Can't access a shared folder

[Guest]

I have setup up a peer-to-peer network between my desktop & laptop winXP PCs
using the Network Wizard. I can access the Internet from my laptop via my
desktop pc ok. So I then set up a shared folder on the Desktop PC to be
accessable over my network on the laptop. So on the laptop I add a Network
Place and select the shared folder on my Desktop PC. But when I try and open
the folder on the laptop it says "I have no access rights" to it. I have read
the MS help doc and enabled the Guest account in User Accounts but still not
working. Any ideas what else to try?

 

[Robert L [MS-MVP]]

do a simple test. What do you receive if using net view \\desktopname command? this link may help,

troubleshooting is not accessible error Troubleshooting "... is not accessible" error step by step. When try to access a remote computer, you may receive the following error messages: ...
www.howtonetworking.com/Troubleshooting/notaccessibale0.htm


Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on http://www.ChicagoTech.net
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on http://www.HowToNetworking.com
I have setup up a peer-to-peer network between my desktop & laptop winXP PCs
using the Network Wizard. I can access the Internet from my laptop via my
desktop pc ok. So I then set up a shared folder on the Desktop PC to be
accessable over my network on the laptop. So on the laptop I add a Network
Place and select the shared folder on my Desktop PC. But when I try and open
the folder on the laptop it says "I have no access rights" to it. I have read
the MS help doc and enabled the Guest account in User Accounts but still not
working. Any ideas what else to try?

 

[Guest]

ok read the article at
http://www.howtonetworking.com/Troubleshooting/notaccessibale0.htm , and
everything comes up ok when I use the DOS commmands mentioned, but one things
he says might be relevant; he states:

If it is workgroup network, have you created the same username and password
in remote computer?

So yes I am running a workgroup peer-to-peer network between my Desktop and
my son's Laptop. My son is singed in on user account Simon (with no password)
and on my Desktop PC I am signed in as Kevin (with a password) trying to
allow him to access the shared folder on his Simon (With a password) user
account on the Dekstop PC. Is this what is causing the access problem?

 

[Chuck]

ok read the article at
http://www.howtonetworking.com/Troubleshooting/notaccessibale0.htm , and
everything comes up ok when I use the DOS commmands mentioned, but one things
he says might be relevant; he states:

If it is workgroup network, have you created the same username and password
in remote computer?

So yes I am running a workgroup peer-to-peer network between my Desktop and
my son's Laptop. My son is singed in on user account Simon (with no password)
and on my Desktop PC I am signed in as Kevin (with a password) trying to
allow him to access the shared folder on his Simon (With a password) user
account on the Dekstop PC. Is this what is causing the access problem?

Are your computers running XP Home or Pro? If Pro, have you enabled Simple File
Sharing? If SFS is disabled, are you using a Guest account, or a non-Guesat
account for access? And is the account that you're using properly activated,
for network access?
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Help>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Help

 

[Guest]

Im using xp home on both PCs! So explain to me, does the 2nd pc have to be
logged in to the same user account as the 1st PC for peer-to-peer networking
to work?

 

[Chuck]

Im using xp home on both PCs! So explain to me, does the 2nd pc have to be
logged in to the same user account as the 1st PC for peer-to-peer networking
to work?

No, with XP Home you have to activate the Guest account for network access.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Help>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Help

And understand the limitations of Guest authentication.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Guest>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Guest

 

[Guest]

Getting real comfused now! Have enabled gust accounst on both pcs. But dont
get if I am loged on with my user account Kevin and my son on his laptop as
Simon are you saying we both have to be loged on with the same user account
name an password on both PCs? If so surly that is defeating the point of
sharing resources on a peer-to-peer network to have to be logedd into the
same user account?

 

[Chuck]

Getting real comfused now! Have enabled gust accounst on both pcs. But dont
get if I am loged on with my user account Kevin and my son on his laptop as
Simon are you saying we both have to be loged on with the same user account
name an password on both PCs? If so surly that is defeating the point of
sharing resources on a peer-to-peer network to have to be logedd into the
same user account?

No, with a computer running XP Home, you can access its shares from any other
computer. Any data shared is accessible to anybody, equally. It's like a big
party line.

With a few exceptions ("C:\Windows", "C:\Program Files", personal profile
branches, which can't be shared), you have two choices:
# Share this folder with everybody.
# Don't share this folder with anybody.

Just be sure to activate Guest properly on each computer!

 

[Guest]

All previous posts are now getting me very confused. So let's go back to
basics.

I pluged in my ethernet cabale for conecting two winXp Home PC's via
peer-to-peer.

Then I ran the "Network Setup Wizard" from Control Pannel and followed all
it's instructions on both PC's. And both pc's then showed a LAN network
running at 100mbs in the System tray. And the 2nd PC can access the internet
now via the first PC

Then whilst in my user account Kevin on first PC I make the folder "Simon's
documents" a shared folder for by clicking on the shared TAB of it's
properties and setting "Share this folder on the network" and "Allow network
users to share my account"

So when I then go to the 2nd pc (logged in as just Simon wiht no password
set) and add the shared folder to my Network Places, it does it successfuly
but when I try and open the folder it reports Access Denied.

So where in all of this have I missed a vital step? Why does the windows
wizard not configure all this properly?

 

[Chuck]

All previous posts are now getting me very confused. So let's go back to
basics.

I pluged in my ethernet cabale for conecting two winXp Home PC's via
peer-to-peer.

Then I ran the "Network Setup Wizard" from Control Pannel and followed all
it's instructions on both PC's. And both pc's then showed a LAN network
running at 100mbs in the System tray. And the 2nd PC can access the internet
now via the first PC

Then whilst in my user account Kevin on first PC I make the folder "Simon's
documents" a shared folder for by clicking on the shared TAB of it's
properties and setting "Share this folder on the network" and "Allow network
users to share my account"

So when I then go to the 2nd pc (logged in as just Simon wiht no password
set) and add the shared folder to my Network Places, it does it successfuly
but when I try and open the folder it reports Access Denied.

So where in all of this have I missed a vital step? Why does the windows
wizard not configure all this properly?

First, the Network Setup Wizard does only the following:
# Set the computer name, computer description, and workgroup name that you
specify.
# Install network components if they're not already present:
* Client for Microsoft Networks.
* File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks.
* TCP/IP.
# Share any printers connected to the computer.
# Create the "Shared Documents" folder, if it doesn't exist.
# Share the "Shared Documents" folder.
# Configure the local area network connection, to obtain an IP address
automatically.
The Network Setup Wizard has nothing to do with setting up shared folders, other
than the above - anything more you have to do yourself.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/using-network-setup-wizard-in-windows.html#NATClient>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/using-network-setup-wizard-in-windows.html#NATClient

Now, if you have Windows XP Home, all shared files and folders are accessible to
anybody logged on to any computer on the network. You have only to:
# Designate a file or folder as shared.
# Activate the Guest account for network use. This is NOT the same as
activating the Guest account for logon locally.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Activate>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Activate

Now, the Guest account is not named access - it's similar to anonymous access.
Guest is limited access - and has no administrative (full) access privileges.
Since Guest is limited, you will never be able to access shares that would
require administrative access, such as "C:\Program Files", "C:\Windows", or any
personal folder structure under "C:\Documents and Settings".
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Guest>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Guest

What is the complete path of this shared folder that you call "Simon's
documents"?

 

[Guest]

The folder I'm trying to share is

C:\Documents and Settings\Simon\My Documents

This all seems extraordinarly complex just to share one folder!

BTW I also have Norton INternet security running in Simons Laptop but have
allowed the ip range 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.100 could this be having an
effect?

 

[Chuck]

The folder I'm trying to share is

C:\Documents and Settings\Simon\My Documents

This all seems extraordinarly complex just to share one folder!

BTW I also have Norton INternet security running in Simons Laptop but have
allowed the ip range 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.100 could this be having an
effect?

The folder "C:\Documents and Settings\Simon\My Documents" is personal to the
account Simon. You would need either authentication as Simon, or as an
administrator. You can get neither thru network access, under Guest access,
Simple File Sharing, and XP Home.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Guest>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Guest

I believe there is an "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\My Documents", which
is available to everybody thru the network. But whatever Simon puts into
"C:\Documents and Settings\Simon\My Documents" will be accessible locally only.
That's one of the limitations of Simple File Sharing, and XP Home.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Simple>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Simple