Trouble getting file sharing right.

[dullard]

I tried the networking forum and got nowhere. Not enough people browse that forum.

At work I want to share files between 9 computers:
Two Win 95 machines,
Four Win NT machines,
Two Win 2k machines, and
One Win ME laptop.

Most of the computers have two hard drives (the NT machines have one with FAT and one with NTFS).

I would like to be able to read and write from any computer to any computer with either HD and with a few different names/passwords. I would also like to prevent access as best as possible for outsiders without the proper passwords.

It is mostly set up, but I have a few problems. My biggest concern at the moment is that on some of the machines I can only write to one drive (D) and not the other (C) - even though they appear to be set up the same way. Any hints on how to write to both drives?

 

[exorr]

Can NTFS read FAT? Just curious...

 

[lorlabnew]

The reason why you can't read certain C drives (I suppose those of NT machines?) could be the incorrect sharing on those drives (they appear to be shared with that little hand icon, but they are not). C drives are most likely shared as default c$ shares (admin shares only); you need to create a new regular share for each....

You don't have to worry about FAT/NTFS, since while Win95/ME machines can't read NTFS locally, they can over the network

Hope this helps.... just an idea.





<< I tried the networking forum and got nowhere. Not enough people browse that forum.

At work I want to share files between 9 computers:
Two Win 95 machines,
Four Win NT machines,
Two Win 2k machines, and
One Win ME laptop.

Most of the computers have two hard drives (the NT machines have one with FAT and one with NTFS).

I would like to be able to read and write from any computer to any computer with either HD and with a few different names/passwords. I would also like to prevent access as best as possible for outsiders without the proper passwords.

It is mostly set up, but I have a few problems. My biggest concern at the moment is that on some of the machines I can only write to one drive (D) and not the other (C) - even though they appear to be set up the same way. Any hints on how to write to both drives? >>

 

[dullard]

<< (they appear to be shared with that little hand icon, but they are not). C drives are most likely shared as default c$ shares (admin shares only); you need to create a new regular share for each.... >>



Thank you, that helped. As you can see, I know nothing about networking computers. I just assumed that if I told the drive to be shared, and gave everyone permission to use it, then it will work. That little hand really made me think I had it set up to allow sharing.

If you don't mind, I have two more questions.

1) Is it safe to allow everyone permission to have full control of the drives? Or should I specifically add each and every user and give them full control? If the second option is better, should they be authenticated users, power users, or just users? I'd like to make it easy for my coworkers to share files, but quite difficult for people without passwords to do the same.

2) Is there any way to allow the Win 95 machines to access the other machines if the Win 95 login name is different than the login names on the other machines? It is easy to go from an NT machine to any other machine, since it asks for both a name and password. However, Win 95 doesn't ask for a name. It can be annoying to ask the user to log out and log back in with my name just to share a file.

 

[AndyHui]

Maybe you want to check out the Networking FAQs?

They should be of some assistance to you.

 

[dullard]

<< Maybe you want to check out the Networking FAQs?

They should be of some assistance to you. >>



Wow the FAQ page finally loads. I haven't used them in months since I always got this message that they are in progress.

 

[lorlabnew]

dullard, if the FAQ will not sort it out for you, try to post to the other forum again(networking?) and I (or other guys) can give you some more info there.
Good luck.