Can't access USB hard drive on network

  • Thread starter Thread starter Alex McFarlane
  • Start date Start date
A

Alex McFarlane

Dear All,

I have a peer to peer network with a desktop computer running as a
"server" running windows XP pro.
To this is attached a USB hard drive. I have shared the whole drive for
everybody to use.
On a laptop running Win 7 I can "see" the drive attached to the computer
and can map it but I am not allowed to access any of the folders, I get
an error message saying I do not have permission.
What should I do, please?

AMcF
 
Alex said:
Dear All,

I have a peer to peer network with a desktop computer running as a
"server" running windows XP pro.
To this is attached a USB hard drive. I have shared the whole drive for
everybody to use.
On a laptop running Win 7 I can "see" the drive attached to the computer
and can map it but I am not allowed to access any of the folders, I get
an error message saying I do not have permission.
What should I do, please?

AMcF
Click to expand...


Make sure that the user account with which you're logging into the Win7
computer exists on the WinXP computer and has permissions to the share.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot
 
I've done this.
Both user accounts are called Alex, no passwords and the permissions on
the XP computer is set to everyone.

AMcF
 
Alex said:
I've done this.
Both user accounts are called Alex, no passwords and the
permissions on the XP computer is set to everyone.
Click to expand...

On Windows XP Servers, matching usernames and passwords only applies
to XP Pro machines which have Simple File Sharing disabled. If you
have Simple File Sharing enabled (or have XP Home), then all network
accesses to any shared file or folder are granted using the "Guest"
account. This means that (1) the "Guest" user must be active and (2)
the user "Guest" must have access to the shared files/folders/drives.

To verify the Guest user is active, bring up a command window
(Start->Run->"cmd") and enter the command:
net user guest
Then verify that the line
Account Active: Yes
is present. If not, use the command
net user guest /active:yes
to activate it.

To enable/disable Simple file sharing, double click on any folder,
then:
Tools->Folder Options -> View
The last item on the list will be Simple File Sharing.
You may solve your problem simply by disabling it.

HTH,
John
 
Back
Top