Solved Insufficient authorization to see files in shared folder

[bvlenci]

I have two computers, a desktop running Windows 7 Professional and a netbook running Windows 7 starter edition. I have shared some folders on the netbook and can access them from the desktop computer. However, I am unable to share folders on the desktop. From the netbook, I can see the desktop on my network and also the shared folders, but when I try to open them I am told I have insufficient authorization to so so. I have checked the authorizations on the desktop side and can see that "Everyone" has permission to open these folders for reading, and that the authorization extends also to subfolders and files.

I've been trying all day to resolve this problem and would appreciate any help.

When I set up these permissions, why doesn't Windows warn me that there's something else that will impede what I'm trying to do?

 

[chev65]

You might try going into the Security tab of the Desktop's main drive or folder you want to share then add "Everyone" there as well. Security tab>Edit button>Add button>type Everyone for object name, apply, ok and so forth.

 

[bvlenci]

Wouldn't that give access to every folder on the Desktop? I don't want to do that.

 

[kegobeer]

How do you have the advanced sharing configured on both computers? Are they the same? Are you using a homegroup or a workgroup?

 

[fseal]

Likely the "Guest" user is disabled on both machines. To allow someone without any credentials on the machine being accessed, the guest account must be enabled on the machine with the shared folder.

 

[chev65]

No it does not give access to every folder.

Wouldn't that give access to every folder on the Desktop? I don't want to do that.

You might try going into the Security tab of the Desktop's main drive or folder you want to share then add "Everyone" there as well. Security tab>Edit button>Add button>type Everyone for object name, apply, ok and so forth.

Notice the part in bold. Although you shouldn't need to do that if you set up a Homegroup.

You will want to make sure that your wireless connection for the desktop or netbook is using WPA2 and AES encryption.

This assumes that you have set up a Workgroup or Homegroup "preferable" using the same workgroup name for both the desktop and the netbook.

 

[bvlenci]

Kegobeer, I'm not sure what you mean by your first question. When I shared the folders, I gave "Everybody" read permission but no other permissions. Is that what you meant? This worked in one direction (desktop reads netbook), but not the other (netbook can't read desktop). I checked all the tabs and advanced options under properties for the shared folders, and I don't see anything different on the two computers. I don't think there is either a Work Group or a Home Group. The two computers are part of a domestic network that has about six or seven computers on it.

The Desktop has a Guest account, while the netbook does not. Fseal seemed to be saying that this would prevent the desktop from reading the files on the netbook, but actually the opposite is the case. Maybe I misunderstood him.

Since I take the netbook with me when I travel, I'm not sure I want a Guest account on it. The only account on the netbook is protected by a password. However, it's not the netbook that's inaccessible.

I had read elsewhere that perhaps folders that are owned by System are not accessible, even if you explicitly share them, but I've checked that the unopenable shared folders are owned by the main user, and administrator, which would be me.

Oh, how I miss Unix!

 

[chev65]

You will want to either set up a Workgroup or a Homegroup in order to share files between Windows 7 machines. The Security setting I mentioned was to determine if it was a permissions problem or not.

I can't imagine why you would need a guest account in order to share files on a Windows 7 machine.

Perhaps just following the directions to set up a Homegroup would help.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/43972-homegroup-add-computer-join.html

 

[bvlenci]

Why am I then able to share files in one direction without a Group? Creating a Home Group just seems to add another network layer, and I don't see why it's necessary. If I create a Home Group, then it looks to me as though the other computers in our network will either have to join it or will be shut out of my resources. At least one of the other computers shares resources with one of mine.

 

[kegobeer]

Advanced sharing isn't tied to a directory or file, it's the guidelines Windows follows when sharing. Click on the orb and type "manage advanced sharing settings" to get to the settings page.

If you want to share files between computers without problems, you need either a workgroup or a homegroup.

 

[chev65]

Why am I then able to share files in one direction without a Group? Creating a Home Group just seems to add another network layer, and I don't see why it's necessary. If I create a Home Group, then it looks to me as though the other computers in our network will either have to join it or will be shut out of my resources. At least one of the other computers shares resources with one of mine.

Yep you will need one or the other as Kego mentions or you can play around with the sharing permissions and Security settings but that won't be as secure.

You can only join a Homegroup with the netbook but you can't create one, that's because the netbook has Windows starter. You can use the Desktop to create one. After that you can work with the permission settings to determine which folders you want to share.

I don't see any reason to do this the hard way and it's no wonder you had problems sharing files.

 

[fseal]

blvenci, no I think you understood right. but er, that is strange :/

And your right, typically you do not want to have Guest enabled on the laptop. In fact you should not have anything shared on the laptop at all. Instead of using the desktop to go to the laptop to retrieve files, instead use the laptop to save files onto the desktop. Then the laptop needs no shares at all.

 

[bvlenci]

I checked the properties of this computer, and it appears that it *is* part of a workgroup called WORKGROUP. Reading further, it seems that computers must be running Windows 7 to access a Homegroup, and that would shut out other computers that share resources with me. So, I'll stick with the workgroup that I didn't know I was a member of.

Kegobeer, I checked the advanced sharing options and everything is activated except sharing of public folders. The folders I'm trying to share are not public folders.

 

[kegobeer]

Believe it or not, sometimes the default "workgroup" doesn't seem to work right for all people. I would pick a new workgroup name and change it on each computer. Reboot and see if things improve.

Yes, homegroup is a "Windows 7 only" club. Personally I have no use for it, so I stick to workgroups and domains.

 

[bvlenci]

Fseal, If I have a shared folder on the netbook, I was under the impression that it was shared only with other computers on my home network. Now you've put a doubt in my mind. If I'm away from home and access the internet on a wifi network, would my shared folder be accessible to other people using that wifi network?

I use this shared folder to put things on when I'm away from home that I know I'll want to move to the desktop when I get back home. So, your idea of writing to the desktop wouldn't work, even assuming I could access the desktop from this netbook, which I can't.

I certainly don't want to share the folder with the whole world, so if sharing it implies that, I'll have to go back to the old memory stick.

 

[kegobeer]

When you use your netbook in Starbucks, you will get notified of a wireless network that's available and you'll be offered three choices: home, work, and public - and when in public places you pick the public network. By default, the public network disables all file sharing, so your netbook won't be an "open book". Don't worry, your files will be safe.

 

[kegobeer]

When it comes to file sharing, I use a domain-type approach. I don't believe in giving the group "everyone" access, because I think that's just plain silly. Instead, I create identical user accounts on each computer that will be sharing. Doing that means I can select which users have access to what files/folders. I also choose "User user accounts and passwords to connect to other computers" in the advanced sharing settings - which allows me to share folders/files the way I want.

Now, if user A wants to access a file on my computer, user A will have no problems because that account and password is on my computer, too, so Windows will let user A have access to the files which I have granted him access.

 

[bvlenci]

The only regular users of our network are my husband and I, and we share everything but toothbrushes. Sometimes our kids and other relatives and friends are here, and a collaborator of his in the studio uses one of the computers, but that's OK, too. There's nothing in these folders that needs to be encrypted. I might like to share with "Everybody but Guest" so that my brother-in-law can't see anything...

I'm going to try renaming the workgroup, and I'll report back. I assume that, just for testing, I can rename the group only om these two.

 

[chev65]

The only regular users of our network are my husband and I, and we share everything but toothbrushes. Sometimes our kids and other relatives and friends are here, and a collaborator of his in the studio uses one of the computers, but that's OK, too. There's nothing in these folders that needs to be encrypted. I might like to share with "Everybody but Guest" so that my brother-in-law can't see anything...

I'm going to try renaming the workgroup, and I'll report back. I assume that, just for testing, I can rename the group only om these two.

If you don't want the brother in law to have access to shares use a different workgroup name on the guest machine.

Although I've never needed to rename the Workgroup just to get sharing files to work?

Most likely there is a an A/V software or a third party firewall in play here. I was trying to cut through any firewall or security issues by allowing for a Security setting change on at least one file or folder to see if it's a Security issue. It's too bad you didn't follow that advice right from the start.

 

[bvlenci]

I've solved the problem

Thanks to all of you who have tried to help me with this problem. It's now been solved, and I thought you would like to hear the story. Bear with me, as I'm translating things from Italian, the language of my system.

1. Today I opened Control Panel, Network Connection Center, where there is a diagram of the network. I noticed a link next to it labeled "View complete map". I had never noticed this before, and it really is the first place I should have looked. None of the troubleshooting pages I had read before coming to this forum suggested I look there. When I saw the complete map, there was my desktop floating out in space, unconnected to any of the other computers. A little digging made me realize that the desktop thought it was connected to a public network, which, of course, as kegobeer noted, would turn off sharing. So I fixed that, but I was still in the same boat. From my netbook, I could see the computer, and also the folder I wanted to share, but when I tried to open it, I still got a message saying I had insufficient authorization.

2. Then I tried renaming the workgroup on both computers, but that didn't help.

3. The I noticed that after having fixed the problem in number 1, there were two folders I could see from the netbook: the one I was trying to share, and the Users folder. I could open the Users folder, and below that I could see Default, Guest, and Public. I could open these folders, and see the subfolders under them. All the subfolders appeared to be empty, though. Under Users, there wasn't my account, just these three. So, on the desktop, I moved the folder I wanted to share into the Default hierarchy, and redid all the sharing permissions. Now I could open the shared folder and see the files. (Originally, I had just hung this folder from the C drive, with no associated user.)

I suppose that, ideally, I should figure out how to share folders that are in the hierarchy of a particular account, but I'm not particularly interested. I've had enough of this in the past two days. I'm just curious, though. Who is the Default account? My own account says that I'm the administrator, but files I put under my account hierarchy don't show up in the Administrator hierarchy. Another thing that puzzles me is that on the netbook I can still see the shared folder in its old position (not under Users/Default) and also in its new position, under Users/Default. The version in the old position appears to be empty, whereas in the new position, I can see and open the files in the folder. On the desktop, it no longer shows up in the old position, because I moved it, not copied.

Anyway, thanks again.