folder or file access

  • Thread starter Thread starter vernon
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vernon

I have a computer with Xp home connected to another with Xp Pro.
The one with Xp home can see everything on the Xp pro one.
The Xp pro one can see the Home one but not get into any folders.
The message states that permission is not granted from the "Home"
The only thing I have found on the Home unit is that even though I click to
turn off the firewall, it will not turn off (deactivate). Yes, I have admin
level. It also will not let me modify (add to) the authorized list. (maybe
I don't know how)
Yes sharing is set (allowed) on folders on the Home unit.

Ideas?
I've done dozens of these before, but this is a first. My suspicion is that
the "Home" OS is hosed.
 
You're probably right. XP Pro and Home machines should be able to talk to
each other right out of the network setup wizard. I had a very similar issue
 
vernon said:
I have a computer with Xp home connected to another with Xp Pro.
The one with Xp home can see everything on the Xp pro one.
The Xp pro one can see the Home one but not get into any folders.
The message states that permission is not granted from the "Home"
The only thing I have found on the Home unit is that even though I
click to
turn off the firewall, it will not turn off (deactivate). Yes, I have
admin
level. It also will not let me modify (add to) the authorized list.
(maybe I don't know how)
Yes sharing is set (allowed) on folders on the Home unit.

Ideas?
I've done dozens of these before, but this is a first. My suspicion
is that the "Home" OS is hosed.
Click to expand...

XP Home can only authenticate as Guest. XP Pro can too (stupid idea,
really) by enabling Simple Sharing (Folder Options>View tab). Either
enable Simple Sharing on the Pro machine (you can't change Home's
setting); OR if you need the ability to set fine-grained permissions
and privileges on the XP Pro box disable Simple Sharing and create
identical user accounts on both machines.

As far as the firewall, if you are running a third-party firewall or
have an antivirus with "Internet Worm Protection" (like Norton 2005/06)
which acts as a firewall, then the Windows Firewall will be off. If you
don't have anything like this, all you have to configure in the Windows
Firewall is to allow File & Printer Sharing on the Exceptions tab (both
machines, naturally). If you have third-party firewall software,
configure it to allow the Local Area Network traffic as trusted. I
usually do this with my firewalls with an IP range. Ex. would be
192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you would substitute your correct
subnet.

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.

If that doesn't work for you, here is an excellent network
troubleshooter by MVP Hans-Georg Michna. Take the time to go through it
and it will usually pinpoint the problem area(s) -
http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm

Malke
 
Malke said:
XP Home can only authenticate as Guest.
???????




XP Pro can too (stupid idea,
really) by enabling Simple Sharing (Folder Options>View tab). Either
enable Simple Sharing on the Pro machine (you can't change Home's
setting); OR if you need the ability to set fine-grained permissions
and privileges on the XP Pro box disable Simple Sharing and create
identical user accounts on both machines.

As far as the firewall, if you are running a third-party firewall or
have an antivirus with "Internet Worm Protection" (like Norton 2005/06)
which acts as a firewall, then the Windows Firewall will be off. If you
don't have anything like this, all you have to configure in the Windows
Firewall is to allow File & Printer Sharing on the Exceptions tab (both
machines, naturally). If you have third-party firewall software,
configure it to allow the Local Area Network traffic as trusted. I
usually do this with my firewalls with an IP range. Ex. would be
192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you would substitute your correct
subnet.

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.

If that doesn't work for you, here is an excellent network
troubleshooter by MVP Hans-Georg Michna. Take the time to go through it
and it will usually pinpoint the problem area(s) -
http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
Click to expand...
 
Malke said:
What part of this don't you understand?
Click to expand...

Authenticate as guest.
Are you saying that the guest account on the computer with Xp home must be
activated?
This even though certain folders and printers have been set for sharing?
 
vernon said:
Authenticate as guest.
Are you saying that the guest account on the computer with Xp home
must be activated?
This even though certain folders and printers have been set for
sharing?
Click to expand...

No. The Guest account you see in the User Accounts applet is different
than the guest account for network sharing. Both do sort of the same
thing. The guest account in a real multi-user operating system
(NT-based, Linux, Unix, etc.) is not meant for when you are feeling
hospitable. Instead, it allows someone who doesn't have an account on
the system to 1) User Accounts Guest - sit down at the local computer
and use it without having an account on the system - privileges are
pretty restricted and it is expected that this is not a regular
occurrence*; 2) network guest - connect to the computer from another
machine and use shared resources without having an account on the
"host" system. The security issue of the latter is that privileges are
not restricted. Most operating systems all disable guest by default
(although XP Pro does not disable guest by default and has "Simple
Sharing" on). XP Home does not allow you to disable it. The "Simple
Sharing" setting in XP Pro means "guest".

Therefore, in a small workgroup (as opposed to a domain which Home can't
join anyway) with mixed operating systems it is easiest to just create
identical user accounts/passwords on all systems. That way when a
request for a shared resource comes into an XP Pro box from an XP Home
box, it sees that the XP Home user is authenticated. Authentication is
done on the *local* system; i.e., the Pro box sees that the user from
the Home box is one of *its* users and allows the request.

In practice this works very well. My network has various machines
running Linux, XP Pro, XP Home, Win2k, and sometimes Win9x. All can
connect and share resources easily because all users are known to all
systems. Both flavors of guest are always disabled (except of course on
Home).

OR if you have a mix of Pro and Home boxen and security isn't an issue
(your case probably), you can *enable* Simple Sharing on the Pro boxen
and that means requests from guest will be allowed.

*If you have guests using your XP Home box on a regular schedule, it is
better to just make them a Limited "Visitors" account and leave the
Guest user account disabled.

Malke
 
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