XP Pro Sharing problem

Guest · Oct 3, 2006

I have several computers on a small home network. I have just added more
data which I wish to share...and for some reason I cannto access some of the
shared folders.

We are behind a good hardware firewall, so Windows firewall is disabled and
we have no other firewall within the network.

Each of the shared folders is set up (as far as I can tell) exactly the same
way: Everyone has full access to the data.

I have tried sharing the entire drive which houses the data (this would be
the simplest to manage for the future). Remote machines are unable to get
into the drive. (When browsing through My Network, the message appears that
the drive is not accessible...you may not have permission, etc.). The same
message appears if browsing to the shared folders within the drive...Program
Files, as well as other folders I have placed in the root directory in an
attempt to solve this dilemma.

At the same time, other folders which are also in the root directory are
shared and accessed as intended!

I don't know if there is a problem behind the scenes, for example in the
registry of the "server" machine whihc might be blocking access, or what else
to try.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Chuck · Oct 3, 2006

I have several computers on a small home network. I have just added more
data which I wish to share...and for some reason I cannto access some of the
shared folders.

We are behind a good hardware firewall, so Windows firewall is disabled and
we have no other firewall within the network.

Each of the shared folders is set up (as far as I can tell) exactly the same
way: Everyone has full access to the data.

I have tried sharing the entire drive which houses the data (this would be
the simplest to manage for the future). Remote machines are unable to get
into the drive. (When browsing through My Network, the message appears that
the drive is not accessible...you may not have permission, etc.). The same
message appears if browsing to the shared folders within the drive...Program
Files, as well as other folders I have placed in the root directory in an
attempt to solve this dilemma.

At the same time, other folders which are also in the root directory are
shared and accessed as intended!

I don't know if there is a problem behind the scenes, for example in the
registry of the "server" machine whihc might be blocking access, or what else
to try.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Larry,

Your problem is not unknown here, but there are several possible causes. One of
the most common would be a misconfigured or overlooked personal firewall, or
other security component. There are several other possibilities too, and any
might be the cause of your problem. Read this article with an open mind.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html

For more direct help, provide "browstat status" and "ipconfig /all", from each
computer, so we can diagnose the problem. Read this article, and linked
articles, and follow instructions precisely (download browstat!):
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#AskingForHelp>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#AskingForHelp

Guest · Oct 3, 2006

I had a similar problem several years ago where I had about 13 computers on a
peer-to-peer network with one of the computers designated as a server. I
seem to remember that the server could only handle something like 10
connections at one time. I resolved the problem by setting the connection
timeout to about 3 minutes so that a computer connection would be
disconnected if no traffic wes present thus allowing another computer to log
on.

I have no idea where or how I adjusted the setting. Maybe someone else knows.

Guest · Oct 3, 2006

Thanks, RayT. With my very small number of computers on the network relative
to your situation, I don't think that will be the issue. I do appreciate the
response

Guest · Oct 3, 2006

Chuck, I am not quite sure which of the many steps you outlined did the
trick! I had gone through all of the diagnostic and repair steps you
suggested, and was beginning to despair. I decided it was time to run the
browstat status and ipconfig /all to get the report to email to you. I
decided to try one last time to share the C: drive (which is what makes all
the rest of my shares work easier for the program I am trying to run from the
workstation.

After all that talk, the important thing is it now works! There were
several issues uncovered which apparently were not large enough to stop
everything but were large enough together to keep some of the shares from
working correctly. Thanks for all the detailed instructions.

Guest · Oct 3, 2006

Boy, did I jump the gun! I can open nothing below the C drive from the
workstation.

I will create the two reports as soon as I can and forward them to you.

Guest · Oct 3, 2006

Here are the results of the tests (The two computeres involved are P-4 and
Dell)

From P-4

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : P-4

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : Belkin

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Belkin

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast
Ethernet NIC

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-E0-4C-B1-4B-7B

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.6

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1

DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1

Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, October 03, 2006
2:53:32 PM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, September 05, 1904
10:02:19 PM

Browstat:

Status for domain KSPEACH on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{D28A0F42-8658-41DA-8543-2DF59EAFABF4}
Browsing is active on domain.
Master browser name is: DELL
Could not open key in registry, error = 5 Unable to determine build
of browser master: 5
\\\\DELL . Version:05.01 Flags: 71207 NT POTENTIAL BACKUP
MASTER
1 backup servers retrieved from master DELL
\\DELL
There are 3 servers in domain KSPEACH on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{D28A0F42-8658-41DA-8543-2DF59EAFABF4}
There are 1 domains in domain KSPEACH on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{D28A0F42-8658-41DA-8543-2DF59EAFABF4}

From Dell:

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Dell

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : Belkin

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Belkin

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network
Connection

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-16-76-60-69-4B

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.4

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1

DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1

Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, October 03, 2006
9:06:44 AM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, September 05, 1904
4:15:31 PM

Status for domain KSPEACH on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{7BC1C935-7A13-4FF3-A85E-B3A826AC70E5}
Browsing is active on domain.
Master browser name is: DELL
Master browser is running build 2600
1 backup servers retrieved from master DELL
\\DELL
There are 3 servers in domain KSPEACH on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{7BC1C935-7A13-4FF3-A85E-B3A826AC70E5}
There are 1 domains in domain KSPEACH on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{7BC1C935-7A13-4FF3-A85E-B3A826AC70E5}

Thanks again for any added help you may be able to give me on this!

Chuck · Oct 4, 2006

Here are the results of the tests (The two computeres involved are P-4 and
Dell)

<SNIP>

Both ipconfig and browstat logs all look good. I'm going to bet that you have a
normal authentication problem.

Are P-4 and Dell running XP Home, XP Pro with Simple File Sharing, or XP Pro
with Advanced File Sharing?
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html

Guest · Oct 4, 2006

Dell is marked for simple file sharing, P-4 is NOT marked for simple file
sharing.

Chuck · Oct 4, 2006

Dell is marked for simple file sharing, P-4 is NOT marked for simple file
sharing.

Guest · Oct 4, 2006

This morning I rebooted and the P-4 is now the master browser...nothing else
has changed. This is the machine that houses the paths that I am having
trouble sharing. It does NOT have simple file sharing activated...if I am
reading correctly, a "guest," even with a name from the other computer,
cannot perform any administative duties. Does this mean that it cannot
access certain folders as well? right now the folders that are successfully
shared and the ones that are unsuccessfully shared appear to be marked the
same for sharing...full access by everyone. I did not give them specific
access to any particular user.

I did have, earlier yesterday, simple file sharing enabled on P-4. I then
started getting a Norton antivirus error message that access was denied on
Drive C. As part of the Norton cure, which did not resolve the issue, I was
told to remove the checkmark from simple file sharing, which I did. (I don't
know if this is really related to the issue you are helping with or not, but
thought I should let you know).

The Dell DOES have simple file sharing enabled, thus the error 5 in browstat.
P-4 has restrictanonymous set to "0" and there is no RestrictNullSessAccess
entry in the registry. (In additon to the path indicated inyour article, I
searched the entire registry and it is not present).

Here is more background: I often access the P-4 remotely. I HAD (prior to
yesteday) it set so that it would automatically boot with the user settings I
had defined, in case a power failure caused it to shut down. This way I
could still access the machine. Somehow through allthe attempts to fix
access with the new paths, changing user ID's etc., now I cannot get it to
boot directly...it always comes up with either the window seeking my password
or with the window asking me to select which user to log in...and I cannot
remember how it was set to automatically work. This may or may not be
related to the other issues.

I also believe the problems are all somehow in the P-4 settings. Dell is a
new machine which will evntually replace an old W-98 machine, which is still
on the network. The Dell and windows 98 can access each other in a very
normal manner, and i can share and "unshare" resources at will. Both the
w-98 and Dell have identical issues trying to access the P-4 file
locations...both can access the same ones, and both are restricted from the
same ones. Also, I can access both from P-4 with no difficulty.
I looked at the article on the event viewer. Should I be looking at the
event log on the Dell when I get the restricted access error? If so I will
do that and send added information. Unfortunately I do have to work some
today and will only be able to get to this between other commitments, but the
format of your answers makes it easy to continue with the "thread" of
activiites to solve the problem.

Chuck · Oct 4, 2006

This morning I rebooted and the P-4 is now the master browser...nothing else
has changed. This is the machine that houses the paths that I am having
trouble sharing. It does NOT have simple file sharing activated...if I am
reading correctly, a "guest," even with a name from the other computer,
cannot perform any administative duties. Does this mean that it cannot
access certain folders as well? right now the folders that are successfully
shared and the ones that are unsuccessfully shared appear to be marked the
same for sharing...full access by everyone. I did not give them specific
access to any particular user.

I did have, earlier yesterday, simple file sharing enabled on P-4. I then
started getting a Norton antivirus error message that access was denied on
Drive C. As part of the Norton cure, which did not resolve the issue, I was
told to remove the checkmark from simple file sharing, which I did. (I don't
know if this is really related to the issue you are helping with or not, but
thought I should let you know).

The Dell DOES have simple file sharing enabled, thus the error 5 in browstat.
P-4 has restrictanonymous set to "0" and there is no RestrictNullSessAccess
entry in the registry. (In additon to the path indicated inyour article, I
searched the entire registry and it is not present).

Here is more background: I often access the P-4 remotely. I HAD (prior to
yesteday) it set so that it would automatically boot with the user settings I
had defined, in case a power failure caused it to shut down. This way I
could still access the machine. Somehow through allthe attempts to fix
access with the new paths, changing user ID's etc., now I cannot get it to
boot directly...it always comes up with either the window seeking my password
or with the window asking me to select which user to log in...and I cannot
remember how it was set to automatically work. This may or may not be
related to the other issues.

I also believe the problems are all somehow in the P-4 settings. Dell is a
new machine which will evntually replace an old W-98 machine, which is still
on the network. The Dell and windows 98 can access each other in a very
normal manner, and i can share and "unshare" resources at will. Both the
w-98 and Dell have identical issues trying to access the P-4 file
locations...both can access the same ones, and both are restricted from the
same ones. Also, I can access both from P-4 with no difficulty.
I looked at the article on the event viewer. Should I be looking at the
event log on the Dell when I get the restricted access error? If so I will
do that and send added information. Unfortunately I do have to work some
today and will only be able to get to this between other commitments, but the
format of your answers makes it easy to continue with the "thread" of
activiites to solve the problem.

Larry,

Simple File Sharing uses Guest only access. Guest is equivalent to anonymous,
and shares like C$ won't provide access. Consider carefully the Guest
authentication restrictions, and read linked articles.
<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

My suspicion is that most of your questions should be covered by the above
article. We'll attack specific issues after you read and digest the above.

Guest · Oct 4, 2006

We now have great progress. "everyone" did not have complete security rights
on the root of C. After correcting this, I could access almost everything I
tried (on P-4 from Dell) using an administrative user set up on both. The
exception is Program Files. I specifically set sharing and security on
Program Files folder, and still could not open it from Dell. Then I set
sharing and security on Program Files\Sage Software (where my data files
reside) and could access them from Dell. I think that problem is now solved.

Can you suggest what to do about the automatic login that i once had (to
elimnate the problem of rebooting due to power failure and not being able to
access remotely until reboot is complete)?

Chuck · Oct 4, 2006

We now have great progress. "everyone" did not have complete security rights
on the root of C. After correcting this, I could access almost everything I
tried (on P-4 from Dell) using an administrative user set up on both. The
exception is Program Files. I specifically set sharing and security on
Program Files folder, and still could not open it from Dell. Then I set
sharing and security on Program Files\Sage Software (where my data files
reside) and could access them from Dell. I think that problem is now solved.

Can you suggest what to do about the automatic login that i once had (to
elimnate the problem of rebooting due to power failure and not being able to
access remotely until reboot is complete)?

All right, Larry! Let's put this thread to rest, and please start another to
discuss automatic login. That's a fun subject, and I think many folks here can
contribute.