Setting up sharing between 3 different operating systems.

[AndyTampa]

I'm so confused by network administration. I have a Home Network that was doing okay until I bought my laptop. My main computer is a Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit system, my wife's computer is a Windows XP 32-bit computer. They both connect to the router by wire. I've shared some of my folders to Everyone so that she can access them from her unit.

I recently bought a Windows 8.1 64-bit laptop computer to which I only want to share some folders from my Vista unit, but not with her computer. All three computers are on the same Workgroup.

My main computer and her computer do not have passwords set. The laptop does have a password. I have not set up User Accounts for each other on our computers. One thing I'd like to do is be able to access her entire computer from mine for when I have to troubleshoot.

I can't seem to set up my laptop to access a single folder unless I share it with Everyone, but then she will have access too. I've tried creating a user account, but that only seems to work for people using my own computer. How can I set up access to my Vista computer's folder from only my Win8.1 laptop?

I tried turning on Password Protected sharing and created a User Account, but I still couldn't access the folder from the laptop. I can access any folders shared with Everyone, but I cannot find a way to share with a single computer on the network. Any help?

 

[MilesAhead]

If you are logged in to the built in Administrator account you should be able to access drives using the already created C$ D$ etc..

See this for a start:
network shares - What does C$ mean when entered in Windows/Run while accessing remote drive? - Super User

 

[AndyTampa]

If you are logged in to the built in Administrator account you should be able to access drives using the already created C$ D$ etc..

See this for a start:
network shares - What does C$ mean when entered in Windows/Run while accessing remote drive? - Super User

First, I don't log into the built-in Administrator account. I have set up my own account as an Administrator on my machine. On her Windows XP machine, there is no built-in Administrator login unless you boot into safe mode. Even if I Log Out of her normal login, there is no Admin login to switch to. Also, there is no option to "Manage" My Computer from her normal login to perform the steps in the link you posted. Safe mode let me go through the motions of adding C$ and D$ since they weren't listed, however they still weren't listed when I rebooted.

I went to share her entire C: and D: drives with the network but it wouldn't allow me access to most folders on her computer.

 

[MilesAhead]

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/67567-administrator-account.html

 

[AndyTampa]

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/67567-administrator-account.html

Why did you post that link? I didn't say I don't have one to log into. I said I don't log into it. I did forget to mention that I have UAC turned off on my computer. I don't know if that makes a difference in using my own administrator account. Using only the Built-in Administrator account to access her machine isn't practical. Besides, it still behaves the same as my own Administrator account.

Did you post it for me to activate the account on her Windows XP machine? What would that do for what I need?

 

[AndyTampa]

When I last had a job, I had administrator privileges to my machine and was able to access all drives on the other machines except other's profiles. However, those machines were using Active Directory and I was able to use my login on every one of them. I've shared her C and D drives. I can access them from my computer, but I can't access Program Files or Windows. Those are where I'd need to repair things. I can also access certain folders in Documents and Settings, but not the one with her name.

 

[MilesAhead]

Why did you post that link? I didn't say I don't have one to log into. I said I don't log into it.

I took it to mean you did not have a true admin account to log into so how to activate. It is not possible to know the level of expertise of someone posting in varied areas of computing. It is pretty much impossible to avoid making assumptions. There is not much to go on so one takes a guess.

Did you post it for me to activate the account on her Windows XP machine? What would that do for what I need?

I was going to suggest you use the true admin account on your machine. If the XP mahine does not block it you should be able to access entire drives. But at this time I only have a Laptop. I do not have my desktops anymore to try things out. I am just going grom memory. But creating the admin account the longest task is the first login twhen Windows sets up the desktop and files for it. If it doesn't work just delete the account. It seems worth a try at any rate.

I cannot guarantee it will work. Especially mixing XP with Vista and later they made changes that make an ordinary workgroup tougher to set up and use. It is educated trial and error unless someone does it very frequently.

 

[AndyTampa]

I was going to suggest you use the true admin account on your machine. If the XP mahine does not block it you should be able to access entire drives. But at this time I only have a Laptop. I do not have my desktops anymore to try things out. I am just going grom memory. But creating the admin account the longest task is the first login twhen Windows sets up the desktop and files for it. If it doesn't work just delete the account. It seems worth a try at any rate.

I cannot guarantee it will work. Especially mixing XP with Vista and later they made changes that make an ordinary workgroup tougher to set up and use. It is educated trial and error unless someone does it very frequently.

You kind of confused me there between the "use the true admin account" and the "creating the admin account." For clarity, I'm assuming when you say "true admin account" that you mean the built-in admin account. My normal login is a created admin account. Using either one, I am not able to access all files on the drive. Both accounts behave the same. I cannot get to Program Files or Windows directories nor her Documents and Settings.

 

[MilesAhead]

See if this article is helpful. Apparently Vista and later blocks C$ by default

Enable Mapping to \\Hostname\C$ Share on Windows 7 or Vista

 

[AndyTampa]

See if this article is helpful. Apparently Vista and later blocks C$ by default

Enable Mapping to \\Hostname\C$ Share on Windows 7 or Vista

Thanks for trying, but that was also a no-go. It didn't change any behavior at all.

The funny thing is that I can access all the folders on my machine from her machine by using the Administrator profile and password from her machine. The registry hack isn't even necessary. I'm not even sharing those folders on the Vista machine but can access them from the XP machine.

I've shared C and D on her machine and can access many folders. The folders I can't access each have a note on the Sharing tab that states: All the options on this tab are disabled because this folder is used by the operating system. I'm accessing each computer the same way, so it must be right if it's working on one. I use \\NANCYSMAIN\C$ in the Run command box of the Start Menu.

When the Vista machine fails to access a folder it presents a message box telling me "Windows cannot access \\NANCYSMAIN\C$" and a Diagnose button. The diagnosis is "Windows confirmed that the server 'NANCYSMAIN' exists but cannot find 'C$'".

I tried creating a profile on her machine with a password and I've tried shutting down the firewalls on both machines, but nothing changes.

 

[MilesAhead]

I wish I could be more help. I had a mix of XP Vista and Windows 7 PCs on a workgroup. But at this point I only have a Laptop with Windows 8.0. I don't have the desktop machines anymore to try adding in the W8 machine. Since Windows 8 seems to be the stumbling block and eight forums has much more traffic I think you may get more responses if you post here:
Network & Sharing - Windows 8 Forums

As each Windows release comes out the networking seems to get more restrictive.

 

[AndyTampa]

I wish I could be more help. I had a mix of XP Vista and Windows 7 PCs on a workgroup. But at this point I only have a Laptop with Windows 8.0. I don't have the desktop machines anymore to try adding in the W8 machine. Since Windows 8 seems to be the stumbling block and eight forums has much more traffic I think you may get more responses if you post here:
Network & Sharing - Windows 8 Forums

As each Windows release comes out the networking seems to get more restrictive.

Won't they just tell me to post in the Vista forum? My issue has nothing to do with Windows 8, so I'd just be in the wrong place.

 

[MilesAhead]

Won't they just tell me to post in the Vista forum? My issue has nothing to do with Windows 8, so I'd just be in the wrong place.

I would post in W8. It must have 10 or 20 times the traffic as this forum. Besides, another poster here may chime in. I don't think anyone will erase your thread.

 

[AndyTampa]

Done. Crossing my fingers.

 

[MilesAhead]

There are some network savvy posters there. They should have some suggestions more useful than mine. I know a bit from setting up my own systems. But there should be a few with SysAdmin experience I hope, to help you out.

 

[AndyTampa]

Nobody is rushing to my aid there. I'll leave the questions in both places and hope I get an answer, though I won't be holding my breath. Thank you for trying.

 

[MilesAhead]

Nobody is rushing to my aid there. I'll leave the questions in both places and hope I get an answer, though I won't be holding my breath. Thank you for trying.

Sorry you are not getting a better response. I imagine right now Windows 10 is sucking the air out of everything else.

 

[AndyTampa]

I don't even want to talk about Windows 10 yet. I reserved my copy and downloaded it. Then I installed it and took a look at it. I removed it within an hour, but it won't stop prompting me to install it whenever I boot my laptop. Now I'm working on my wife's new laptop and the download ignored the instruction not to download and every attempt to get it to stop. I even manually selected updates excluding Win10, but it still downloaded first while deselected.