Read only access error after newly saving files

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Guest

Just replaced my old desktop system with a new one. Both run XP SP2, as does
my laptop. I had several shared directories which worked fine prior to
installing the new computer. Now, however, when I try to access a shared file
on my new computer from my laptop, I have a strange problem. If the file has
not been saved yet (i.e., if a file I copied onto the new desktop from the
old one has not yet been opened & saved on the new one), then I can access it
fine via the laptop. But as soon as I save a file on the new desktop and then
try to access it, I get an error message warning me that the file is read
only (which it is not). If I try to open it as a read only file, I get an
Access Denied message with no further info.

I can browse my Network Places without any problem, and as I said, I can
open files on the new computer from my laptop that haven't been saved yet. As
soon as I save one though, I can no longer open the file from the laptop.

What can I do to access these files like I used to?

Thanks for your help!
Bill
 
Just replaced my old desktop system with a new one. Both run XP SP2, as does
my laptop. I had several shared directories which worked fine prior to
installing the new computer. Now, however, when I try to access a shared file
on my new computer from my laptop, I have a strange problem. If the file has
not been saved yet (i.e., if a file I copied onto the new desktop from the
old one has not yet been opened & saved on the new one), then I can access it
fine via the laptop. But as soon as I save a file on the new desktop and then
try to access it, I get an error message warning me that the file is read
only (which it is not). If I try to open it as a read only file, I get an
Access Denied message with no further info.

I can browse my Network Places without any problem, and as I said, I can
open files on the new computer from my laptop that haven't been saved yet. As
soon as I save one though, I can no longer open the file from the laptop.

What can I do to access these files like I used to?

Thanks for your help!
Bill
Click to expand...

Bill,

When you open and save a copied file, you're doing that locally? What access
level are you logged in locally, when you do that? What access level do you
have when accessing the new desktop from the laptop?
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/09/server-access-authorisation.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/09/server-access-authorisation.html

Are the computers running XP Home, XP Pro with Simple File Sharing, or XP Pro
with Advanced File Sharing? If the latter, are you using Guest or non-Guest
access from the laptop? And is the account used properly activated?
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Help>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Help
 
Chuck,
Thanks for the reply. Both computers are running XP Home and I am the
Computer Administrator on both (if that's what you mean by 'access level').
And yes, the copied files are being opened/saved locally on the desktop. As
soon as that occurs, the file becomes inaccessible to the laptop. Any
unopened files are still available, however. In fact, I can copy the
inaccessible file to another shared directory (on the desktop), and it
becomes accessible via the laptop. But as soon as I open, modify, and save it
(on the desktop), I once again get the 'read only' and 'Access Denied' errors.

I really appreciate your help!

Bill
 
Chuck,
One additional thing I just discovered. The problem works both ways. I
edited/saved a file on my laptop, and then found I got the same error
messages on my desktop when I tried to open it. Hope that sheds some light on
things...

Bill
 
Chuck,
One additional thing I just discovered. The problem works both ways. I
edited/saved a file on my laptop, and then found I got the same error
messages on my desktop when I tried to open it. Hope that sheds some light on
things...

Bill
Click to expand...

OK, Bill, there's the problem. When you save the files using an administrator
account, you're taking possession as administrator. You have Guest access thru
the network, and Guest isn't an administrator.

This shouldn't happen, because you should not use Windows, routinely, as an
administrator. I will have to think about this as far as why this doesn't
happen more often though. Try reading about security and sharing.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/09/server-access-authorisation.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/09/server-access-authorisation.html

And about tools which may help you, with XP Home.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/advanced-file-sharing-tweaks-in.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/advanced-file-sharing-tweaks-in.html
 
Well, Chuck, I tried a couple of the things in those articles, namely
rebooting in Safe Mode and changing permissions, etc., but nothing's changed.
Another thing I did was check my old desktop access level, and it turns out
that I used that under the administrator account, too, just like now. (As I'm
the only user for these computers, I've never added any other accounts.) So,
you're right... if that's the problem now, then why didn't I have the same
problem before? (The old desktop was running XP SP2 Home just like the new
one.) When I added my laptop to my network last year, I didn't have a problem
accessing shared folders after files were saved on my old desktop, and I
don't recall making any special changes to sharing permissions, and so on.

I've been reading everything I can find online and in your articles about
networking, but I haven't seen my problem mentioned anywhere. I'm thinking it
must be something simple, but I can't figure out what.

As usual, thank you very much for helping. If you come up with any ideas,
I'll be glad to try them.

Bill
 
Hi Chuck,
I finally realized that all the files I'd been trying to access were part of
the Corel suite -- WordPerfect and Quattro Pro. Doing a little checking, I've
found that it's a problem with that software and NTFS partitions on XP Home.
My old desktop was FAT32 and there aren't any problems with that. That's why
it used to work fine. But with NTFS, evidently the programs don't allow Guest
access even when permissions are set to Everyone. In XP Pro, it seems that
disabling Simple File Sharing will help solve things, but I gather that can't
be done in Home.

Thank you for your time! I'll have to do some more research to see if Corel
ever fixed the problem.

Bill
 
Hi Chuck,
I finally realized that all the files I'd been trying to access were part of
the Corel suite -- WordPerfect and Quattro Pro. Doing a little checking, I've
found that it's a problem with that software and NTFS partitions on XP Home.
My old desktop was FAT32 and there aren't any problems with that. That's why
it used to work fine. But with NTFS, evidently the programs don't allow Guest
access even when permissions are set to Everyone. In XP Pro, it seems that
disabling Simple File Sharing will help solve things, but I gather that can't
be done in Home.

Thank you for your time! I'll have to do some more research to see if Corel
ever fixed the problem.

Bill
Click to expand...

That would indeed explain it, Bill. Fat32 didn't have security like NTFS. Glad
you figured it out. Thanks for letting us know.
 
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