[Help] - Windows XP File Sharing - Access denied for certain user fold

[danielallam]

I am experiencing problems with file sharing using Windows XP. Specifically, I get an access denied message when trying to access another machine's user folders under "documents and settings" across the network. I can only successfully access the user folder of the user currently logged in on the machine I am trying to access across the network. I have given full details below.

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I have just set up a home network consisting of a desktop (running XP Home) and a laptop (also running XP Home). The desktop goes into the combined router/modem via an ethernet cable and the laptop is wireless.

This network seems correctly set up. On both machines, when I go to network places and then view my workgroup computers, I can see the other machine. I can double-click the other machine and browse some

folders/files that I shared. I have turned off all firewalls to make sure that I could do this.

The problem I am having involves accessing/sharing the different user folders that live under "Documents and Settings". On each machine, I have shared these folders on the network by selecting "Share this folder on the network" and "Allow network users to change my files". I am also prompted to specify a Share Name - which I have done.

On each machine, I can access the network and navigate to the user folders I have shared. However, when I try and open the user folders I get a message saying that this folder is not accessible - "You might

not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions".

As mentioned at the beginning, I can access the user folder of the user who is currently logged into the machine I am trying to connect to (eg my laptop is logged in as user 1 - when I connect to my network using the desktop I can access the laptop's user 1 folder under documents and settings. However, I can not access the folders for user 2, 3 etc).

I don't understand why I can only access the documents of the user currently logged onto the other machine on my network. On each machine, I have a computer administrator account which I have used to

make all of the user folders shared on the network. So I cannot understand why I can only access the folders of the user currently logged in on the other machine!

I have reached the limits of my knowledge with this! I have read forum posts on this. I read one that I thought might be the answer:

"That's how Windows XP Home Edition works when it's installed on an NTFS disk partition. It blocks access to the Program Files and Windows folders and to individual users' folders within Documents and

Settings. You can share subfolders within those folders, e.g. you can share "C:\Program Files\Outlook Express" or "C:\Documents and Settings\USER2\My Documents" and access that folder from another

computer on the network."

In response to reading this, I tried sharing the folders under the main user folder (eg instead of sharing Documents and Settings\User2 I shared Documents and Settings\User2\My Documents). However, I get

exactly the same access denied problems.

Please please can somebody out there help me. I am amazed at how fiddly this has been to set up under XP (and I am not even there yet!). It seems as though XP really isn't designed for smooth homw networking. If you could please use very simple instructions in any answer you give I would appreciate it. The more basic the better.

Many thanks in advance for your help.

daniel

Title Edited - Please follow new posting rules from now on.

--Zxian

[DevHead]

You don't have the correct USER access RIGHTS for the corresponding folder/directory. Thus, you get the error message.

In other words, you may have access to A but not to B (even though B is on the same computer as A).