Re: file sharing on network with XP Home

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@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
> "Heidi" <Heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 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
>
.

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