C-drive sharing, can it REALLY be done?

  • Thread starter Thread starter George
  • Start date Start date
G

George

Have simple setup of two WinXP-pro PC's, linked by Linksys firewall
router/hub. All I want is for PC#2 to allow its entire C-drive to be viewed
and files copied as needed on PC#2. (It was very easy/fast on my old Win98
PC's.) Here's what didn't work on WinXP so far...

1) Simple file sharing simply too restrictive, it blocks several folders
entirely, says so on Microsoft knowledge base.

2) Using the Setup Wizard and "make setup disk" that Linksys recommends
doesn't work either, and I get some spooler error when used it anyway.

3) Manually setting up FULL file sharing still seems to have lots of "Access
Denied or 'do not have permission'" areas. And I already did common sense
things like uncheck ICF firewall, and make sure workgroup name is uniform.

Just discovered Microsoft article 318030, says turn on NetBIOS over TCP/IP.
Is this the problem?

Can anyone suggest a few simple steps to start all over (erase whatever
settings I made) and step by step get this to work... Like Start > Control
Panel > Network > select such and such.

Thanks, greatly appreciate
 
Correction... "All I want is for PC#2 to allow its entire C-drive to be
viewed and files copied as needed on PC#1. <<<<<
 
Turn off Simple File Sharing.
Enable the Guest account on the PC you want to have full
sharing on.

Share the C drive, in the share permissions,
add "Everyone" and give it Full Control.

Now right-click the C drive, and choose Sharing and
Security.
Choose the Security tab.
Add "Everyone", and check the Allow Full Control box.

Hit OK.
You now have no security on your drive, and everything is
accessible to everyone. Make sure you have a properly
configured firewall between yourself and the Internet, or
anyone in the world can see your files.
Also, anyone that can log onto your machine can do
anything they want to any file on the drive.
 
"George" said:
Have simple setup of two WinXP-pro PC's, linked by Linksys firewall
router/hub. All I want is for PC#2 to allow its entire C-drive to be viewed
and files copied as needed on PC#2. (It was very easy/fast on my old Win98
PC's.) Here's what didn't work on WinXP so far...

1) Simple file sharing simply too restrictive, it blocks several folders
entirely, says so on Microsoft knowledge base.

2) Using the Setup Wizard and "make setup disk" that Linksys recommends
doesn't work either, and I get some spooler error when used it anyway.

3) Manually setting up FULL file sharing still seems to have lots of "Access
Denied or 'do not have permission'" areas. And I already did common sense
things like uncheck ICF firewall, and make sure workgroup name is uniform.

Just discovered Microsoft article 318030, says turn on NetBIOS over TCP/IP.
Is this the problem?

Can anyone suggest a few simple steps to start all over (erase whatever
settings I made) and step by step get this to work... Like Start > Control
Panel > Network > select such and such.

Thanks, greatly appreciate
Click to expand...

Forget the Wizard. Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP on both computers.
Un-share the C-drive. Disable simple file sharing if it's currently
enabled. Re-share the C-drive. Create matching user accounts on both
computers: same user name and password.

For more information, see:

Windows XP Professional File Sharing
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp_filesharing/index.htm
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
 
Thanks Steve,

Will it only work with matching user accounts on both machines? In theory,
if had a dozen machines and I (sort of multi-PC administrator guru) wanted
to be able to access all c-drives, I'd have to first go around and make (or
add) myself as a user on everybody's PC. Appreciate suggestions, thanks.
 
Thanks, David,

This sounds like the final, sure-fire way to get the job done, but is there
a slightly less 'open all doors' way to accomplish same thing but not expose
PC's and network to entire world if the router/hub firewall fails...or this
less-than-expert user inadvertently un-locks the firewall somehow...

Actually, that's what happened once, router had checked ICF on DSL but DSL
was down, so used dialup, discovered no ICF (no firewall) later on
dialup--it's a separate setup. Hmmmmmmm. Thanks for suggestions.
 
"George" said:
Thanks Steve,

Will it only work with matching user accounts on both machines? In theory,
if had a dozen machines and I (sort of multi-PC administrator guru) wanted
to be able to access all c-drives, I'd have to first go around and make (or
add) myself as a user on everybody's PC. Appreciate suggestions, thanks.
Click to expand...

If I understand your setup, it will require matching user accounts.

When you disable simple file sharing, XP Pro uses NT-style user
authentication (user name and password) for access to network shares.
In a workgroup, where there's no domain controller keeping a list of
users, each computer handles its own authentication. The "Everyone"
permission doesn't apply to everyone on every computer. It only
applies to those users who have a local account on this computer.

So, if someone on computer A wants access to a share on computer B,
computer B must have a user account that matches the one of the user
on computer A.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
 
I think the solution is a great one for you George. Once you see if it
works, THEN go ahead and tighten up your security (nobody will get in during
the 5 minutes it takes to see if you have access from the remote PC).

It sure sounds like it could be as simple as your remote user not having
appropriate permissions on your C:\.

James
 
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