Windows 7 to XP file sharing: some files are accessible in a folder,some are not

I have a Windows 7 desktop that's sharing several folders out to other
computers, mainly running XP. That's pretty typical, and I'm not having
any problem setting this up, it's already setup and working fine.

However, recently I added a new folder share from the Windows 7
computer. What I'm finding is that some of the files in the folder are
accessible, and some are not. It's unusual because typically I see
either that the whole folder is accessible, or it is not, not just some
things inside it. I'd say half are accessible, and half are not.

When trying to access some files, I get the message: "file not
accessible". Yet, I can see all of these files when viewing the
directory listing in Explorer. What could be causing this?

Yousuf Khan

"Yousuf Khan" <> wrote in message
news:4e57415b$...
>I have a Windows 7 desktop that's sharing several folders out to
>other computers, mainly running XP. That's pretty typical, and I'm
>not having any problem setting this up, it's already setup and
>working fine.
>
> However, recently I added a new folder share from the Windows 7
> computer. What I'm finding is that some of the files in the folder
> are accessible, and some are not. It's unusual because typically I
> see either that the whole folder is accessible, or it is not, not
> just some things inside it. I'd say half are accessible, and half
> are not.
>
> When trying to access some files, I get the message: "file not
> accessible". Yet, I can see all of these files when viewing the
> directory listing in Explorer. What could be causing this?
>

Since it is some files and not others, I'd check security permissions
on the files themselves. If that's not it, it might be helpful to
know what files are and are not accessible.

--
Zaphod

Vell, Zaphod's just zis guy, ya know? - Gag Halfrunt

On 26/08/2011 07:46, Yousuf Khan wrote:
> I have a Windows 7 desktop that's sharing several folders out to other computers, mainly running XP. That's pretty typical, and I'm not having any problem setting this up, it's already setup and working fine.
>
> However, recently I added a new folder share from the Windows 7 computer. What I'm finding is that some of the files in the folder are accessible, and some are not. It's unusual because typically I see either that the whole folder is accessible, or it is not, not just some things inside it. I'd say half are accessible, and half are not.
>
> When trying to access some files, I get the message: "file not accessible". Yet, I can see all of these files when viewing the directory listing in Explorer. What could be causing this?
>
> Yousuf Khan

What is often a simple quick fix for this is to unshare the folder and then share it again.
HTH
--
Rob

On 26/08/2011 8:23 AM, Rob wrote:
> On 26/08/2011 07:46, Yousuf Khan wrote:
>> I have a Windows 7 desktop that's sharing several folders out to other computers, mainly running XP. That's pretty typical, and I'm not having any problem setting this up, it's already setup and working fine.
>>
>> However, recently I added a new folder share from the Windows 7 computer. What I'm finding is that some of the files in the folder are accessible, and some are not. It's unusual because typically I see either that the whole folder is accessible, or it is not, not just some things inside it. I'd say half are accessible, and half are not.
>>
>> When trying to access some files, I get the message: "file not accessible". Yet, I can see all of these files when viewing the directory listing in Explorer. What could be causing this?
>>
>> Yousuf Khan
>
> What is often a simple quick fix for this is to unshare the folder and then share it again.
> HTH

Okay, just tried that, and it did work -- somewhat. The files that were
previously giving trouble are no longer giving trouble, but new files
that are put into this directory seem to give the trouble still. This
particular directory is a very dynamic directory, it's used mainly to
hold recently downloaded files and share them out to other computers in
the house. I'm finding that newer files give the issue. Am I supposed to
unshare the folder everytime there's a new file downloaded, and reshare it?

There's no other Windows 7 computers in the house to test this out on,
apart from the main desktop. When I attempt to mount this computer's own
filesystem as a network share, it works fine, but that's obvious. I
don't know if it's working fine because it's sharing to Windows 7 or if
it's running fine because the network share is actually a local
filesystem. I can only test remotely to an XP computer.

Yousuf Khan

Yousuf Khan wrote:
> On 26/08/2011 8:23 AM, Rob wrote:
>> On 26/08/2011 07:46, Yousuf Khan wrote:
>>> I have a Windows 7 desktop that's sharing several folders out to
>>> other computers, mainly running XP. That's pretty typical, and I'm
>>> not having any problem setting this up, it's already setup and
>>> working fine.
>>>
>>> However, recently I added a new folder share from the Windows 7
>>> computer. What I'm finding is that some of the files in the folder
>>> are accessible, and some are not. It's unusual because typically I
>>> see either that the whole folder is accessible, or it is not, not
>>> just some things inside it. I'd say half are accessible, and half are
>>> not.
>>>
>>> When trying to access some files, I get the message: "file not
>>> accessible". Yet, I can see all of these files when viewing the
>>> directory listing in Explorer. What could be causing this?
>>>
>>
>> What is often a simple quick fix for this is to unshare the folder and
>> then share it again.
>> HTH
>
> Okay, just tried that, and it did work -- somewhat. The files that were
> previously giving trouble are no longer giving trouble, but new files
> that are put into this directory seem to give the trouble still. This
> particular directory is a very dynamic directory, it's used mainly to
> hold recently downloaded files and share them out to other computers in
> the house. I'm finding that newer files give the issue. Am I supposed to
> unshare the folder everytime there's a new file downloaded, and reshare it?

Could it be the security setting on XP about opening "unsafe" i.e.
downloaded files? When you look at the file properties when they are not
accessible, does it say that "This file came from another computer... bla bla"?

On 8/26/2011 7:51 PM, Patok wrote:
> Could it be the security setting on XP about opening "unsafe" i.e.
> downloaded files? When you look at the file properties when they are not
> accessible, does it say that "This file came from another computer...
> bla bla"?

No, these aren't executables, they're mainly data files, like vids,
music, etc. The message that comes back is simply "file not found",
despite it being clearly visible in the directory.

Yousuf Khan

On 26/08/2011 7:51 PM, Patok wrote:
> Could it be the security setting on XP about opening "unsafe" i.e.
> downloaded files? When you look at the file properties when they are not
> accessible, does it say that "This file came from another computer...
> bla bla"?

Since I wrote my last message to you, I found the following information
that looks promising. It's talking about Vista, but it applies to Win7
as well, and apparently even applies to WinXP SP2 and above.

Vista Blocked File Protection Control
http://www.petri.co.il/unblock-files-windows-vista.htm

Apparently Windows 7 maintains zone information in downloaded files, and
automatically "blocks" them. I don't know if this is what's been causing
my wierd issues here, but I'll disable the entire policy, and see what
happens.

Yousuf Khan

Yousuf Khan <> wrote in
news:4e5827c2$:

> On 26/08/2011 8:23 AM, Rob wrote:
>> On 26/08/2011 07:46, Yousuf Khan wrote:
>>> I have a Windows 7 desktop that's sharing several folders out to
>>> other computers, mainly running XP. That's pretty typical, and
>>> I'm not having any problem setting this up, it's already setup
>>> and working fine.
>>>
>>> However, recently I added a new folder share from the Windows 7
>>> computer. What I'm finding is that some of the files in the
>>> folder are accessible, and some are not. It's unusual because
>>> typically I see either that the whole folder is accessible, or
>>> it is not, not just some things inside it. I'd say half are
>>> accessible, and half are not.
>>>
>>> When trying to access some files, I get the message: "file not
>>> accessible". Yet, I can see all of these files when viewing the
>>> directory listing in Explorer. What could be causing this?
>>>
>>> Yousuf Khan
>>
>> What is often a simple quick fix for this is to unshare the
>> folder and then share it again. HTH
>
> Okay, just tried that, and it did work -- somewhat. The files that
> were previously giving trouble are no longer giving trouble, but
> new files that are put into this directory seem to give the
> trouble still. This particular directory is a very dynamic
> directory, it's used mainly to hold recently downloaded files and
> share them out to other computers in the house. I'm finding that
> newer files give the issue. Am I supposed to unshare the folder
> everytime there's a new file downloaded, and reshare it?
>
> There's no other Windows 7 computers in the house to test this out
> on, apart from the main desktop. When I attempt to mount this
> computer's own filesystem as a network share, it works fine, but
> that's obvious. I don't know if it's working fine because it's
> sharing to Windows 7 or if it's running fine because the network
> share is actually a local filesystem. I can only test remotely to
> an XP computer.
>
> Yousuf Khan
>

You say that you are moving files into this shared folder. When
files are _moved_ within the same disk volume, the files retain their
original file protections. So if you move a file that was created in
an area where only you have permissions to it into a shared folder,
it will retain permissions for only you to access it.

The simple solution is to "copy" a file into the shared folder
instead of "moving" it (drag it with the right mouse button instead
of the left button). When copying the file, the copy will be
assigned the permissions of the containing folder which is probably
what you desire.

The following applies to XP but likely is the same for Windows 7.
"How permissions are handled when you copy and move files and
folders"
< http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310316 >

HTH,
JW

On 27/08/2011 1:53 AM, John Wunderlich wrote:
> You say that you are moving files into this shared folder. When
> files are _moved_ within the same disk volume, the files retain their
> original file protections. So if you move a file that was created in
> an area where only you have permissions to it into a shared folder,
> it will retain permissions for only you to access it.

Not really, files are coming into this directory after being downloaded
from the Internet, but they didn't actually exist anywhere else within
this computer before they came to this directory.

However, when I started having these problems, in order to test out the
problem, I did begin to copy in files into this folder from elsewhere,
both from remote locations and locally. However, the problem was already
present even before any new files were copied or moved in.

> The simple solution is to "copy" a file into the shared folder
> instead of "moving" it (drag it with the right mouse button instead
> of the left button). When copying the file, the copy will be
> assigned the permissions of the containing folder which is probably
> what you desire.

None of the files had any unusual permissions beforehand, and neither
did this directory. Certainly nothing that would prevent them from even
being read. So whether it was copied in or moved in, should be
irrelevant as everything should be readable at the very least. And the
fact that there are some files in this directory that are readable is a
sign of this.

Yousuf Khan

"Yousuf Khan" <> wrote in message
news:4e5895e0$...
> On 27/08/2011 1:53 AM, John Wunderlich wrote:
>> You say that you are moving files into this shared folder. When
>> files are _moved_ within the same disk volume, the files retain their
>> original file protections. So if you move a file that was created in
>> an area where only you have permissions to it into a shared folder,
>> it will retain permissions for only you to access it.
>
> Not really, files are coming into this directory after being downloaded
> from the Internet, but they didn't actually exist anywhere else within
> this computer before they came to this directory.
>
> However, when I started having these problems, in order to test out the
> problem, I did begin to copy in files into this folder from elsewhere,
> both from remote locations and locally. However, the problem was already
> present even before any new files were copied or moved in.
>
>> The simple solution is to "copy" a file into the shared folder
>> instead of "moving" it (drag it with the right mouse button instead
>> of the left button). When copying the file, the copy will be
>> assigned the permissions of the containing folder which is probably
>> what you desire.
>
> None of the files had any unusual permissions beforehand, and neither did
> this directory. Certainly nothing that would prevent them from even being
> read. So whether it was copied in or moved in, should be irrelevant as
> everything should be readable at the very least. And the fact that there
> are some files in this directory that are readable is a sign of this.
>
> Yousuf Khan

I agree with JW's suggestion. I was having similar problems accessing files
on my XP share from Win7 (didn't matter what type- pictures, zip files,
executables, whatever), and found that if I downloaded my files to a
temporary location and then copied them to my XP share, I could access them
from Win7 with no problem. But if I downloaded them directly to the XP
share, or moved them to the XP share, some files would produce error
messages when trying to work with them from Win7. I still have the Send To
powertoy installed on my XP machine, so that makes it very simple and easy
to copy the files I want to share. Once I'm sure they're accessible from
Win7, I delete them from the temporary location.

I agree with your last paragraph- I didn't see any unusual properties in
these files, but the simple act of copying instead of moving made them
readily accessible to both machines. Things that make you go huh. . .

Just my 2 cents worth :-)
--
SC Tom