Sharing folder fails

[Loopy Lou]

Two Windows XP Pro SP2 machines are connected in a LAN. I want machine
B to have access to all the files in a folder on machine A, so I use
the file's sharing and security properties to enable sharing ("You can
share this folder with other users on your network...").

On machine B, the folder is visible under its share name, and I can
look at its properties. However, if I try to list the files in the
shared folder by double-clicking the folder in Windows Explorer on
machine B, I get the message "\\Machine A\SharedName is not accessible.
You might not have permission to use this network resource...".

How do I get the sharing to work in the expected way? On A, the
folder's permissions include Read access for Everyone. I have Simple
File Sharing turned off on both machines. Machine B has no passwords (i
e, no signon when the system is booted); machine A has several
accounts, of which the administrator is the only one in use.

 

[Chuck]

Two Windows XP Pro SP2 machines are connected in a LAN. I want machine
B to have access to all the files in a folder on machine A, so I use
the file's sharing and security properties to enable sharing ("You can
share this folder with other users on your network...").

On machine B, the folder is visible under its share name, and I can
look at its properties. However, if I try to list the files in the
shared folder by double-clicking the folder in Windows Explorer on
machine B, I get the message "\\Machine A\SharedName is not accessible.
You might not have permission to use this network resource...".

How do I get the sharing to work in the expected way? On A, the
folder's permissions include Read access for Everyone. I have Simple
File Sharing turned off on both machines. Machine B has no passwords (i
e, no signon when the system is booted); machine A has several
accounts, of which the administrator is the only one in use.

If you turn Simple File Sharing off, then you need one or more common accounts,
with identical passwords, on each computer, properly activated for network
access.
<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

 

[Loopy Lou]

If you turn Simple File Sharing off, then you need one or more common accounts,
with identical passwords, on each computer, properly activated for network
access.

Chuck -

I had already looked at your web site, but I don't understand how I set
up these common accounts and passwords.

If I turn on SFS, will things work the way I want? I had only turned it
off to try to figure out another network problem (XP Home and W98SE
unable to share a particular file).

 

[Chuck]

Chuck -

I had already looked at your web site, but I don't understand how I set
up these common accounts and passwords.

If I turn on SFS, will things work the way I want? I had only turned it
off to try to figure out another network problem (XP Home and W98SE
unable to share a particular file).

There are several ways to add a non-Guest user to your computer. The most
commonly used is the User Accounts wizard in Control Panel. Once you add any
non-Guest account, you have to activate it for network access. Guest is already
added, but you still have to activate it for network access.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Activate>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Activate

The term "Simple File Sharing", and "turning SFS off" is misleading. With SFS
on, only the Guest account is used to provide access to any resources thru the
network. Anything that's accessible to anybody is accessible to everybody.

If you turn SFS off, you have Advanced File Sharing. With AFS, you can provide
access thru the Guest account, or you can setup any non-Guest account for
network access. Activation of a non-Guest account is the same as for the Guest
account.

You can use Guest under AFS, or under SFS. Guest is a limited user, and won't
provide access to everything. Note the limitations.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Guest>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Guest