File sharing problem with simple Windows XP Home Network

[Guest]

I hope someone can help me. I'm usually able to sort things out for myself,
but I'm completely stumped on this one.

I have two PCs. A desktop and a notebook. Each is running Windows XP Home,
SP2. I've had the desktop for a while, but bought the notebook last week. I
set up wireless networking, using a Linksys router. The desktop is hardwired,
and the notebook is wireless.

I'm having no problems with the internet. Everything is fine on that front.

I am, however, having problems with file sharing. There are three profiles
on the desktop - one for me and one for each of my two children. I set up
corresponding profiles on the notebook. I enabled a share for my "My
Documents" folder, together with some media folders, and I'm able to access
those folders and documents without problem from the notebook. Then I created
shares for each of the girls' "My Documents" folders. My thought was to map
these shares to the notebook and make certain that they didn't end up with
documents split between the two computers. Well, the shares show up fine
under "My Network Places" on the notebook, but when I try to view the
contents, I get the dreaded "no permissions" message.

I'm sure that there is a lot that I'm not telling that you might need to
know. I'm sure that the Guest accounts are enabled on both computers. At this
point, I have disabled both the Windows Firewall on both machines and the
Norton firewall on the desktop. I am, however, still running Norton Parental
Controls for the girls on the desktop, but I really don't think that this is
the problem.

Any suggestions? I appreciate any help that anyone can give me. I'll be out
of town for a couple of days, but I'll check back Friday evening.

Thanks.

 

[Hans-Georg Michna]

I have two PCs. A desktop and a notebook. Each is running Windows XP Home,
SP2. I've had the desktop for a while, but bought the notebook last week. I
set up wireless networking, using a Linksys router. The desktop is hardwired,
and the notebook is wireless.

I'm having no problems with the internet. Everything is fine on that front.

I am, however, having problems with file sharing. There are three profiles
on the desktop - one for me and one for each of my two children. I set up
corresponding profiles on the notebook. I enabled a share for my "My
Documents" folder, together with some media folders, and I'm able to access
those folders and documents without problem from the notebook. Then I created
shares for each of the girls' "My Documents" folders. My thought was to map
these shares to the notebook and make certain that they didn't end up with
documents split between the two computers. Well, the shares show up fine
under "My Network Places" on the notebook, but when I try to view the
contents, I get the dreaded "no permissions" message.

That's exactly how it should be. Of course Windows protects the
privacy of the My Documents folders for each user.

Shared documents should go into the Shared Documents folder.

Perhaps you can live with this. At some time even the kids have
to have their privacy. -)

Hans-Georg

 

[Guest]

I am having the EXACT same problem with the exact same set up.

I have tried everything from making sure the computer names on the workgroup
are different to turning off all firewalls etc.

I am out of options. I keep getting the message:

"You may not have permission to log on..."

Where can I set these permissions?

 

[Hans-Georg Michna]

I am having the EXACT same problem with the exact same set up.

I have tried everything from making sure the computer names on the workgroup
are different to turning off all firewalls etc.

I am out of options. I keep getting the message:

"You may not have permission to log on..."

Where can I set these permissions?

Check http://www.michna.com/kb/wxnet.htm.

Hans-Georg

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the info. I thought that this was the case. But why, then, am I
able to access MY "My Documents" folder from the notebook, whether I'm signed
in as myself or as one of the kids? This seems to run counter to the
underlying premise that anything under "Documents and Settings" cannot be
shared. Because I am sure as heck doing it.

Thanks for any help that you can give me.

 

[Hans-Georg Michna]

Thanks for the info. I thought that this was the case. But why, then, am I
able to access MY "My Documents" folder from the notebook, whether I'm signed
in as myself or as one of the kids? This seems to run counter to the
underlying premise that anything under "Documents and Settings" cannot be
shared. Because I am sure as heck doing it.

Sorry for my late reply, was unavailable over the weekend.

The reason why you can share and access your own My Documents
folder over the network is because you use the proper username
and password needed for authentication. I suppose these are the
same on both computers.

If you created an account on the laptop for one of your
daughters, and she used the same username and password, she
would also be able to access her My Documents folder over the
network.

Hans-Georg

 

[JasonWBurdick]

I had the exact same problem. As far as I know, the answer is not
written down anywhere but I was able to discover it through trial and
error. I'm guessing that your setup is similar to mine, where your
account is a computer administrator and your children's are limited.
I'm further assuming that you are doing the entire file sharing setup
from your account, as I was. The trick is that only an individual user
can offer their files for sharing on the network. Even an administrator
can't share folders on behalf of a limited user. (This is not the total
control that I thought XP Home administrator accounts had, but I can see
the rationale.) Here is the solution that worked for me. First,
un-share all of the folders that you had shared. Then, log out of your
account and log in to one of your children's accounts. From within your
child's account, share their folder. Do this for each account on your
machine. If I remember correctly, you need to be an administrator to
share a folder. From my account, I changed my children's user accounts
to administrators, then followed the above procedure, then went back to
my account and changed the kids back to limited. Changing the account
type did not revoke the share.

I don't believe the previous post is correct. It would only be true if
you were running a domain. There is no authentication in a workgroup
setting. It won't matter who logs in or with what password. Once the
proper user shares their folder on the local machine, anyone on your
home network can access it. You were able to access your share because
YOU shared it while logged in on your local machine. No one was able to
access your daughters' shares because you shared them on their behalf.
It would be a lot more intuitive if Windows would prevent you from
sharing them in the first place, rather than making everything look
like it works until you attempt access.