File sharing on XP machine folders have same name?

[Tanya]

I have an XP machine running as a file server. I have turned off simple file
sharing and set up permissions for each member of my family.

The XP machine is used as a file store and an IIS web server, with Cold
fusion serving some basic pages.

One of the logical drives is a user drive, in which there are folders for
each member of the family, plus a couple shared folders.
Each user folder is set up so only they can access it, plus the server
administrator.

The problem is once set up, each of the folder names, as displayed in
explorer, are the same.

The folders are Corey, Peyton, Trent, Phillip, Tanya, share and media
centre. At present they all show as Corey (except share), when I'm viewing
them from the XP machine.

 

[David Webb]

You should ask questions like this on a network newsgroup. You'll also need to
supply much more info about your network including the OS of the other
computers. Also include the SP level of the XP system. If the other computers
are Vista based, there may be a need of some MS hotfixes for the XP system.

 

[Andrew McLaren]

I have an XP machine running as a file server. I have turned off simple
file
sharing and set up permissions for each member of my family.

Hi Tanya,

I'm inclined to agree with David Webb, there's not enough info here to
form a reliable diagnosis. However, a few preliminary stabs ...

First issue is, are the identical folder names artefacts of Explorer,
the shares defined on the server service, or the underlying NTFS file
system?

As you'll know, you cannot have two NTFS directories with the same name;
the filesystem prevents it. So when you say "I look at them now they are
all called Corey", how are you "looking" at them?? At a command prompt?
Via Explorer on the local (XP) machine? Or from Explorer on a remote
machine?

As a first step, I'd open a command prompt on the local XP box and do a
DIR on the "logical drive" to make sure all the NTFS folders still have
their original unique names (viz: Corey, Peyton, Trent, Phillip, Tanya,
Share and Media Centre). If they do not, then the file system is
seriously scrambled. But if the directory names are still all unique,
then you know that the problem is NOT in the file system; it must be
somewhere else: either in the way Explorer is displaying the folder
names (influenced by the Desktop.ini file in each directory), or by the
names of the Shares which are created by the Server services, sharing
out the folders across the network (influenced by the share definitions).

Regards

Andrew

 

[Tanya]

Thanks guys.

Thanks for the tip regarding desktop.ini. This is the contents of the
desktop.ini files. They are the same in each folder..

[.ShellClassInfo]
LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21770
IconResource=%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-112
IconFile=%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll
IconIndex=-235

Interestingly, the two folders that are shown correctly do not have a
desktop.ini file in them.

I renamed the desktop.ini from one of the folders and the folder name now
shows correctly. I logged into that machine and it did not create a new
desktop.ini in the folder. I've subsequently renamed the ini files in each
folder and explorer now shows the folder names correctly.

The problem was only ever on the XP system, looking at the folders locally.
I posted this message a week ago, and mentioned that the clients were vista.
Even though I stated I was only having a problem from the XP machine, and
looking at the folders via explorer the only response I got was "Go post in
the correct group".

thanks for your help.

Tanya

 

[Andrew McLaren]

Thanks for the tip regarding desktop.ini. This is the contents of the

desktop.ini files. They are the same in each folder..

[.ShellClassInfo]
LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21770
IconResource=%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-112
IconFile=%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll
IconIndex=-235

That's the usual desktop.ini file for a Vista "Documents" directory. So,
I guess that somehow, the Vista desktop.ini files are getting copied
across to the shares on the XP machine. I don't recognise it as a
"well-known" issue, but it might be some variation of this problem:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947222
which is, unfortunately, "by design".

The desktop.ini file is normally a hidden, read-only file which is used
by Explorer to configure how the folder is displayed: with a special
icon, name etc. Most graphical shells have to display their metadata
somewhere. On XP, it could have been stored in NTFS Alternative Data
Streams, but the Explorer shell also had to support FAT file system for
legacy purposes, and FAT has no alternative data streams. Hence they
stuck with the sub-optimal desktop.ini instead.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Tanya]

Andrew,

I think that link describes my problem quite accurately.

This is exactly what I did. Each Vista client machine has it's document
folder redirected to the network share, for the usual reasons.

The boys have used their machines several times today and everything is
still ok.

thanks for all your help.

tanya

Thanks for the tip regarding desktop.ini. This is the contents of the
desktop.ini files. They are the same in each folder..

[.ShellClassInfo]
LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21770
IconResource=%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-112
IconFile=%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll
IconIndex=-235

That's the usual desktop.ini file for a Vista "Documents" directory. So, I
guess that somehow, the Vista desktop.ini files are getting copied across
to the shares on the XP machine. I don't recognise it as a "well-known"
issue, but it might be some variation of this problem:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947222
which is, unfortunately, "by design".

The desktop.ini file is normally a hidden, read-only file which is used by
Explorer to configure how the folder is displayed: with a special icon,
name etc. Most graphical shells have to display their metadata somewhere.
On XP, it could have been stored in NTFS Alternative Data Streams, but the
Explorer shell also had to support FAT file system for legacy purposes,
and FAT has no alternative data streams. Hence they stuck with the
sub-optimal desktop.ini instead.

Cheers
Andrew