File Sharing

[Jonathan Eisenberg]

I have reviewed the Tech Note

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727037.aspx#

and the following information in it is wrong or at least is not true on my
Vista Home Premium PC:

Sharing a Folder or Printer in Windows Vista
To share a folder in Windows Vista, do the following:
1. Ensure that file sharing is enabled as described in the "Enabling
File and Printer Sharing Options" section of this article.
2. Click Start, and then click Computer.
3. In the Computer window, navigate to the folder containing the
folder that you want to share.
4. Right-click the folder that you want to share, and then click
Share. The File Sharing window is displayed.

This does NOT happen. I do have file sharing enabled and password protected
sharing off. When I right click on a folder whether C: or C:\Program Files
or others, this does NOT open a File Sharing window. Instead, it opens an
"XX Properties" window, where XX=name of folder (e.g., "Users Properties",
"Program Files Properties"). At the top of this box there is a section
entitled "Network File and Folder Sharing". Within this section is a button
labeled "Sharing" and in each case the button is GRAYED OUT. I'm sure this
means that sharing is not on in some way, so please help me understand why
this is happening and how to enable that. Also, how do I get to the File
Sharing Window. (Also within the above-referenced window is another button
called "Advanced Sharing" which can be opened to add users but I have done
this including Everyone but it does not work to enable access.) Thank you.

 

[Jonathan Eisenberg]

BTW there is another section of this tech note that refers to the button
being grayed out and discusses administrative shares -- I have gone through
and done all this and the C drive is shared as C not C$. It shows as shared
(even right above the grayed out "Share" button), but it is not.

Administrative Shares and Sharing the Root of a Drive

Windows XP by default created administrative shares for the root folders of
the fixed drives of the computer. For example, for the root of the C: drive
on the computer named BobPC, Windows XP automatically shared \\bobpc\c$. The
"$" at the end of the share name means that the share name will not appear
in the list of shares. For computers running Windows Vista that are members
of a workgroup, these administrative shares exist but are blocked for
network access for security reasons. You can create your own shares to share
your drives from the root of the drive, but Microsoft highly recommends that
you share only the folders that you need to, rather than the entire drive.

To share the root of a drive, do the following:
1. Right-click the drive in the Computer window, and then click
Share. Windows Vista displays the properties for the drive with the Sharing
tab selected.
The Share button and the File Sharing dialog box are not available.
2. Click Advanced Sharing.
3. In the Advanced Sharing dialog box, click Share this folder and
specify the share name, permissions, and other settings as needed.
4. Click OK, and then click Close.
Because the "driveletter$" shares already exist, you cannot share the root
of a drive with the name "driveletter$". However, you can share it with
another name, such as "driveletter". For example, you cannot share the root
of your C: drive as "C$", but you can share it as "C".

 

[Robert L. \(MS-MVP\)]

It could be a 3rd party software issue. For troubleshooting, start the
Vista with clean boot. Please post back with the result.

How to setup windows network, internet sharing, remote access and VPNHow to
run Windows OS with a clean boot. when you cannot determine the cause of the
issue, you may run Windows clean boot. ...
www.howtonetworking.com


--
Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on
http://www.ChicagoTech.net
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on
http://www.HowToNetworking.com