Windows 7: Trouble Mapping Networked DRIVES Over Win7 Workgroup

Ok so we're a small photo studio that has decided to add even more redundancy to our servers by choosing 2 of our fastest performing PC's to host 4x2TB RAID arrays. These are strictly for backup of our main working server only (Linux based), as it loves to act up on us in the middle of our busy season.



Here's a quick rundown of what's going on...

1. We're all running Windows 7 Ultimate.
2. Depending on the hardware it's a mix of 32-bit and 64-bit.
3. We're all apart of the same workgroup.
4. I'm attempting to connect to the shared HDDs via the hosts IP addresses.
5. All clocks times are synced and corrected via the online Microsoft time server.
6. All computers are connected to the same single router via ethernet cable. No wireless.
7. The host PCs have been configured to give Full Control to people accessing it.
8. The host PCs have been configured to give Full Permissions to people accessing it.
9. Advanced Sharing Settings [Home or Work] set to [on/on/on/128bit/off/WinManage].
10. All necessary security options in secpol.msc have been altered.
11. All necessary security options in gpedit.msc have been altered.

Now the problem I'm having is that Windows 7 doesn't seem to want to let me share the actual hard drives. When I try, i'm told that access is denied for me. However if I create a folder inside of the drive and share that, I have no problem mapping it to other computers.

So in short:

Mapping Shared HDD = FAIL
Mapping Folder in Shared HDD = OK

But...I don't want to just bypass this issue with a simple folder share. I want to share the actual drives. So how can I get this done? All ways so far have led me to a complete dead end. I feel like I'm going crazy.

If you need to share the root of the drive so that nobody in the LAN has any restrictions you need to go into the Security tab and Add "Everyone" there as well. The link below shows you how.

HDD sharing

OMG thank you so much! They should make this so much easier than it is. Windows is good in so many ways, but so convoluted in others.