Cranky folders on external hard drive

[S K]

I believe this problem is related to Windows (or my fingers), not to
anything inherent in the external HD mentioned below. Hopefully, this
is the correct group for this question:

I have two computers running Windows XP Pro w/SP3, and a Seagate
external HD which normally resides on the desktop machine. Beginning a
month ago, I needed to work remotely, so I'd copy a couple of data
folders from desktop to the external HD, and then plug that into the
laptop to transfer the files. This worked for 3 weeks.* But this past
weekend, I used the laptop to create a new folder on the external HD,
added some files, and when I moved the external HD to the desktop to
grab the files, I was greeted with a msg saying "E:\foldername is not
accessible. Access is denied.".

I was curious, so I did the reverse: Working on the desktop, created a
new folder on the external HD, added a few files, and then plugged the
external HD into the laptop. Same problem.

Any clues would be appreciated. I *think* I found one at the Microsoft
web site, but I'm not sure. It suggests that I turn OFF simple file
sharing on the desktop and take ownership of the stubborn folder.
There are two reasons I haven't tried this yet: First, downtime on the
desktop is not an option - it's used for work, and I don't know the
other ramifications of disabling simple file sharing. Second, simple
file sharing is already OFF at the laptop, and it's having the same
problem with folders created by the desktop. So, why would it help on
the desktop?

Help!

* The laptop was nowhere near the desktop machine, or I would've
networked the two rather than use the external HD as the intermediary.
They've since been networked (through my Linksys router), but that
won't always be the case, so I need to solve this problem.

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

I believe this problem is related to Windows (or my fingers), not to
anything inherent in the external HD mentioned below. Hopefully, this
is the correct group for this question:

I have two computers running Windows XP Pro w/SP3, and a Seagate
external HD which normally resides on the desktop machine. Beginning a
month ago, I needed to work remotely, so I'd copy a couple of data
folders from desktop to the external HD, and then plug that into the
laptop to transfer the files. This worked for 3 weeks.* But this past
weekend, I used the laptop to create a new folder on the external HD,
added some files, and when I moved the external HD to the desktop to
grab the files, I was greeted with a msg saying "E:\foldername is not
accessible. Access is denied.".

I was curious, so I did the reverse: Working on the desktop, created a
new folder on the external HD, added a few files, and then plugged the
external HD into the laptop. Same problem.

Any clues would be appreciated. I *think* I found one at the Microsoft
web site, but I'm not sure. It suggests that I turn OFF simple file
sharing on the desktop and take ownership of the stubborn folder.
There are two reasons I haven't tried this yet: First, downtime on the
desktop is not an option - it's used for work, and I don't know the
other ramifications of disabling simple file sharing. Second, simple
file sharing is already OFF at the laptop, and it's having the same
problem with folders created by the desktop. So, why would it help on
the desktop?

Help!

* The laptop was nowhere near the desktop machine, or I would've
networked the two rather than use the external HD as the intermediary.
They've since been networked (through my Linksys router), but that
won't always be the case, so I need to solve this problem.

Make sure to log on under the same account name/password on the two
machines.

 

[John Wunderlich]

m:

I believe this problem is related to Windows (or my fingers), not
to anything inherent in the external HD mentioned below.
Hopefully, this is the correct group for this question:

I have two computers running Windows XP Pro w/SP3, and a Seagate
external HD which normally resides on the desktop machine.
Beginning a month ago, I needed to work remotely, so I'd copy a
couple of data folders from desktop to the external HD, and then
plug that into the laptop to transfer the files. This worked for 3
weeks.* But this past weekend, I used the laptop to create a new
folder on the external HD, added some files, and when I moved the
external HD to the desktop to grab the files, I was greeted with a
msg saying "E:\foldername is not accessible. Access is denied.".

I was curious, so I did the reverse: Working on the desktop,
created a new folder on the external HD, added a few files, and
then plugged the external HD into the laptop. Same problem.

Any clues would be appreciated. I *think* I found one at the
Microsoft web site, but I'm not sure. It suggests that I turn OFF
simple file sharing on the desktop and take ownership of the
stubborn folder. There are two reasons I haven't tried this yet:
First, downtime on the desktop is not an option - it's used for
work, and I don't know the other ramifications of disabling simple
file sharing. Second, simple file sharing is already OFF at the
laptop, and it's having the same problem with folders created by
the desktop. So, why would it help on the desktop?

Help!

* The laptop was nowhere near the desktop machine, or I would've
networked the two rather than use the external HD as the
intermediary. They've since been networked (through my Linksys
router), but that won't always be the case, so I need to solve
this problem.

Presumably, this is an external disk that is formatted NTFS. Assuming
this is the case, try this:
After you create one of these folders, Right-click on it, then:
Properties -> Security (Tab)
Then click on the "Add" button and in the box, enter the user
"Everyone" then click "OK". You are then back to the properties window
with "Everyone" selected in the upper window. In the lower window,
click "Full Control - Allow" box. Click on "Advanced" and verify that
"Inherit from Parent..." is checked, then OK your way out of
everything.

HTH,
John