Sharing USB external hard drive

[Patty]

I have a basic Windows peer-to-peer network that I've been using for quite
some time now. I have the following:

1 computer using Windows XP Pro SP2
2 computers using Windows 98SE
1 laptop using Windows ME

I recently purchased a Seagate 160GB USB 2.0 external hard drive. I
connected it to the XP Pro computer since it is the only one with USB 2.0
ports. I tried sharing it across my network, and all appeared to work
well, the 98SE computer I had time to test was able to connect and read and
transfer files to the external drive. However, I do not want to leave the
external drive connected and turned on 24/7. When I tried to disconnect it
from the the XP Pro computer I got a message that files were open and make
sure they were closed first. No files were opened at that time, I believe
I got that message because the 98SE computer was still connected to the
share on the external hard drive. I believe it's similar to the message
you get if you want to reboot a system with shares that says "X users are
connected to this system and may lose data if you reboot... yada yada
yada". So, I tried to unshare the external hard drive, which didn't work
well, it sort of hung the system, so I ended up hitting ctrl-alt-del and
ending the application for the USB hard drive. This freed up the XP system
again. And I was able to disconnect the hard drive.

However, this morning, when I tried to access the 98SE computer, it dragged
very badly and I'm not sure if it's because of releasing that hard drive.
I don't remember if I checked it afterwards last night (sorry). A reboot
got it working properly again.

So, is there a way to share this hard drive without having these types of
problems? Any info is greatly appreciated. It just would be nice if I
could share the drive, rather than transferring files I want to copy to it
from other computers over to the computer the drive is connected to.
Thanks.

Patty

 

[Chuck]

I have a basic Windows peer-to-peer network that I've been using for quite
some time now. I have the following:

1 computer using Windows XP Pro SP2
2 computers using Windows 98SE
1 laptop using Windows ME

I recently purchased a Seagate 160GB USB 2.0 external hard drive. I
connected it to the XP Pro computer since it is the only one with USB 2.0
ports. I tried sharing it across my network, and all appeared to work
well, the 98SE computer I had time to test was able to connect and read and
transfer files to the external drive. However, I do not want to leave the
external drive connected and turned on 24/7. When I tried to disconnect it
from the the XP Pro computer I got a message that files were open and make
sure they were closed first. No files were opened at that time, I believe
I got that message because the 98SE computer was still connected to the
share on the external hard drive. I believe it's similar to the message
you get if you want to reboot a system with shares that says "X users are
connected to this system and may lose data if you reboot... yada yada
yada". So, I tried to unshare the external hard drive, which didn't work
well, it sort of hung the system, so I ended up hitting ctrl-alt-del and
ending the application for the USB hard drive. This freed up the XP system
again. And I was able to disconnect the hard drive.

However, this morning, when I tried to access the 98SE computer, it dragged
very badly and I'm not sure if it's because of releasing that hard drive.
I don't remember if I checked it afterwards last night (sorry). A reboot
got it working properly again.

So, is there a way to share this hard drive without having these types of
problems? Any info is greatly appreciated. It just would be nice if I
could share the drive, rather than transferring files I want to copy to it
from other computers over to the computer the drive is connected to.
Thanks.

Patty

Patty,

When you share files, you are turning over control for those files to the
client. If your operating system thinks those files are still under control of
the client, you have to keep those shares open, you can't just arbitrarily close
them without consequence. Minimally, you have to close them from the server
end.

Did you try clearing the shares from Computer Management - Shared Folders - Open
Files, before trying the Stop Sharing? Did you do the Stop Sharing from
Computer Management, or from Windows Explorer?

 

[Patty]

Patty,

When you share files, you are turning over control for those files to the
client. If your operating system thinks those files are still under control of
the client, you have to keep those shares open, you can't just arbitrarily close
them without consequence. Minimally, you have to close them from the server
end.

Did you try clearing the shares from Computer Management - Shared Folders - Open
Files, before trying the Stop Sharing? Did you do the Stop Sharing from
Computer Management, or from Windows Explorer?

Windows Explorer. So, I should do it a bit differently then? Hmmmmmm.

Ok, I tried it that way. It worked great! No problems with disconnecting
the drive. Thank you so much. I appreciate your help. My problem is now
solved.

Patty

 

[Chuck]

Windows Explorer. So, I should do it a bit differently then? Hmmmmmm.

Ok, I tried it that way. It worked great! No problems with disconnecting
the drive. Thank you so much. I appreciate your help. My problem is now
solved.

Patty

Excellent! Thanks for the update.