Vista Not Playing Nice - Sharing Files

[Powlaz]

Here's the problem:

Vista Ultimate (non SP1) on desktop PC approved to run Vista.
Vista Business (non SP1) on laptop approved to run Vista.

When desktop had XP and the laptop had Vista I had no trouble sharing
files/folders.
Right after Vista was installed on the desktop (before a random reboot) I
could share files/folders between both Vista PCs.

Now I can't share files/folders. I have enabled file and printer sharing
on the desktop. I have added a user to the desktop with the same "name" as
the user on the laptop. Both computers are part of the same Workgroup.

I have set up several shares: Music, Video, Storage (docs & programs, etc.)
and can't access them from the laptop through the network share, so I also
can't map the drives. If memory serves me I also allowed 'Everyone' share
permission also. And UAC is disabled on both machines. The The UPNP music
and video files share fine.

One more thing, I am fully updated up to SP1. Unless SP1 is known to
resolve this issue (I've read about this before but can't seem to fix my
problem with it) I won't be installing it.

So what am I missing? This is driving me crazy.

Thanks for the help.

Po

 

[Robert L. \(MS-MVP\)]

Do a simple test. Can you ping each other by IP?

--
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

 

[Powlaz]

Sure.
I saw last night that I can access the laptop shared folders from the
desktop and I've done LESS configuring there. Tell me what am I missing?
Thanks for the reply.

Matt

 

[Powlaz]

More info:

On the desktop I can click Network>Laptop and access the laptop's Public
folder and Printers. This is what I'm having difficulty accomplishing from
the laptop (accessing Network>Desktop). I get this error:

"\\VISTADESKTOP is not accessible. You might not have permission to use
this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out
if you have access permissions. Access is denied."

Also forgot to mention that Password Protected Sharing is off on both PCs.

Matt

 

[Robert L. \(MS-MVP\)]

Make sure you have assigned permission on Security tab. This search result
may help.
Vista Permission Issues
Can't access Vista because of password protection Can't access Vista C
because of no permission in Security · Can't Reading\Writing to External
Hard Drive ...
www.chicagotech.net/vista/vistapermission.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

 

[Powlaz]

I assigned "Everyone" full permission to my C and D drive on the Security
tab. Still getting the same error. Any other ideas?

Po

 

[Gordon]

I assigned "Everyone" full permission to my C and D drive on the Security
tab. Still getting the same error. Any other ideas?

Are you saying that you are trying to share the ROOT of each drive?

 

[Powlaz]

I am saying that. Initially I didn't - i was just sharing the directories
that I wanted to share but I thought the previous poster suggested that I
needed to set the proper permissions on the root so I did. Perhaps I can use
a Network Setup Wizard in Vista. Is there one like there was in XP. I'm not
too proud to use it at this juncture.

Thanks,

Po

 

[Powlaz]

I have more information to offer - I hope this helps some way:

The Public directories aren't even accessible from the laptop.
The directories I am actually trying to share are partitions that I set up:
M: Music
P: Photos
V: Videos
They have full share permissions set for 'Everyone' and full permissions
given to 'Everyone' on the security tab.
The Computer Browser service is running on both the desktop and the laptop.
Running 'net view' from the laptop brings up both computers on my network
Running net use * \\vistadesktop\public assigns the Public folder to drive
Z: on the laptop, but drive Z: is not accessible through Windows.

I don't see errors in my Event logs
The Windows Firewall service is stopped and disabled
On the "Show Me All the Files and Folders I am Sharing" link in the Network
and Sharing Center nothing shows
I run no Internet Security Suite

Seems like everything I've read points to this kind of problem between XP
and Vista. Vista to Vista shouldn't be an issue. Is Vista Business missing
something that would allow it to view shared directories on Vista Ultimate?

Thanks for the answers thus far. Please hang in there with me.

Po

 

[Powlaz]

Made more progress:

Turned Password Protected Sharing on on the desktop. Had to go looking for
my user name though. The login name (let's call it) Roger & Mary-Ellen is
not the name that Windows is looking to authenticate. For some reason the
user profile name is Roger & Mary and this is what Windows wants from me.
When I use the profile name I can connect successfully to my desktop from my
laptop. Any idea why?

So here's the $1,000,000 question. What is going wrong when I turn off
Password Protected Sharing that I can not access the desktop at all? Is
there a registry setting that I can adjust. Anything that needs to be
cleaned out, cleared, flushed, restarted?

Same idea, different angle: How do I get Windows to store my credentials on
the laptop so that I don't have to log in to the desktop after a reboot?

Thanks for keeping up with me.

Po