Windows Vista XP can't open Vista folders

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Here's one I hope you can suggest a fix for: my XP PC cannot open ALL of Vista's shared folders.

I have three computers set up in a Mshome network. One PC has Vista on a Gateway and the other has an XP Pro PC wired to a Linksys wireless router. The third computer is a wireless HP laptop running XP Media Center.

The Vista can see and open all shared folders on the XP PC and the laptop. The Laptop can see and open all shared folders on the XP PC as well as the shared folders on the Vista machine.

The XP PC can open all shared folders on the laptop. It can see the shared Vista folders but if I try to open a shared folder I get the dreaded "\\Vista\(folders) is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Access is denied" - EXCEPT for any of the 'Public' folders I've shared.

If I click on "View Network Computers" the XP PC, the Vista and the laptop icons appear as they should. If I open the Vista icon I can see the shared Vista folders and the 'Public' folder. What's really confuses me about this problem is I can open the shared Public folders but none of the other shared folders.

Since the laptop can open all of Vista's shared folders and the XP PC can open Vista's shared Public folder but not all of the other shared folders I'm simply baffled.

I have no security concerns since I'm the only person who uses these three computers. I'm using Avast (free) anti-virus and Windows firewall with default settings on all machines. I'm not using encryption anywhere.

I have an Administrator account on the XP PC named Administrator; an Administrator account on the laptop named (my name) and an Administrator account on the Vista named (my name).

I don't know if this might have an effect: some time ago I reformatted and re-installed the operating system on the XP PC. It was a standard re-install. At some point since then I must have deleted the initial user (my name) I created when I did the re-install. I say that because under Documents and Settings the Administrator, All Users and (my name) accounts are listed but the (my name) account folder is empty.

Perhaps I need to change the name from Administrator to the name that is listed on the laptop and the Vista machine. Can I simply change the name of the XP PC Administrator account to (my name) without creating a problem.

I hope I've given you enough information and it makes sense. Might you have any suggestions for a fix?

Thank you,

John
 

floppybootstomp

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I don't really know the answer but I have a similar setup, network with Vista and 2 x XP.

Have you tried right clicking on the folders you want to access within Vista and checking their 'share' status?

I know it seems unlikely but even though they're named 'shared' you may have to enable them for sharing.

When I want to access Vista from my XP machines I'm sometimes prompted for the Admin user name and password, which always works ok.

Worth a shot but hopefully somebody here more software-knowledgable than myself can offer a solution.
 
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Thank you for the quick response floppybootstomp.

During the initial network setup I did notice the Public folders still had to be properly shared to show up in My Network Places.

Yes, I've confirmed the the sharing status with proper permissions on the shared Vista folders.
 

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