Firewall disabled, and all are using AVG Free
Edition AntiVirus software.

The two Dell laptops can share files in both directions. Both laptops see
the desktop, but can't share files when initiated from either laptop. When
initiated from the desktop, files can be copied to/from either laptop.

This test suggests that there is some setting on the desktop that is
preventing the laptops to access the desktop, but I can't see what's
different in the setups that would case this.

John

 

[Chuck]

Hi,

I have a small home network -- 3 PCs all running XP Home SP2 with all
Windows Updates applied.

I am trying to share files between two of the PCs -- P4 desktop and Dell
Latitude laptop.

If I use the desktop PC, I can copy files back and forth between the desktop
and laptop. However, if I use the laptop, I get an error message that says:
\\pcname\shareddocs is not accessible. You might not have permission to use
this network resource. Contact the administrator.... Access is denied.

I have checked every setting I can think of, and still can't get find a way
to use file sharing when initiated from the laptop.

Thanks for any help here.

John

John,

This is a common problem, but can have several causes.

First, check your firewall.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/your-personal-firewall-can-either-help.html>

Next, check for a browser conflict.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/browstat-utility-from-microsoft.html>

Finally, check other possibilities.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html>

 

[John Blaustein]

Chuck,

Thanks for the links. I will check them out.

Since my last two posts, I have discovered something that looks significant.
If I share a folder on the desktop -- OTHER THAN Shared Documents -- then
both laptops can access that shared folder and copy files to/from that
folder. From this I conclude that there must be something wrong with my
Shared Documents folder on the desktop. But what?

Looking at Properties for the desktop Shared Documents folder, I see both
Share this folder... and Allow network users to change... are checked. As
far as I can see, all settings are the same on all three PCs.

I will keep digging.

John

 

[Chuck]

Chuck,

Thanks for the links. I will check them out.

Since my last two posts, I have discovered something that looks significant.
If I share a folder on the desktop -- OTHER THAN Shared Documents -- then
both laptops can access that shared folder and copy files to/from that
folder. From this I conclude that there must be something wrong with my
Shared Documents folder on the desktop. But what?

Looking at Properties for the desktop Shared Documents folder, I see both
Share this folder... and Allow network users to change... are checked. As
far as I can see, all settings are the same on all three PCs.

I will keep digging.

John

John,

DOHH. I should have seen that. Windows XP Home uses Simple File Sharing. Is
the Shared Documents folder part of My Documents? If so, it won't be accessible
on the network. If you can separately designate Shared Documents as shared to
everybody, or set it up outside the My Documents structure, then it should be
accessible, but the My Documents share is only accessible to the account owning
My Documents. And with Simple File Sharing, all network access is granted thru
the Guest account, which has no access to any of My Documents.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/04/windows-xp-file-sharing-not-so-simple.html>

 

[John Blaustein]

Chuck,

This is all very interesting (if not a bit confusing too).

The Shared Documents folder is in the same location on all three PCs. That
is, they are all listed under My Computer, not in C:, and not in My
Documents. To be sure we're talking about the same thing.... I click the My
Computer icon on my desktop, show Folders in the left pane and Details in
the right pane, expand My Computer. Under My Computer is floppy drive,
HDDs, DVD drive, Control Panel, Shared Documents, John Blaustein's
Documents. As you can see, Shared Documents is separate from My Documents
(John Blaustein's Documents) -- this is the case on all three machines, so
it's odd that laptop to laptop is working fine, but neither laptop to
desktop is working (although desktop to either laptop IS working).

To repeat from before... when I create a folder under C:\ and share it, both
laptops can access it. I am tempted to delete Shared Documents (on the
desktop) and then re-create it, but I'm not sure Windows will allow me to
delete it and I don't want to screw anything up by trying.

I should note that I do not have any passwords on any of the three machines.
Each machine has a different name, all belong to Workgroup called WORKGROUP.
(No domains as all have XP Home.) The Guest account on all three is turned
off. I am the only user and administrator on all three machines. (What
else is there that could be affecting this?)

When I look at Properties for Shared Documents, the Share Name is SharedDocs
on all three machines, and the two checkboxes are checked on all three.

As I read through the links you provided, I'm not finding anything that
isn't set correctly here. Your site, by the way, is excellent!

John

 

[Jetro]

Maybe this could help:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;304040
How to configure file sharing in Windows XP

*Shared Documents* directory with the share name *SharedDocs* belongs to All
Users profile, i.e. this is All Users' *My Documents*.

 

[Chuck]

Chuck,

This is all very interesting (if not a bit confusing too).

The Shared Documents folder is in the same location on all three PCs. That
is, they are all listed under My Computer, not in C:, and not in My
Documents. To be sure we're talking about the same thing.... I click the My
Computer icon on my desktop, show Folders in the left pane and Details in
the right pane, expand My Computer. Under My Computer is floppy drive,
HDDs, DVD drive, Control Panel, Shared Documents, John Blaustein's
Documents. As you can see, Shared Documents is separate from My Documents
(John Blaustein's Documents) -- this is the case on all three machines, so
it's odd that laptop to laptop is working fine, but neither laptop to
desktop is working (although desktop to either laptop IS working).

To repeat from before... when I create a folder under C:\ and share it, both
laptops can access it. I am tempted to delete Shared Documents (on the
desktop) and then re-create it, but I'm not sure Windows will allow me to
delete it and I don't want to screw anything up by trying.

I should note that I do not have any passwords on any of the three machines.
Each machine has a different name, all belong to Workgroup called WORKGROUP.
(No domains as all have XP Home.) The Guest account on all three is turned
off. I am the only user and administrator on all three machines. (What
else is there that could be affecting this?)

When I look at Properties for Shared Documents, the Share Name is SharedDocs
on all three machines, and the two checkboxes are checked on all three.

As I read through the links you provided, I'm not finding anything that
isn't set correctly here. Your site, by the way, is excellent!

John

John,

OK, Shared Documents is actually "C:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Documents". With XP Home and Simple File Sharing, you can only select to
Share the folder, and then, if shared, whether Network users can change files.

You share based upon the status of the Guest account. You may activate or
deactivate Guest for local access by the Control Panel applet, and for network
access, by (Control Panel) - Administrative Tools - Computer Management - Local
Users and Groups. Alternatively, you can activate Guest by "net user guest
/active:yes".

So you state that you can create a new shared folder, and it can be successfully
accessed, which makes it likely that Guest is, in fact, active. Please verify
that by typing "net user guest" in a command window.

Looking at Properties for Shared Documents (which might be shared as simply
"Documents"), you have only two choices (the two checkboxes?), as indicated
above.

There are cases where actual security settings (which you can't see under Simple
File Sharing) become changed. Try checking all 3 computers, using the second
half of this article.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/advanced-file-sharing-tweaks-in.html>

 

[John Blaustein]

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!

Chuck and Jetro...

Thanks very much for your help and all the links.

Here's what solved the problem: On the desktop machine, I went to
Properties>Sharing of Shared Documents and UNchecked the two checkboxes for
Share this folder... and Allow network users... Then, I rebooted. Then, I
went back to Properties and checked the two boxes again. Windows suggested
a Share name of "Documents," but I changed it back to SharedDocs (which is
what it was before and what the two laptops use). Again, rebooted. Problem
fixed!!! I can now access the desktop PC Shared Documents folder from
either laptop. All three machines now share with each other equally using
their Shared Documents folders.

Chuck... looking at Control Panel > User Accounts, Guest Account is OFF.

So, UN-sharing and then RE-sharing Shared Documents fixed the problem of the
laptops not being able to access the desktop PC Shared Documents folder. I
see lots of posts here stating similar issues. Perhaps others can benefit
from the help that Chuck and Jetro offered here. Thanks again guys!

John

 

[Chuck]

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!

Chuck and Jetro...

Thanks very much for your help and all the links.

Here's what solved the problem: On the desktop machine, I went to
Properties>Sharing of Shared Documents and UNchecked the two checkboxes for
Share this folder... and Allow network users... Then, I rebooted. Then, I
went back to Properties and checked the two boxes again. Windows suggested
a Share name of "Documents," but I changed it back to SharedDocs (which is
what it was before and what the two laptops use). Again, rebooted. Problem
fixed!!! I can now access the desktop PC Shared Documents folder from
either laptop. All three machines now share with each other equally using
their Shared Documents folders.

Chuck... looking at Control Panel > User Accounts, Guest Account is OFF.

So, UN-sharing and then RE-sharing Shared Documents fixed the problem of the
laptops not being able to access the desktop PC Shared Documents folder. I
see lots of posts here stating similar issues. Perhaps others can benefit
from the help that Chuck and Jetro offered here. Thanks again guys!

Thanks for the update, John!

 

[Guest]

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!

Chuck and Jetro...

Thanks very much for your help and all the links.

Here's what solved the problem: On the desktop machine, I went to
Properties>Sharing of Shared Documents and UNchecked the two checkboxes for
Share this folder... and Allow network users... Then, I rebooted. Then, I
went back to Properties and checked the two boxes again. Windows suggested
a Share name of "Documents," but I changed it back to SharedDocs (which is
what it was before and what the two laptops use). Again, rebooted. Problem
fixed!!! I can now access the desktop PC Shared Documents folder from
either laptop. All three machines now share with each other equally using
their Shared Documents folders.

Chuck... looking at Control Panel > User Accounts, Guest Account is OFF.

So, UN-sharing and then RE-sharing Shared Documents fixed the problem of the
laptops not being able to access the desktop PC Shared Documents folder. I
see lots of posts here stating similar issues. Perhaps others can benefit
from the help that Chuck and Jetro offered here. Thanks again guys!

John

 

[Jetro]

I had no doubt you can do it on your own.
!@#$ 'em!!!

 

[Guest]

I had the same problem with the SharedDocs Folder.
When I did what you did and re-checked both boxes, I could not "apply" my
changes.
So I checked the first (Share this...), renaned "SharedDocs" then "apply".
Closed the dialog.
I reopened, checked the second box (Allow Network...), then "apply" and it
worked!