Accessing a Vista Network Share the Easy Way

One of Vista's more aggravating "features" is its completely overhauled networking system, which is now riddled with complexities. A common problem: Users set up a network share on Vista, then can't access that folder from another PC, no matter what they do. The familiar error: "You might not have permission to use this network resource."

Typical advice is to make sure both machines have the same workgroup name, and to use the same user name and password on both machines as well. (You can't use a blank password, either.) But this often does not fix the problem, either. I've been looking for a howto on this topic for weeks but haven't found anything digested into a single page. So I wrote my own.

Here's a step by step guide on allowing access to any folder on a Vista machine from any other PC on your network.

First, turn on sharing. Click Start (that Windows icon thing) then Network. Click Network and Sharing Center. Turn Network discovery and File sharing on. I also turn Public sharing on (more on this later). Leave the rest off.

Now click Start > Computer and browse to the folder you'd like to share. Right-click it and click Share. You'll get a dialog box asking who you want to share with. Type "Everyone" and click Add. Next to the new entry for Everyone, leave it set to "Reader" if you just want to give read-only access over the network, or change it to "Co-owner" if you want to give full access. The screenshot above shows a detail of this step.

That's it. Networking should now be all set up for that folder. Repeat the process for any other folder you'd like access to over the network.

Caveat: This isn't a secure method of sharing your files, but for basic users who simply want to be able to access the digital pictures on the office computer from their laptop, it does the job.

If you have the luxury of deciding where you store the data you want to share (that is, you don't need to share a folder that you can't move), try the Public sharing system in Vista. It lets you use the Public folder as a kind of trough for anything you'd like to share over the net, and you don't have to setup permissions like I outlined above. I've never had trouble with it.

Hope this helps!