Sharing between two WinXP Pro systems

[Gilbert Smith]

I want to be able to copy files between 'C' drives on two systems on a
LAN, both running XPSP2 with all the updates.

I have turned on sharing on both C drives, but this does not seem to
be enough, I still cannot access a whole range of subfolders.

Apart from "Program Files", I can gain access to the other folders by
turning on sharing on each one. Trouble is that as the list of shared
items on the network gets longer and longer, the speed of access
between systems gets worse and worse.

Is there any alternative ?

 

[Malke]

I want to be able to copy files between 'C' drives on two systems on a
LAN, both running XPSP2 with all the updates.

I have turned on sharing on both C drives, but this does not seem to
be enough, I still cannot access a whole range of subfolders.

Apart from "Program Files", I can gain access to the other folders by
turning on sharing on each one. Trouble is that as the list of shared
items on the network gets longer and longer, the speed of access
between systems gets worse and worse.

Is there any alternative ?

1. On both machines, turn off Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab).

2. On each machine, Create matching user accounts and passwords on all
machines. You do not need to be logged into the same account on all
machines and the passwords assigned to each user account can be
different; the accounts/passwords just need to exist and match on all
machines. If you wish a machine to boot directly to the Desktop (into
one particular user's account) for convenience, you can do this. The
instructions at this link work for both XP and Vista:

Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm

3. Create shares/permissions as desired.

Malke

 

[Gilbert Smith]

1. On both machines, turn off Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab).

2. On each machine, Create matching user accounts and passwords on all
machines. You do not need to be logged into the same account on all
machines and the passwords assigned to each user account can be
different; the accounts/passwords just need to exist and match on all
machines. If you wish a machine to boot directly to the Desktop (into
one particular user's account) for convenience, you can do this. The
instructions at this link work for both XP and Vista:

Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm

3. Create shares/permissions as desired.

Malke

Many thanks Malke, that has improved the situation significantly.
(I even cleared the lists of old share points by deleting files in the
Nethood folder).

Only one problem remains - the Program Files folder.

Is there any way round this Access Denied ?

Gilbert.

 

[Malke]

Many thanks Malke, that has improved the situation significantly.
(I even cleared the lists of old share points by deleting files in the
Nethood folder).

Only one problem remains - the Program Files folder.

Is there any way round this Access Denied ?

There is really never any need to share system directories such as the
Program Files folder and lots of reasons not to. XP Home doesn't allow
you to share the Program Files folder, but I thought you had Pro. If you
must share something that lives in the Program Files folder, share out
only that one specific item. If this is for a program's database (such
as QuickBook), a better solution is to put the company file (pretending
for illustration that this is QuickBooks) in the Shared Documents
directory or in a separate directory altogether outside of Program Files.


Make

 

[Gilbert Smith]

There is really never any need to share system directories such as the
Program Files folder and lots of reasons not to. XP Home doesn't allow
you to share the Program Files folder, but I thought you had Pro. If you
must share something that lives in the Program Files folder, share out
only that one specific item. If this is for a program's database (such
as QuickBook), a better solution is to put the company file (pretending
for illustration that this is QuickBooks) in the Shared Documents
directory or in a separate directory altogether outside of Program Files.


Make

Thanks again Malke, I had suspected as much, and yes, the data for
these programs really should be somewhere in My Documents.

I am using XP Pro on all systems, but Program Files cannot be shared.

I have found however, that now "Simple File Sharing" is off, I can
access subfolders of Program Files no problem (although not using
Explorer, of course).

Gilbert.

 

[Malke]

Thanks again Malke, I had suspected as much, and yes, the data for
these programs really should be somewhere in My Documents.

I am using XP Pro on all systems, but Program Files cannot be shared.

I have found however, that now "Simple File Sharing" is off, I can
access subfolders of Program Files no problem (although not using
Explorer, of course).

Glad that sorted it for you. Thanks for taking the time to post back.


Malke