Cannot access some files in shared folder

[Richard]

My wife's computer and my computer are connected via our LAN router (and thence
to the Internet). Her computer is running XP Home and mine XP Professional. I
set up a shared folder on my computer so that she could store some files there
and free up some disk space.

She can transfer files through the LAN to the shared folder on my computer. She
also can read these files OK and copy them back to her computer.

I downloaded a couple of files from the Internet into this directory. The files
are .zip archives. I can read these files OK, but she can not access them
through the LAN. Any attempt to copy one of these files to her computer or to
open a .zip file by double-clicking results in the error message:

"Access to <file-path\file-name> is denied.

I created a small .txt file in this folder, and she was able to access the .txt
file. So her ability to access a file doesn't depend on who put it there.

On my computer, in Windows Explorer, when I select this folder and click on the
menu item Tools | Folder Options and select the View tab, the advanced setting
"Use simple file sharing" is checked. Shouldn't this setting let her access
anything in the shared folder.

What is wrong?

 

[Lem]

My wife's computer and my computer are connected via our LAN router (and thence
to the Internet). Her computer is running XP Home and mine XP Professional. I
set up a shared folder on my computer so that she could store some files there
and free up some disk space.

She can transfer files through the LAN to the shared folder on my computer. She
also can read these files OK and copy them back to her computer.

I downloaded a couple of files from the Internet into this directory. The files
are .zip archives. I can read these files OK, but she can not access them
through the LAN. Any attempt to copy one of these files to her computer or to
open a .zip file by double-clicking results in the error message:

"Access to <file-path\file-name> is denied.

I created a small .txt file in this folder, and she was able to access the .txt
file. So her ability to access a file doesn't depend on who put it there.

On my computer, in Windows Explorer, when I select this folder and click on the
menu item Tools | Folder Options and select the View tab, the advanced setting
"Use simple file sharing" is checked. Shouldn't this setting let her access
anything in the shared folder.

What is wrong?

What probably has happened is that when you downloaded the files, they
initially were stored in your browser's cache and then copied
(automatically) to the directory you specified. You never shared your
browser's cache (why would you?).

According to KB310316, "By default, an object inherits permissions from
its parent object, either at the time of creation or when it is copied
or moved to its parent folder. The only exception to this rule occurs
when you move an object to a different folder on the same volume. In
this case, the original permissions are retained."

Thus, even though the file appears to be in a directory for which your
wife's account has access permission, it has inherited the original
permissions (which did not include access for your wife's account) from
the temporary directory in which it was created.

First ensure that Simple File Sharing is turned off (if you don't know
how, see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307874/).

To check that this is in fact the problem, compare the permissions for a
file that is sharable with one that isn't.

Right-click on a file, select Properties, and then the Security tab. If
you compare the permissions for a file that does not have the problem
with one that does, you should see the difference (probably "Everyone"
does not have rights to the problem files). In the "Advanced" screen,
make sure that the box to "Inherit from parent the permission entries
that apply to child objects" is checked (this is the default).

Now, right-click the *folder* in which the shared files are stored and
go to the Security tab. Click the "Advanced" button. This time, there
should be a second box to "Replace permission entries on all child
objects with entries shown here that apply to child objects." Check this
and OK out (note that this operation can't be undone).

After you're done, you can turn Simple File Sharing back on, if that's
how you normally had things set up (it's the default in XP Pro).
--
Lem -- MS-MVP - Networking

To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm