Sharing Drives on Local Net

Nordland · 28 May 2020

Hello,

I use a redundant 1TB HDD drive L:\ in a USB caddy as a backup drive on computer //BB

Second computer //AA sees the drive on the local net but no way will it allow
access to either the whole drive or to shared folders on it.

A flash drive on \\BB can be accessed as a whole drive by \\AA.

File & Printer Sharing is on, network passwords are off.

Why the difficulty with the HDD when the flash drive can be accessed, and how to
get round the problem ?

Both machines are Windows 10 64-bit. v10.0.18363 Build 18363

Regards

Nordland

Compumind · 28 May 2020

Hi Nordland!

Welcome to Windows Ten Forums!

Is this a new problem? Did the access work before?
Could you please check that everything is enabled on both systems?

Here -

Turn On or Off Network Discovery in Windows 10

Everything should be turned on, as indicated if you are behind your firewall.
It could also be a drive mapping issue.

Kindly advise.

Thanks,

Berton · 28 May 2020

One issue I've run into is in using consistent terminology, the / or // is used with the Internet routing/address and with switches in commands such as dir /? to get help at the Command Prompt in listing files in a folder. The \ or \\ is used in the Path names of folders and files on the computer.

I use NAS drives attached by cable to my Router and if the drive can be seen I Map a folder on the named Public, any computer that can connect to the Router, Wired or Wireless/Wi-Fi can Map that folder and access the files and folders in it. Example: Public (\\WDMYCLOUD2) (Z:)

Compumind · 28 May 2020

Berton said:

One issue I've run into is in using consistent terminology, the / or // is used with the Internet routing/address and with switches in commands such as dir /? to get help at the Command Prompt in listing files in a folder. The \ or \\ is used in the Path names of folders and files on the computer.

I use NAS drives attached by cable to my Router and if the drive can be seen I Map a folder on the named Public, any computer that can connect to the Router, Wired or Wireless/Wi-Fi can Map that folder and access the files and folders in it. Example: Public (\\WDMYCLOUD2) (Z:)

Exactly.

Nordland · 29 May 2020

Compumind said:

Exactly.

Everything is turned on on both machines, public and private. Password protection is off.

Trying to access this drive, I get the 'As Administrator' window followed by the 'Do you wish to allow changes etc..." Then only a beep - no error message and no access.

The machines are connected to the router by ethernet.

The folders on the update HDD are not public ones, just those enabled for sharing. The drive in question isn't mapped.

\\BB has only the basic Windows firewall.
\\AA has Kaspersky Internet Security 2020. It has updates switched off as I don't wish to risk MS wrecking my only properly working desktop with a destructive update during the virus lockdown).

I shall have a look in Kaspersky's settings to see if I can locate something there which is preventing this. If I can't find anything, then I shall have to give up the project - a pity, and a waste of a useful drive. My needs don't extend to a NAS.

Clearly I am out of my depth here !

Regards

Nordland

Berton · 29 May 2020

Nordland said:

My needs don't extend to a NAS.

I understand that, didn't think about it myself until needing access from different computers, some that were connected only for a limited time and the NAS turned out to be the best way. Added to that is the OfficeJet and LaserJet printers connected by Ethernet cable that can be used from any computer I install their software on, some with Win10 only needing just the drivers and more reliably connected than their wireless feature.

Nordland · 30 May 2020

Berton said:

I understand that, didn't think about it myself until needing access from different computers, some that were connected only for a limited time and the NAS turned out to be the best way. Added to that is the OfficeJet and LaserJet printers connected by Ethernet cable that can be used from any computer I install their software on, some with Win10 only needing just the drivers and more reliably connected than their wireless feature.

I shall have to let it go. I would have thought that sharing folders over a network would have been a simple matter.

The HDD is a recycled one from a defunct Windows 7 system which was quick formatted. Formatting left a clean disc with no'reserved' partitions, so possibly \\bb sees it as a system disc from traces left unwiped due to a quick format. Alll i can thing of ... But why didn't \\AA on which it's installed reject it as well. I'll never know.
Thank you for your help.

Regards

Nordland

Nordland · 07 Jun 2020

Nordland said:

I shall have to let it go. I would have thought that sharing folders over a network would have been a simple matter.

The HDD is a recycled one from a defunct Windows 7 system which was quick formatted. Formatting left a clean disc with no'reserved' partitions, so possibly \\bb sees it as a system disc from traces left unwiped due to a quick format. Alll i can thing of ... But why didn't \\AA on which it's installed reject it as well. I'll never know.
Thank you for your help.

Regards

Nordland

In fact all of this was unnecessary. The drive is in fact shared.

I did not notice that the few folders I had shared were in fact listed along with all the other shares on \\BB.

It was just that Windows would not let me access the drive as a drive (L

but would let me access the shared folders on it, had I noticed that they were in fact there all the time !

Regards

Nordland