John:
I am having the same problem as Donna. Actually I was successfully sharing
the root drive (C
of my Vista machine up until about 2 weeks ago when the
share stopped working. I don't know the exact date but here is how I know it
stopped working about that time. I have a script (batch file) that runs on an
XP machine that backs up all my networked computers onto an external hard
drive. It is a simple script that uses "xcopy" to back up each networked
machine and copies only new or changed files. It has worked for years with
all my other machines which are running XP or NT. And it had worked with the
new Vista machine since I bought it earlier this year.
However, I discovered that the backup of my Vista drive C had stopped. I
tried to click on the share (from my XP machine) and get "Access denied"
errors. I had changed nothing on the Vista machine nor the XP machine. I am
guessing that an MS patch on the Vista machine somehow changed the way
sharing of drive C on Vista works. I know it is not a good idea to share the
root drive, but my simple backup scheme requires it.
I tried your suggestions but I got stumped when I got to the part about
"Select
the Group or user account which is to have access". I want my XP machine to
have access, but do not see how to specify that. Any help would be
appreciated.
Ron Scott
"JRB Associates" wrote:
> Donna,
>
> You are actually raising several issues. For backup, depending on what you
> are doing you may need an agent to allow access to open files. On the other
> hand, if open file access is not an issue, then access to drive shares from
> the network is a different issue. Vista has more security features than
> previous operating systems, so it can potentially be more complex, due to
> the number of variables involved.
>
> Far and away the simplest scenario, is if Vista is joined to a domain,
> typically in a business setting. This typically involves having user
> accounts and passwords in effect. If this is the case, then sharing any part
> of the Vista hard disk is quite simple. Right-click the folder (or root) to
> be shared. Select Share. Choose Advanced Sharing, then select "Share this
> Folder". Select Permissions then Add. Select Advanced then Find Now. Select
> the Group or user account which is to have access. Then select OK. Select OK
> again. There should now be a list of users and/or groups which have
> permission to access the share. Choose which permissions to allow for the
> various users and groups. The important thing to do, is to remove Everyone.
> If Everyone remains, it will not work as expected. Now click OK, OK and
> Close. At this point the share should be accessable.
>
> The important thing to note is that the user accounts must have passwords in
> addition to removing Everyone. The process above has worked perfectly, and
> repeatably in a domain environment. I have never tried it in a workgroup
> setting so cannot comment for that scenario. If there are no passwords for
> the accounts, then from what I know there may be trouble.
>
> Sharing the root can be dangerous (security wise). This is is why a domain
> works well, if the groups and user accounts are carefully chosen.
>
> Best of luck,
> John Baker
>
>
>
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