networking two pc's together

[Violeta]

Hi all! I've followed all instructions for networking two Vista PC's together. I have a Linksys router and both computers are connected to it. I can see the other computer in my network and sharing center but somehow I can't get access to it's c drive; I keep getting "windows cannot access \\computername\drivename Check the spelling of the name. Otherwise, there might be a problem with your network. To try to identify and resolve network problems, click, Diagnose." When I click diagnose it says" "Drivename is available but the user account that you are logged on with was denied access. Windows cannot further diagnose the problem because network diagnostics does not know the user name and password that is required to connect to the sheared folder."

Thing is... the other computer has an external drive and I can access it just fine! Also, the computer I'm trying to access doesn't even have a password, and the same settings are on it as the settings on the external drive that I can see. Any advice?

Thanks!

 

[BradleyKZN]

I dont know how to do it in Vista but in Xp its in computer management under control panel-administrative settings. There is an option that says local users and groups. Then you would right click on a user and say properties and then there are options there to disable the password. Make sure the checkbox is unchecked. The options might be similar so good luck!

 

[oily_17]

You can disable password protected sharing in Vista through the Network and Sharing Center.

Also check that the network is set to a Private network, I think a Public network requires a password to access files, I may be wrong about that....yeah I think it only limits discovery.

 

[Yin]

try setting a password and using that password

 

[FordGT90Concept]

1) Don't share a whole hard drive, only share a few folders. I usually share My Documents and the Desktop because if there is something on another computer I need, it'll be in one of those two places. You can share a folder by right clicking on the folder, going to properties, then check the security/sharing tab.

2) Make sure the workgroup name on both computers matches. Where it is at depends on operating system. I'm pretty sure it is case-insensitive.

3) Check the IPs of both computers and try to ping them. You can check a computer's IP address via running Command Prompt ("cmd" in run) then typing "ipconfig". To ping, do "ping 192.168.0.100" or whatever the other computer's IP is. Both directions, you should get 4 sent, 4 received, zero lost. If any packets are lost, there's either a firewall intercepting the communication or there's something wrong with the router/cables.

4) I'm pretty sure password protection in Windows is provided via the user accounts the file is associated with. If there is no password on the user account, sharing merely has to be enabled.

 

[Violeta]

Thanks! I finally got it working by using the following:

From: http://forums.techguy.org/windows-vista-7/553083-file-sharing-root-drive-vista.html
Tried to follow the instructions in the site you sent, but I dont have the EVERYONE option like the site shows so I cant continue with the process.
(See attached photo).
After long hours of trying to solve this problem, I did it, and here are my notes about 2 ways to share in Vista which worked for me...

1) Using the Public folder
Drag and drop any folder into PUBLIC folder.
It will be copied there and will show in Public on the other computer.
However this works fine for small files, for large folders like my MUSIC it will take a long to copy into public and will take room on the other computers.
2) Sharing as shortcut
- Make sure that in Ctrl Panel/Administrative Tools/Services/Security Accounts Manager & Security Centre it says Startup- “Automatic” and in Service - “Started”
-Go to Ctrl Panel/Users and activate the Guest account.
- Right click on a folder, choose Share, In Sharing tab, go to Advanced Sharing/Share This Folder.
Click on Permissions/Add and in Enter The Object type, Guest & OK.
Highlight Guest and check, Allow full control & OK.
- In Security tab, make sure it shows in Group names, Guest("my name"/Guest).
Highlight it and make sure all the permissions are checked so it shows FULL CONTROL & CLOSE
Thanks

And then from: http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/18648
One of Vista's more aggravating "features" is its completely overhauled networking system, which is now riddled with complexities. A common problem: Users set up a network share on Vista, then can't access that folder from another PC, no matter what they do. The familiar error: "You might not have permission to use this network resource."

Typical advice is to make sure both machines have the same workgroup name, and to use the same user name and password on both machines as well. (You can't use a blank password, either.) But this often does not fix the problem, either. I've been looking for a howto on this topic for weeks but haven't found anything digested into a single page. So I wrote my own.

Here's a step by step guide on allowing access to any folder on a Vista machine from any other PC on your network.

First, turn on sharing. Click Start (that Windows icon thing) then Network. Click Network and Sharing Center. Turn Network discovery and File sharing on. I also turn Public sharing on (more on this later). Leave the rest off.

Now click Start > Computer and browse to the folder you'd like to share. Right-click it and click Share. You'll get a dialog box asking who you want to share with. Type "Everyone" and click Add. Next to the new entry for Everyone, leave it set to "Reader" if you just want to give read-only access over the network, or change it to "Co-owner" if you want to give full access. The screenshot above shows a detail of this step.

That's it. Networking should now be all set up for that folder. Repeat the process for any other folder you'd like access to over the network.

Caveat: This isn't a secure method of sharing your files, but for basic users who simply want to be able to access the digital pictures on the office computer from their laptop, it does the job.

If you have the luxury of deciding where you store the data you want to share (that is, you don't need to share a folder that you can't move), try the Public sharing system in Vista. It lets you use the Public folder as a kind of trough for anything you'd like to share over the net, and you don't have to setup permissions like I outlined above. I've never had trouble with it.

This worked for me; hope it helps someone else!
Thanks all for the help!