Cannot access certain folders using file sharing

Hello all,

I have an older XP machine and a new Vista 64-bit notebook. I set up my XP computer so that I could see the entire C: drive on my Vista machine, and I had no problems getting it to show on this computer. However, while I can access folders like My Documents, I get an error when trying to get into Program Files, or anything under Documents and Settings. Here's an example of the error:

Windows cannot access \\[My Computer Name]\c\Program Files

I'm aware there are problems sharing files between Vista and XP, but I'm only having problems with some of the files - even though they're being shared the same way as the others. I did some searching, but I couldn't come up with anything for this specific problem. Do I need to do drive mapping on my XP machine, or is there some other issue here?

Thank you in advance for any help!

 

More likely than not, you don't have sufficient privileges to access those directories (I'm assuming you're using Home versions of XP and _Vista, and are using simple file sharing).

For example, see this old discussion in tech-archive.net.

 

Yeah, the problem definitely is that I don't have permission to access those directories. I just don't get why I can get into (for example) my 'My Music' folder, but not 'Documents and Settings' or 'Program Files'.

I read the link you gave, and I'm still going through the Microsoft document. Both talk about having the 'Guest' account enabled for Advanced File sharing to work, but I'm not seeing the connection between what I'm trying to do and using a Guest account. I currently have a Guest account enabled on the XP machine, but no Guest on the Vista machine. Btw, I am using XP Pro on one notebook, and Vista 64 on the other, and up to this point I have been just using simple file sharing. So, I haven't really even attempted setting up credentials yet, either.

 

You can't get into those folders because those folders have higher-level access restrictions and cannot be accessed by any account that doesn't have the appropriate permissions, such as the guest and (I believe) anonymous accounts. The higher permissions are set by default because the folders typically contain sensitive data that an unauthorized user should not be permitted to access; unfortunately, under simple file sharing, the permissions are generally not changeable.

Simple file sharing always occurs anonymously - i.e., the client system gets access under the guest account or an anonymous system account - and thus does not have the permissions needed to access those folders.

 

Ahh, I see now. Thank you for clarifying. I guess I was just thinking along the lines of me setting the guidelines for access, instead of Windows having default restrictions.

I'm using XP Pro on the one notebook, but Vista Home on the other. I suppose I won't be able to set up Advanced Sharing with the Home version?

 

Okay, I think I just answered my own question about Vista and AFS. It looks like you just need to enable Password Protected Sharing, which is the equivalent to Advance File Sharing in XP.