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.
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http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/advanced-file-sharing-tweaks-in.html>
