Vista to Vista file sharing "Access is Denied"

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brodier

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Question

** Please read my section on ‘previous attempts’ before making posts **

PC 1: Vista Ultimate
PC 2: Vista Home Premium SP1
PC 3: Vista Business
Network: PC1/2 are wired, PC3 is wireless and connect via a Netgear DG834G wireless router with DHCP used to assign all IPs.
Sharing Settings on all 3 PCs: Network Discovery (ON), File sharing (ON), Public folder sharing (ON), Printer Sharing (OFF), Password Protect Sharing (OFF), Media Sharing (OFF).

I have spent 2 weeks on this now. I recently installed Vista Ultimate on my main pc (PC1), and using the default sharing wizard, shared a series of folders to the 'Everyone' group, as I allow my private home network to access my shares anonymously. Everything was working fine for the first few days, PC2 and PC3 where able to successfully access the shares, until one day it just stopped working and when PC2/PC3 attempted to access the shared folders via ‘Start > Network’ or UNC Path \\VISTA\ , it would say “Access is Denied”. Having said that, to make it more complex, the shares are accessible if you type the folder share name, ie \\VISTA\Movies\.

I spent the next few days researching, uninstalled all the hot fixes (inc SP1) I had applied, changed every security setting there is, and read over 30 related “access is denied” forum topics. Most of these related to vista sharing to xp, but mine is VISTA to VISTA, and I swear I have not made the comical errors others have. I ended up doing a fresh install, and everything was fine again, so I thought it was a once off. After a few days the same problem came back. I thought it must have been one of the hot fixes I installed, or SP1, or another application. It is important to note that file sharing works seamlessly between PC2 and PC3.

In an attempt to save your time and effort, here is a list of the things i have already tried (and yes I reboot after every change):
- Disabled Windows Firewall and Windows Defender on PC1, I have NO other firewall, virus, or antispyware products installed, until I figure out this problem.
- Ensured the network location was set to ‘Private’ under ‘Network and Sharing Centre’.
- I confirm the ‘Everyone’ group has been given full access under the ‘Sharing’ and ‘Security’ tabs for all shared folders.
- I have granted permissions using the advanced sharing window, no difference.
- Confirmed guest account is enabled, I can also confirm that the event viewer on PC1 does not display any denied errors, but instead all guest access is granted without a problem.
- Disabled/Enabled IPv6, no difference
- Checked that ‘NetBIOS’ is enabled in the network card settings
- Checked ‘File and Printer Sharing’ is enabled in the network card of all PC’s.
- Workgroup is set to the same as the other computers (ie. HOME)
- Using IP (ie. \\10.10.10.1 ) instead of computer name, no difference
- Previously modified a whole rang of Security policies, if anyone thinks its one of these, I will list the exact ones I changed (I always revert it to default if it had no effect after reboot).
- My concurrent connection limit is not being hit

Does it matter that I change the location for ALL of my original C:\users\username folders (ie. Pictures, Movies, Searches, Contacts etc) to another hdd (ie. F:\profiles\usernames\). I was thinking that maybe the default view when doing \\VISTA\ was corrupt, or needs permission? This is my only last thought to myself, before I reformat and go back to XP. Also to reiterate the shares are accessible if you type the folder share name, ie \\VISTA\Movies\. Just not \\VISTA\

Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated.
 

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System One

Permissions are given in 2 different places.
So check that permissions are granted as you wish to "everybody" in the security tab as in the share tab.
 

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System One

sidney1st said:
Permissions are given in 2 different places.
So check that permissions are granted as you wish to "everybody" in the security tab as in the share tab.
Click to expand...

Hi Sidney thanks for the reply. As above, i have done this: "the ‘Everyone’ group has been given full access under the ‘Sharing’ and ‘Security’ tabs for all shared folders."
 

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System One

Hi Brodier,

First lets enable Logon Auditing on the computers you are trying to access so we can get a good idea why you are getting Access Denied errors...Goto Control Panel\Administrative Tools\Local Security Policy\Local Policys\Audit Policy, then select "Audit Account Logon Events" and "Audit Logon Events" and enable the Failure Audit on both of them...(dont enable auditing of sucessful events because it will make the log very large and too long).
Reboot and try connecting to the machine you just enabled Auditing on...

After you get two or a few more Access Denied Errors check the Event-Viewer for the reason Vista Denied access... From the Start menu search box type Event Viewer and open it, then goto Windows Logs\Security and post a complete copy of each different type of report you find, not duplicates just all the others...

When you post them here we can identify the exact cause and why your getting the Access Denied message...

Steven
 

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System One

Re: Xp to Vista file sharing "Access is Denied"

in vista u cannot share the whole drive if u r using 2 different OS. so directly share the folders u want to want to share on network.
just follow these simple tips on vista machine
1. right click on the folder to be shared and select the option share. or properties and share.
2. it will ask the option choose to share with. Write EVERYONE and hit enter
3. now grant the permission as co-owner.and click Share.
enjoy with sharing.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

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System One

Hi folks,

I had the same problem with Vista to XP sharing after installing Vista SP1. I removed SP1 and the problem no longer occurred. I would be interested, however, in any solution that would allow me to re-install SP1 as I will no doubt be forced into doing it at some stage in the near future.

I will be watching this thread with interest!
 

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System One

Chris en Provence said:
Hi folks,

I had the same problem with Vista to XP sharing after installing Vista SP1. I removed SP1 and the problem no longer occurred. I would be interested, however, in any solution that would allow me to re-install SP1 as I will no doubt be forced into doing it at some stage in the near future.

I will be watching this thread with interest!
Click to expand...

Have you set passwords for both user accounts on both machines?
 

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System One

dmex said:
Chris en Provence said:
Hi folks,

I had the same problem with Vista to XP sharing after installing Vista SP1. I removed SP1 and the problem no longer occurred. I would be interested, however, in any solution that would allow me to re-install SP1 as I will no doubt be forced into doing it at some stage in the near future.

I will be watching this thread with interest!
Click to expand...

Have you set passwords for both user accounts on both machines?
Click to expand...

I sure have. Both machines were XP until a couple of months ago when I bought a new PC with Vista preloaded. Network file & printer sharing worked fine until I installed SP1 then...

Note: I also started to have shutdown problems after SP1 (hanging on shutdown screen) and also hanging when coming out of standby. Power-off/on required in both cases. After I removed SP1 both problems "went away".
 

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System One

Hi Steven,

Sorry for the delay, but been v. busy since my last post. Finally got around to reinstalling Sp1 (for the 4th time now) and tried turning off simple file sharing. This did not work, so I downloaded and installed an updated Nvidia network controller driver. Thought this had solved the problem, but after a day of being able to access files on my XP machine, suddenly I couldn't anymore. Then apps started to hang waiting on the network, then Outlook and the Internet died so rebooted (all this reminded me of my days with Window 98 before SE came out!) I did this every day for a week and then decided I couldn't afford to keep waisting time so I removed SP1 AGAIN. No network problems, but the system is not stable. Apps crash from time time, but I only have to boot about once a week. I have seen similar problems in other threads in this form and wonder why, if so many people are suffering, Microsoft don't do something about it. I hear that there is an SP2 on the way. I will have to live with my pre-SP1 system (at least it works most of the time), or I may go back to XP which is v.stable on my other machines. Now I see why so many people want to avoid Vista!

Good luck
Chris
 

My Computer

System One

I had a similar problem to the original post and did nearly all the same things. Even after messing around with permissions, firewalls, and policy settings for an entire day - doing one simple thing resolved the issue...

Solution:
1 - shutdown the computer sharing the hard drive
2 - disconnected the shared hard drive
3 - boot the computer back up
4 - log back in as administrator and reconnect the shared drive
5 - enable sharing the drive again with everyone having read access (the sharing permissions should have been reset)

The computer sharing the hard drive was Vista Home Premium 32-bit, and the computer trying to access the shared files was Vista Home Premium 64-bit.

Disconnecting the drive then reconnecting it was all that needed to be done :/ Of course make sure you can ping the computer sharing the hard drive and get a response before starting as well.
 

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System One

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