file sharing only works for some files, not all

M

Matt

I have an odd situation...

I've got four computers all linked together using two separate routers
- a Linksys BEFSR41 wired router, and a Linksys WRT54G wireless router.
Two of the computers are wired to the BEFSR41, one is wired to the
WRT54G, the other is on a wireless connection from the WRT54G.

The two routers are uplinked together using a crossover cable, and all
the computers are on the same subnet - the wired router is 192.168.1.1,
and is acting as the gateway and DHCP server. The wireless router is
192.168.1.2.

The problem is that I'm having issues with Windows file sharing...very
odd issues. I can see all files on all shares, that's not a problem.
The issue is that I can only copy certain files across the network, not
all files. For example: I have a share on the computer that is wired
to the WRT54G that has several MP3 files and several text and Word
documents. I can copy any of the documents across the network without
any issues...I can copy NONE of the MP3s across the network. I always
get an access denied message when attempting to do so.

To further confuse me here, I CAN copy the MP3s across the network if
they are in a subfolder of that main share...and I CAN copy all files
if I'm on the wireless computer. This led me to believe that maybe it
was an issue between the two routers, but that wouldn't explain why I
can copy some files, and also why I can access the MP3s from
subfolders.

Can someone please help me? I'm extremely confused by this...
 
P

Pegasus \(MVP\)

Matt said:
I have an odd situation...

I've got four computers all linked together using two separate routers
- a Linksys BEFSR41 wired router, and a Linksys WRT54G wireless router.
Two of the computers are wired to the BEFSR41, one is wired to the
WRT54G, the other is on a wireless connection from the WRT54G.

The two routers are uplinked together using a crossover cable, and all
the computers are on the same subnet - the wired router is 192.168.1.1,
and is acting as the gateway and DHCP server. The wireless router is
192.168.1.2.

The problem is that I'm having issues with Windows file sharing...very
odd issues. I can see all files on all shares, that's not a problem.
The issue is that I can only copy certain files across the network, not
all files. For example: I have a share on the computer that is wired
to the WRT54G that has several MP3 files and several text and Word
documents. I can copy any of the documents across the network without
any issues...I can copy NONE of the MP3s across the network. I always
get an access denied message when attempting to do so.

To further confuse me here, I CAN copy the MP3s across the network if
they are in a subfolder of that main share...and I CAN copy all files
if I'm on the wireless computer. This led me to believe that maybe it
was an issue between the two routers, but that wouldn't explain why I
can copy some files, and also why I can access the MP3s from
subfolders.

Can someone please help me? I'm extremely confused by this...

When you get an "access denied" message then you are always
dealing with a permission issue, never with a transport or
networking issue. Check your NTFS permissions, check your
share permissions!
 
M

Matt

I have checked multiple times, I don't have any special permissions
set...unless I'm checking the wrong thing. Where exactly should I be
looking?
 
M

Matt

Also, why would I be able to access some of the files in the share but
not all of them? And why would I be able to access them from
subfolders but not the main folder? It just doesn't make any sense...
 
P

Pegasus \(MVP\)

Get yourself into a situation where you ***cannot*** copy
a given file, then do this:
- Click Start / Run / cmd {OK}
- Type these commands:
net user "%UserName% > c:\test.txt
cd /d "X:\Some Folder\Some Subfolder" {Enter}
(type the actual drive and folder names!)
cacls "Some file name" >> c:\test.txt {Enter}
(type the name of the problem file)
notepad c:\test.txt {Enter}
- Paste the text into your reply.
- Using "My Computer", navigate to the place where you
have created the share.
- Click "Sharing", then click the "Permissions" button. What do you see?
 
M

Malke

Matt said:
Also, why would I be able to access some of the files in the share but
not all of them? And why would I be able to access them from
subfolders but not the main folder? It just doesn't make any sense...

I read through your first post and I don't see where you said what versions
of XP you are running (or other operating systems, if not XP). See if any
of the information below applies to you, particularly the last paragraph:

If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center:

a. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab) and create identical user
accounts/passwords on all computers.

b. If you don't care about using Pro's advanced features, leave the Simple
File Sharing enabled.

Simple File Sharing means that Guest (network) is enabled. This means that
anyone without a user account on the target system can use its resources.
This is a security hole but only you can decide if it matters in your
situation.

Then create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users'
home directories (My Documents) or Program Files, but you can share folders
inside those directories. A better choice is to simply use the Shared
Documents folder.

Malke
 
M

Matt

I do not see a permissions button...but here is the text from the
previous steps:

User name Matt
Full Name
Comment
User's comment
Country code 000 (System Default)
Account active Yes
Account expires Never

Password last set 12/22/2006 11:15 AM
Password expires Never
Password changeable 12/22/2006 11:15 AM
Password required Yes
User may change password Yes

Workstations allowed All
Logon script
User profile
Home directory
Last logon 12/31/2006 7:19 PM

Logon hours allowed All

Local Group Memberships *Administrators *Debugger Users

Global Group memberships *None
The command completed successfully.

Z:\2 Unlimited - Twilight Zone (Rave Mix).mp3 Everyone:R
<Account Domain not
found>F
NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:F
BUILTIN\Administrators:F


As for the other question as to what versions of XP I'm running, the
computer I'm having issues with as well as the wireless computer (which
interestingly enough works fine) are both running MCE, the other two
computers are running XP Pro.
 
P

Pegasus \(MVP\)

Your report tells me that you belong to the local
"Administrators" group and that this group has
full access to "Z:\2 Unlimited - Twilight Zone (Rave Mix).mp3".

If you now open another Command Prompt and type this
command:
copy "Z:\2 Unlimited - Twilight Zone (Rave Mix).mp3" c:\

then the command should work (according to these permissions)
but it should fail (according to your initial post). Which is it, and
what message do you see?
 
M

Matt

OK, apparently I have access to that one...I just tried another MP3
(using the steps from your prior post) and ended up with an "access is
denied" message when trying to do the cacls command...
 
P

Pegasus \(MVP\)

This is caused by insufficient access rights, not by
sharing problems. Log on as administrator in Safe
Mode, then grab ownership of this file. Click Start / Help,
then search for "Permissions" or "Ownership" if unsure
how to do this.
 
M

Matt

It should be noted (and I apologize for not mentioning this earlier)
that I am on a workgroup, not a domain. The help system seems to
indicate that permissions are used with domains...which is why I can't
find any of the things it's telling me to look for.
 
P

Pegasus \(MVP\)

If you use Windows XP home then AFAIK, you must launch
it in Safe Mode, log on as Administrator, then set the file or
folder permissions.
 
M

Matt

Is there a way to enable permissions? Help and Support says to right
click the file, click properties, and then go to the security tab to
see permissions. I do not have a security tab...
 
R

R. McCarty

Disable/uncheck "Use Simple File Sharing" from Folder Options,
View (TAB) - last option box in listing.
 
M

Matt

As a reference point - in the main share, there are 103 MP3 files. I
can access 8 of them from my other machine that's having the issue...
 
M

Matt

Found the issue now that I can see the security tab - the files that
were accessible had the "Everyone" group included in the
permissions...the ones that I couldn't access didn't. Now that I've
reset the files to all give that group permission, everything works.

What would cause this (that group being removed from certain files but
not all)?
 
R

R. McCarty

Do all machines share a common login/profile w/ password ?

To be able to see only a portion of a shared folder, would seem
to indicate problems with ACL ( Access Control Listing ) on the
files that aren't visible. Have you brought up properties on one of
the invisible files and checked both it's ownership & ACL rights
and compared to one that is visible ?
 
M

Matt

Yeah...see my post right above yours. The problem was that "Everyone"
was removed from the files that were inaccessible. Once I added this
to all files, everything works fine.

What confuses me is why this would be removed from certain files but
not all...especially considering it worked before.
 

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