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I am trying to enable my desktop PC to see my new laptop and vice versa. I have a router that connects both machines to the internet.

Using the Ping command in DOS prompt both machines can see each other which is great, but the problem is this on the desktop PC -

Right click on and hard drive in My Computer > Sharing and Security >

In the Network Sharing and Security part of the window 'Share this folder on the network' has all the options greyed out so I can't share anything!

I am logged in as the administrator, I even tried setting up a new user account also with adminstrator features to see if this makes a difference but the same thing occurs. The desktop PC is not allowing any of the hard drives to be shared and I have no idea why.

Can anyone please help me out? Are there any settings that would allow me to enable this feature? For now I have an external hard drive I can use to share data, but this is tedious and defeats the idea of a network!

I am using Service Pack One.

many thanks for any help

Hi there 8bit barry!

Can you try on my computer going to tools > folder options > then view and scroll down to use simple file sharing and uncheck > then try the required task again.

Ok I have done that but no Sharing tab... I get all the the others. Whereas with the box checked I had the Sharing tab but all the options were greyed out, now it has disappeared.

Another thing I have noticed is that when I enter My Network Places and then open the Entire Network, all I get is

Microsoft Terminal Services and
Web Client Network

On the laptop I get Microsoft Windows Network....

This is all very confusing! Keeps me out of trouble I guess

try right clicking and instead of properties click sharing and security. that is wierd though cause i tried it on my pc and works fine for me were greyed out before i did that

Well I have partially suceeded but on another partition with a seperate install of XP

If I right click Properties on the drives I could force the hard drives to share, then the laptop would see it. Problem solved.

But when I boot to my other partition hoping these alterations would have effect, I found that the problem is still there.

I think the problem lies with the fact that when I browse the Entire Network I do not get the 'Microsoft Windows Network' in the list, just the 'Micorsoft Terminal Services' and 'Web Client Network'

I have even had a look around Services.msc to see if anything has been disabled, but nothing is obvious.

Doing my head in!!

Problem solved and in a bizarre place...

The answer is rather long winded and too specific to my machine for a forum so I just want to say thanks I have managed to sort it out.

Last problem is that now I can see my laptop from my desktop I have to stick the \\Laptop\c$ to see the c Drive! I cant create a shortcut. For some weird reason when I set up the network it will not show the drives, but they are accessable.

Any ideas?

Barry

because the $ at the end means that it a hidden share you may not be able to creat a short cut to it.