OK--I did it--a new Vista so now I am networking it with two other computers. I have the wireless web connection up and running.
The computers all see each other on their respective screens. My two XP's can open files on both the other XP and the Vista. The Vista can open all files on the 2 XPs.
The problem is that although the network places on the XP's show the Vista Documents and Vista Pictures folders, when I click them I am told that I am denied usaer access and to talk with the server's administrator (which is me on all of them.)
I can access Vista's Public Folder but I do not want to put my documents and pictures in it. I want to access those folders directly.
I think what you need to do is share out the folders. If there is a folder that you typically want to access (such as your user folder on Vista), then share it out.
To share, right click on the folder name and give everyone access.
This is what I do at work. There might be an easier way with a home network. Any other suggestions?
Thanks, Marta, Does that mean that every folder needs to be shared independently as opposed to just marking My Documents and My Pictures for open access? It is frustrating because the XPs do this so the Vista can get to them but not the other way around. I hope there is a better way--somewhere.
If you can share the 'root' folder of your user area, then that should share out all the sub-folders which would include my documents and picture area. I'll look around at work tomorrow if no other Vista users have suggestions.
Try this from your vista computer: right click the folder you want to share, go to properties, security tab, click edit, click add, type "everyone" in the box, click apply
Think of your file system as a tree. The closer you share to the root, the more 'branches' or folders that will be included in a single 'share'. There are a couple of options that you have. You can share the 'users' folder or an individual user folder. This is typically where your data is stored. Then all your user subfolders like documents, pictures, etc will be shared. Or you can go all the way to the 'root' and share a the drive (C:\). Then everything is shared.
Here is a good web page on How to share a folder. The same principle works for sharing from the root. I shared the root by clicking on Computer, right clicking on drive, and selecting Share. Then I followed the directions on the page above to share it and also give permissions to the users.
I would also keep in mind if you have a wireless network, make certain that you have your wireless network secured. Otherwise anyone who gains access to your network will have access to your shares.
Steve and Marta, thanks for the info. I will be working on it tonight and will let you know how successful I am. Yes, I have a wireless router and it is secured. Other than this little glitch, things have gone smoothly so far. I bought a vista several months ago and had problems so returned it. This time those problems didn't surface so maybe they have tweaked somethings.
By default the document and picture folders on Vista are already shared, meaning they are visible on the windows file sharing network. This is different than xp.
Jane just needs to set the NTFS permissions on these two folders in Vista so that they can be accessible from her XP computer.
My Vista machine must be set up differently. I have a 'marta' folder under users. There is a documents folder and a pictures folder under my User area. These are not shared out and I can not see them from my XP machine.
There is a 'public' area under Vista which also has a documents and pictures folder. I can see these folders over the network without doing anything special but I can't see anything that I've stored specifically in my user area unless I share it. That is how I would expect it also.
But then, I'm on a corporate domain network and not a home network. It might be different if you are on a home network and same user.
Steve, it worked like a charm but I have a question. Once I did that, the message came that I could now e-mail whom I wanted to see the pictures. What in the world does this mean? Certainly not that whomever could access my computer files--I hope?
My router is secured and my computer requires a password.
BTW: I believe that you are the person I corresponded with re. Viticcio. We had a totally wonderful year there in the apartment. It was perfect. Thanks for the thumbs up for our decision.
Sorry it was not I who recommended Viticcio. Must be another Steve
The message for emailing photo is just to demonstrate the new photo email "wizard" feature in Vista for sending photos. No one can see your photo folders outside of your home network.
