Create Completly 'Open' Network Between Win7, Vista & X

1fzj80 · Nov 5, 2009

I am unable to create a completely open network between multiple computers running Win7, Vista and XP on a simple Workgroup network? I need all devices (hardrives, DVD, CD, etc…) available to all machines without any restrictions (not just the Public Directory). It was working fine until Win7.

I have a small home/office with 6 computers, only four are used regulary. Two are Win7, one is Vista and the others are XP. It is a simple network using a Netgear switch and Workgroup. All computers are visible on the network and the Win7 machines have full access on the Vista and XP computers. However, when any computer tries to acces a Win7 machine (even the other Win7 computer), only the public directories are available. No hardrive, etc. The hardrives show, but I get “don’t have permission to access” when I try to open.

The Win7 computers are set to: network discovery-on, file sharing-on, password protection-off, HomeGroup-use user account & password to connect to other computers. How do I 'open' Win7 devices on the network. Each device is shared and permission is set to full control for everyone. What else needs to be done?

kegobeer · Nov 5, 2009

Homegroup is only for Windows 7 computers. Disable it and see if things improve.

1fzj80 · Nov 5, 2009

Disable by leaving the HG?

kegobeer · Nov 5, 2009

1fzj80 · Nov 5, 2009

No change. I left the HG on both Win7 computers and rebooted. It did not change how the computers behave on the network. Still can't anything other than 'Public' on the Win7 computers. Something in Win7 is blocking access. Agghh!!!!

Barman58 · Nov 5, 2009

Are you actually sharing the folders on the windows 7 machines?

Another issue could be that the permissions have been set for only the Homegroupuser$ group as a side effect of the use of homegroup.

Check the share permissions and the NTFS permissions on the shared items on Windows 7.

The use of homegroup can reset the normal permissions required for workgroup sharing and also if you wish to share the root of the drive this has to be done specifically and cannot rely on the C$ type admin shares

1fzj80 · Nov 5, 2009

I checked again and it seems right, but still not access to hardrives on Win7 computers. This is how I set it up: right clicked on drive, set as shared, advanced sharing permission group set to everyone with full control. Maybe I need to add the specific path of each networked computer? Does 'everyone' really mean everyone?

strollin · Nov 5, 2009

When you left the Homegroup did you setup the Win 7 systems to be part of your Workgroup that the Vista and XP machines are part of?

Barman58 · Nov 5, 2009

You will need to take ownership and add the everyone group to the NTFS permissions for the whole drive in addition to the sharing permissions.

The adding of everyone to the complete system drive is difficult due to the additional security in Windows 7.

The security is set on certain areas so that even the administrators do not have full rights, and there is actually use of deny permissions, on links, which complicate matters.

I would always suggest that you only share the minimum areas that you need to work as changing global permissions may cause unexpected results on the sharing machine

1fzj80 · Nov 5, 2009

Yes, it is on workgroup and I can access the Public directories and the other shared devices show on the network, but get error window pop-up if I try to open hardrive, DVD, etc. And from the Win7 computers I have full open access to the Vista and XP machines. Just something is blocking access to anything other than Public on the Win7 computers.

1fzj80 · Nov 5, 2009

Barman58 said:
You will need to take ownership and add the everyone group to the NTFS permissions for the whole drive in addition to the sharing permissions.

The adding of everyone to the complete system drive is difficult due to the additional security in Windows 7.

The security is set on certain areas so that even the administrators do not have full rights, and there is actually use of deny permissions, on links, which complicate matters.

I would always suggest that you only share the minimum areas that you need to work as changing global permissions may cause unexpected results on the sharing machine

How do I get to NTFS permissions. Where are these settings? I would like to share the whole drive(s) on multiple computers.

Barman58 · Nov 5, 2009

There is a link to the NTFS permissions in the advanced sharing dialogue but the permissions are best manipulated from within explorer via the security Tab on the properties right click menu of each folder or file.

You can add and remove permissions from the normal security dialogue and there is an advanced set of tools available.

To share a DVD drive for example you need to right click and share the drive as something other than the default (eg. d$) with everyone and also set the NTFS permissions for everyone

1fzj80 · Nov 5, 2009

OK, here is what it is doing. I can share an individual directory on a Win7 machine, but not a hardrive

Also, even though I have password protection set to 'OFF' I still get prompted for it from the XP computers, but not the Vista computers. Wacky?

So, I have multiple hardrives with hundreds of directorys and would have to share each one individually. Crazy. There must be a way around this. I'm not an IT guy, I just need access to about 9 hardrives. Why is this so difficult.

Barman58 · Nov 5, 2009

The default with a permissions setting is to "cascade" down to all lower levels although this can sometimes become confused. There is an advanced option to apply permissions to all folders beneath the current one for these occasions.

It should be possible to share a data drive without issues. Log in as an admin and take ownership of the complete drive (advanced permissions dialogue), and then add full control for the everyone user group. This should cascade down to all items on the drive.

If you want to be sure that the folders are treated as the public folders the best way would be to check the actual permissions on he public folders and duplicate these on the folders you wish to share. I believe that the "interactive" user my need to be included to allow network use

1fzj80 · Nov 8, 2009

I figured it out. Finally!!!!!

OK, this is the problem: I had ownership of the drive on the local machine, but that is not enough. I had to give "everyone" ownership of the drive for other computers to access it. That means logging-in through the network from another machine to the Win7 computer, you have ownership as "everyone" and therefore, permission to access the drive.

So, here is what I did. Right click on the hardrive from windows explorer. Go to properties. Click on Security. Click edit. Add "everyone" to the group and assign the permissions you want. Then go to sharing and share the drive as you would normally. The root of the drive will now be accessible over the network.

I understand it now, but this is very poorly explained in every document I read. I spent hour researching this and can't understand why MS has made it so diffucult to share a drive over a network. Totally absurd.

kegobeer · Nov 8, 2009

If you create identical users on each machine, and then add the users group to the drive (or whatever it is you want to share), then all authenticated users will have access. I'm curious - in the advanced sharing options, do you have password protected sharing enabled?

1fzj80 · Nov 8, 2009

I have password protected sharing 'off'.

RustyFalcon · Nov 16, 2009

I've found success using the information presented here to network XP, Vista, and Win7 computers: How to make Windows 7 work with older Windows versions for networking and file sharing.

Create Completly 'Open' Network Between Win7, Vista & X

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