fett on 6/5/2009 at 13:05
I'm an idiot when it comes to networks, so I've got what's probably a stupid question.
I've got 35g of music on my desktop PC that I want to be able to access on my laptop via our home network. The original folder is on an external HD so as not to gum up my measly 70G PC hd. Is there to share the folder over the network without copying all 35g into my 'shared' folder? Copying to the shared folder obviously replicates those files and eats up my storage space.
Any help would be appreciated. :)
The Brain on 6/5/2009 at 14:20
Is that external HD always connected to your main computer? If so then you only need to share that folder where your music files are. There is no need for copying them around.
If you don't want to keep your external HD connected to your main computer then you need to copy your files into your main computer or plug your external HD to your laptop.
I would recommend to you get new, bigger hard disk if option to keeping external HD connected to your main computer or carrying external HD around and hooking it up whenever you want listen music isn't suitable for you. New hard disks around 500 GB are quite cheap. Well, if they are (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SATA) SATA ones.
Check this link out for more information : (
http://www.wellesley.edu/Computing/FileSharing/Windows/win2kxp.html) How to set up File Sharing in Windows 2000/XP Pro.
fett on 6/5/2009 at 14:22
It stays connected. Problem is when I simply enable the file-share network option for that folder, the laptop doesn't see it. :confused:
The Brain on 6/5/2009 at 14:28
Hmm, looks like firewall problem. Or your laptop/main computer might have different workgroup name.
Do you use external software firewall in both computers? Your OS is Windows XP, right?
fett on 6/5/2009 at 14:37
Win XP Home.
We use Avast. It's not that we can't share the folders - I can access the shared folder from either rig. I just don't want to have to copy the files over into the shared folder. Is there a way to set it up so I can browse the entire other machine - external hd included?
The Brain on 6/5/2009 at 15:36
Avast is antivirus program, so it might not be culprit here. And workgroup name in both computers are same as you can browse the shared folder so we can cancel that out.
Looks like that it is permission problem.
Your both computers have XP Home? With latest Service Pack? Are you using same user name and password in both machines?
Quote Posted by fett
...
Is there a way to set it up so I can browse the entire other machine - external hd included?
Windows XP automatically enables administrative shares on root folders (which is high security risk if you are on wireless connection without sofware firewall or not behind a router) for all internal hard disk partitions, so you could browse them at ease. These shares are hidden but it doesn't stop experienced attacker from exploiting them.
External HD are probably not affected by this, so you need to enable sharing to it by hand.
See this picture:
Inline Image:
http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/2381/mapnetworkdrives.pngYou probably need to connect to your share by using different user name and password.
You can try to connect to administrative shares by using this kind of folder name: \\server\$servers_hard_disk_drive_letter. For example if you want to access C: drive at remote server then full folder name is this : \\server\$C.
Nameless Voice on 6/5/2009 at 19:50
You mean \\server\c$
The dollar sign goes at the end of the administrative share.
fett on 6/5/2009 at 20:07
Brain - that looks like what I need, but you'll have to explain this to me like I'm 5. I don't know where to get to the map network drive window. Also, yes - both machines have identical OS, SP's, and access info. Why do I need to use a different un/pass to do this? I'm behind both a firewall and a router, so I feel relatively safe allowing access between the machines on my network.
Nameless Voice on 6/5/2009 at 20:56
I think folder sharing is a little bit crippled in XP Home, making this a bit harder than it ought to be.
In any case, you generally need to log into the shared path using a username and password that is valid on the target machine, and the account you're logging into needs to be password protected.
fett on 6/5/2009 at 21:02
NV - Seriously like I'm 5 :laff: I'm not even sure what it means to "log onto the path" - I really need something like:
1) Sit down in front of your PC
2) Use the left mouse button to click on control panel, etc.
Sorry, but I'm really a dunce when it comes to the internal workings of XP - I've already tried to decipher all the help sites and I don't understand them, so I was hoping someone here could do a bit of an "idiot's guide to sharing files on a network" type thing... :(
