I am trying to share My Documents of different users with two different
computers. I have enabled file sharing. I mark each user's documents as
shared. I can view them on the original computer, but when I go to the other
networked computer, I cannot access most of the files. I can only access one
of the administrative users files on all computers. But no the other
administrataive user or the limited users. I would like the files to be
available on both computers. How do I do it?? I've searched for weeks, and
cannot come up with a solution. It's got to be something simple.

Same problem since I reinstalled XP on one PC. Network setup and sharing
activated. When i try and access the other PC though it says it cannot
access it.

Alan

In article <FBBB3FD9-7F99-4A7C-AA5F-167D9B54D5C3@microsoft.com>,
"Heidi" <Heidi@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>I am trying to share My Documents of different users with two different
>computers. I have enabled file sharing. I mark each user's documents as
>shared. I can view them on the original computer, but when I go to the other
>networked computer, I cannot access most of the files. I can only access one
>of the administrative users files on all computers. But no the other
>administrataive user or the limited users. I would like the files to be
>available on both computers. How do I do it?? I've searched for weeks, and
>cannot come up with a solution. It's got to be something simple.

I'm sorry, but that's how Windows XP was designed to work 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\Username\Desktop" and access that folder from another
computer on the network.

If you had Windows XP Professional, you could disable simple file
sharing to remove those sharing restrictions:

Since you have Windows XP Home Edition, that option isn't available.
The safest thing is to share individual subfolders, as mentioned
above, or to move files that you want to share into the Shared
Documents folder, which is accessible over the network.

You can re-install the operating system on a FAT or FAT32 disk
partition -- those disk formats don't have any sharing restrictions.
However, that would lose the benefits of NTFS, which is more reliable
and efficient and can use larger disks. You'd also need to re-install
all of your applications.

I've heard of two possible solutions for XP Home Edition on an NTFS
disk partition, but:

1. They're un-supported, un-documented, and un-tested by Microsoft.
2. There's no guarantee that they'll work.
3. They might cause data loss or corruption.

I haven't tried them, and I don't know whether they're safe. If you
want to try them, at your own risk:

1. Back up your important data first so that you can restore it in
case of problems.

2. Run System Restore to create a restore point that you can go back
to in case of problems.

Here they are:

1. Start Windows XP in "Safe Mode with Networking" (which temporarily
disables "Simple File Sharing"), share the desired folder(s), set the
permissions, and reboot normally, or:

2. Follow the procedure shown here:

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_home_sectab.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

Thank you for your help. I'm confused why Windows Help never explained to me
that I simply could not do what I was trying to do. I have spent HOURS
trying to make this work. Before I try your suggestions at the end, I will
try to share the subfolders that we need.

Thank you again for explaining things to me.

"Steve Winograd [MVP]" wrote:

> In article <FBBB3FD9-7F99-4A7C-AA5F-167D9B54D5C3@microsoft.com>,
> "Heidi" <Heidi@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> >I am trying to share My Documents of different users with two different
> >computers. I have enabled file sharing. I mark each user's documents as
> >shared. I can view them on the original computer, but when I go to the other
> >networked computer, I cannot access most of the files. I can only access one
> >of the administrative users files on all computers. But no the other
> >administrataive user or the limited users. I would like the files to be
> >available on both computers. How do I do it?? I've searched for weeks, and
> >cannot come up with a solution. It's got to be something simple.
>
> I'm sorry, but that's how Windows XP was designed to work 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\Username\Desktop" and access that folder from another
> computer on the network.
>
> If you had Windows XP Professional, you could disable simple file
> sharing to remove those sharing restrictions:
>
> Since you have Windows XP Home Edition, that option isn't available.
> The safest thing is to share individual subfolders, as mentioned
> above, or to move files that you want to share into the Shared
> Documents folder, which is accessible over the network.
>
> You can re-install the operating system on a FAT or FAT32 disk
> partition -- those disk formats don't have any sharing restrictions.
> However, that would lose the benefits of NTFS, which is more reliable
> and efficient and can use larger disks. You'd also need to re-install
> all of your applications.
>
> I've heard of two possible solutions for XP Home Edition on an NTFS
> disk partition, but:
>
> 1. They're un-supported, un-documented, and un-tested by Microsoft.
> 2. There's no guarantee that they'll work.
> 3. They might cause data loss or corruption.
>
> I haven't tried them, and I don't know whether they're safe. If you
> want to try them, at your own risk:
>
> 1. Back up your important data first so that you can restore it in
> case of problems.
>
> 2. Run System Restore to create a restore point that you can go back
> to in case of problems.
>
> Here they are:
>
> 1. Start Windows XP in "Safe Mode with Networking" (which temporarily
> disables "Simple File Sharing"), share the desired folder(s), set the
> permissions, and reboot normally, or:
>
> 2. Follow the procedure shown here:
>
> http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_home_sectab.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
>

In article <764E33BE-5C1B-40EC-B8F9-4D8ADD9D2265@microsoft.com>,
"Heidi" <Heidi@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>> In article <FBBB3FD9-7F99-4A7C-AA5F-167D9B54D5C3@microsoft.com>,
>> "Heidi" <Heidi@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>> >I am trying to share My Documents of different users with two different
>> >computers. I have enabled file sharing. I mark each user's documents as
>> >shared. I can view them on the original computer, but when I go to the other
>> >networked computer, I cannot access most of the files. I can only access one
>> >of the administrative users files on all computers. But no the other
>> >administrataive user or the limited users. I would like the files to be
>> >available on both computers. How do I do it?? I've searched for weeks, and
>> >cannot come up with a solution. It's got to be something simple.
>>
>> I'm sorry, but that's how Windows XP was designed to work 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\Username\Desktop" and access that folder from another
>> computer on the network.
>>
>> If you had Windows XP Professional, you could disable simple file
>> sharing to remove those sharing restrictions:
>>
>> Since you have Windows XP Home Edition, that option isn't available.
>> The safest thing is to share individual subfolders, as mentioned
>> above, or to move files that you want to share into the Shared
>> Documents folder, which is accessible over the network.
>>
>> You can re-install the operating system on a FAT or FAT32 disk
>> partition -- those disk formats don't have any sharing restrictions.
>> However, that would lose the benefits of NTFS, which is more reliable
>> and efficient and can use larger disks. You'd also need to re-install
>> all of your applications.
>>
>> I've heard of two possible solutions for XP Home Edition on an NTFS
>> disk partition, but:
>>
>> 1. They're un-supported, un-documented, and un-tested by Microsoft.
>> 2. There's no guarantee that they'll work.
>> 3. They might cause data loss or corruption.
>>
>> I haven't tried them, and I don't know whether they're safe. If you
>> want to try them, at your own risk:
>>
>> 1. Back up your important data first so that you can restore it in
>> case of problems.
>>
>> 2. Run System Restore to create a restore point that you can go back
>> to in case of problems.
>>
>> Here they are:
>>
>> 1. Start Windows XP in "Safe Mode with Networking" (which temporarily
>> disables "Simple File Sharing"), share the desired folder(s), set the
>> permissions, and reboot normally, or:
>>
>> 2. Follow the procedure shown here:
>>
>> http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_home_sectab.htm
>
>Thank you for your help. I'm confused why Windows Help never explained to me
>that I simply could not do what I was trying to do. I have spent HOURS
>trying to make this work. Before I try your suggestions at the end, I will
>try to share the subfolders that we need.
>
>Thank you again for explaining things to me.

You're welcome. I think that file sharing on a network in Windows XP
Home Edition is badly designed and poorly documented. I hope that my
suggestions help you find a good solution.
--
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 FINALLY did it! I figured out how to share the files. In case you need to
know, here's how I did it:

I had to make each user an administrator. Then I had to log onto their user
name, share the file. After that, I could change them back to limited user.

I can't figure out why Microsoft help doesn't just tell you how to do it
like that?????? Another thing, why did it seem like I can do it all from
one administrator, and the files are marked as sharing, etc. But it wasn't
what was happening?

Thank you again for your help, it got me going in the right direction!


"Heidi" wrote:

> Thank you for your help. I'm confused why Windows Help never explained to me
> that I simply could not do what I was trying to do. I have spent HOURS
> trying to make this work. Before I try your suggestions at the end, I will
> try to share the subfolders that we need.
>
> Thank you again for explaining things to me.
>
> "Steve Winograd [MVP]" wrote:
>
> > In article <FBBB3FD9-7F99-4A7C-AA5F-167D9B54D5C3@microsoft.com>,
> > "Heidi" <Heidi@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> > >I am trying to share My Documents of different users with two different
> > >computers. I have enabled file sharing. I mark each user's documents as
> > >shared. I can view them on the original computer, but when I go to the other
> > >networked computer, I cannot access most of the files. I can only access one
> > >of the administrative users files on all computers. But no the other
> > >administrataive user or the limited users. I would like the files to be
> > >available on both computers. How do I do it?? I've searched for weeks, and
> > >cannot come up with a solution. It's got to be something simple.
> >
> > I'm sorry, but that's how Windows XP was designed to work 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\Username\Desktop" and access that folder from another
> > computer on the network.
> >
> > If you had Windows XP Professional, you could disable simple file
> > sharing to remove those sharing restrictions:
> >
> > Since you have Windows XP Home Edition, that option isn't available.
> > The safest thing is to share individual subfolders, as mentioned
> > above, or to move files that you want to share into the Shared
> > Documents folder, which is accessible over the network.
> >
> > You can re-install the operating system on a FAT or FAT32 disk
> > partition -- those disk formats don't have any sharing restrictions.
> > However, that would lose the benefits of NTFS, which is more reliable
> > and efficient and can use larger disks. You'd also need to re-install
> > all of your applications.
> >
> > I've heard of two possible solutions for XP Home Edition on an NTFS
> > disk partition, but:
> >
> > 1. They're un-supported, un-documented, and un-tested by Microsoft.
> > 2. There's no guarantee that they'll work.
> > 3. They might cause data loss or corruption.
> >
> > I haven't tried them, and I don't know whether they're safe. If you
> > want to try them, at your own risk:
> >
> > 1. Back up your important data first so that you can restore it in
> > case of problems.
> >
> > 2. Run System Restore to create a restore point that you can go back
> > to in case of problems.
> >
> > Here they are:
> >
> > 1. Start Windows XP in "Safe Mode with Networking" (which temporarily
> > disables "Simple File Sharing"), share the desired folder(s), set the
> > permissions, and reboot normally, or:
> >
> > 2. Follow the procedure shown here:
> >
> > http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_home_sectab.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
> >