Best way to network my computers

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Awrrr
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#1724472 22-Feb-2017 14:12

This is turning into one of those nightmare scenarios where things just get more and more confused and you end up hosing your system. I have been there before and absolutely don't want to go there again. The latest is that there is no longer any option to stop sharing in Computer Management like there was before. I now have shares I cannot get rid of. I can go to advanced sharing on the context menu and untick the box, but the shares still show on the network and there is no way to get rid of them. Also, I can find no sign of NTFS in the security tab. I don't know what I am doing and things are spiralling out of control.

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MikeB4

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#1724491 22-Feb-2017 14:36

Individual file permissions will depend on what you have set the folder permissions to. Folder permissions need to be your starting point with the RWE etc.

take a look here but go make a coffee first and back away from the keyboard after you have read.....

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727008.aspx

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc754344(v=ws.11).aspx

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

Rikkitic

Awrrr
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#1724494 22-Feb-2017 14:58

Good advice. For once I am going to follow it. I did manage to finally get rid of the shares by doing it from the command line but the option no longer exists in Management console for some reason.

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tangerz

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#1724568 22-Feb-2017 16:56

You seem to have taken a lot of time, effort and frustration to set this up. I still maintain a NAS with a common shared folder with each PC mapped to it would have been far easier to set up....

Rikkitic

Awrrr
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#1724570 22-Feb-2017 17:00

Well, I went away, had coffee, tried again, absolutely nothing. What a miserable OS this is. I feel like I have fallen down the rabbit hole. Zillions of labels, variables, values, settings, god knows what that I don't understand and are not explained in any kind of normal language. Garble about object types and names but the net result is regardless of what I try, I keep hitting the same damned wall. The remote computer sees the shared folder but whenever I click on it I am told I do not have permission to view or edit permission settings and it is 'unable to display the current owner'. Why is it unable? This crap system never gives any useful information about anything. It just endlessly goes in circles. If I can't change permissions or the owner I can't change anything. I can do these things from the computer the folder is on but none of it makes a difference. From the remote computer I can't do anything because it says I'm not allowed.

I did read the permissions links but I didn't find anything that helps. I think I know how to set permissions and I think I know how it is supposed to work, but whatever I do, nothing changes. Unless someone has another magic solution like the last one, I am stuck. I don't know what else to try.

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Rikkitic

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#1724572 22-Feb-2017 17:04

tangerz:

You seem to have taken a lot of time, effort and frustration to set this up. I still maintain a NAS with a common shared folder with each PC mapped to it would have been far easier to set up....

At this stage I agree with you but I want to know why this bloody thing won't work when everything says it is supposed to. With all I have been through with this, I would probably run up against some other inscrutable Windows idiocy even if I did try your suggestion. I don't seem to have a lot of luck with this kind of thing.

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MikeB4

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#1724574 22-Feb-2017 17:07

Are you trying to set permission on a folder bases or file bases ?. Either way the permission need to logically follow. EG if a folder has a read only permission assigning read/write to a file will not work. You need to set permission so the folders and files run a logical tree.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

Rikkitic

Awrrr
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#1724612 22-Feb-2017 17:27

I have a data drive D: and a folder off the root. That is the folder I am sharing and trying to get permission to access. I have simplified everything as much as possible. The only wildcard is that I have disabled the sharing of public folders in advanced sharing options, but folder and file sharing is on. I didn't think this would make a difference but knowing Windows, maybe it does. I haven't tried changing it yet.

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yitz

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#1724617 22-Feb-2017 17:39

If permissions is all too confusing then it might be easier to enable the "Public Folder sharing" you mentioned. In that case permissions should be pre-configured and you just browse to \\computer-name\Users\Public\ in Explorer from another computer on your LAN.

On the local computer this is located at C:\Users\Public.

Hammerer

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#1724619 22-Feb-2017 17:39

Rikkitic:

I have never bothered networking my computers because I have never really had a need. Now that need is starting to arise. My computers are all connected to the same router via LAN and wi-fi but they don’t see each other. What would be the easiest and most non-intrusive (and not too insecure) way to pass stuff between them using the existing set-up? Is Windows Homegroup to be trusted for this or is there a better way?

This topic looked like a train wreck right from the start. While you asked for the best in the title it is clear that you don't really want that (see my emphasis below).

Rikkitic:

I'm just looking for quick, dirty and unchallenging.

Well, you got dirty alright.

Rikkitic:

This is turning into one of those nightmare scenarios where things just get more and more confused and ...

So here's my perspective on this, not necessarily for you, but for anyone else who comes to the same moment of decision.

If you wanted the best or better way then you wouldn't be bothering with peer-to-peer file/folder sharing. You will get there but it still won't be a "best" or "better" solution. It will work but then it is not that attractive to many of us who work with these systems.

Here's a couple of reasons why.

The death of paid peer-to-peer networking products was almost entirely due to three issues and you've hit two of them:

Windows Home Networking cost nothing extra when it came with Windows but it was never intended to provide competition for client-server networking.
Peer-to-peer (P2P) is just too much trouble to manage for a whole lot of reasons. I can expand upon them if you don't get this.
Cheap server technology particularly NAS's for the masses open up many better options.

That's what some people have been trying to tell you, indirectly, which might be why you missed it.

tangerz:

Get yourself a NAS and store all content to be shared on it. Map to the NAS from each computer. Negates the need for any particular PC to be 'On' to access it's shared content, only NAS needs to be 'On'.

Today, in the current homogeneous environments where we use Android and iOS phones then it is not at all attractive to use Windows peer-to-peer features.

They work best with Windows and not with other OS such as Android, iOS, OS X and Linux.
They work best with the latest version of Windows or mixing versions as little as possible.

If you're going to be messing around with permissions then you may as well do it once, properly, on a NAS or other server.

Rikkitic

Awrrr
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#1724623 22-Feb-2017 17:48

Point taken. I plead ignorance. I had no idea what I was getting into. Foolishly, I thought Windows file sharing would be simple and straightforward. I should have known better. I do have a lot of prior experience with Windows. I don't know why I keep thinking it will ever get any better.

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yitz

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#1724625 22-Feb-2017 17:55

Their focus these days will be on stuff like OneDrive instead.

Hammerer

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#1724626 22-Feb-2017 17:55

It normally is so I'm not sure why you had so many problems. The simplest yet least secure option usually works first time. That's why so many newbies get it working with no problems.

surfisup1000

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#1724627 22-Feb-2017 17:56

1101:

I feel your pain, Win PC to PC sharing has been a buggy mess for so many years . It either works 1st pop or you get PC's
that just dont want to share .

I've been using windows shares for years without issues. I agree back in vista pre-SP1 days it may have been a bit psycho but since then it is fine.

So long as your network is set to 'private', allow network discovery and sharing (on each computer on the network), then any folder you share should work just fine.

Some people have network configurations that cause sharing issues though. My recommendation is to network your local devices using a high quality switch (e.g, HP) --- forget about using the router as a switch, routers are way more complex and can be buggy. Keep the link between your devices as simple as possible.

(pace v5542 is a beast supplied by telecom which doesn't resolve bios names so sharing does not work, and i've seen other unstable routers cause sharing issues).

Rikkitic

Awrrr
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#1724632 22-Feb-2017 18:09

surfisup1000:

So long as your network is set to 'private', allow network discovery and sharing (on each computer on the network), then any folder you share should work just fine.

Yeah, that's how I started out. No idea how I got into the morass. An incorrect adapter setting caused the initial communications problem. I have no idea how that happened but I would have found it a lot sooner if Windows was a little more helpful with diagnostic information. But this business now with the permissions is something else entirely. I may sound like an idiot but I do know some things and I haven't done anything obviously wrong here. Some other obscure setting somewhere has to be responsible, but so far I can't find it.

The other computer I have been using does not have any of these problems. File sharing on it works fine. But it is older and slower and not the computer I need for this. That is why I have been trying so hard to figure this one out. No doubt someone will come up with the answer one day. For now, I give up.

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