Tag Archives: access is denied

xp share is not accessible. Access is denied

Computer Aid Posted on by

To this day, I still find that the way Microsoft implements network folder sharing is full of mysteries.

In this case, I had an office setup with about 4 PCs (all running XP)

One PC was acting as a “file server”, and it was sharing a folder for everyones common use… so far, its all straightforward.

I’m asked to get a 5th PC (also XP) working and using the shared drive.

Hey, I’ve done this lots of times, so it shouldn’t be a problem.

I make sure the new PC is part of the same workgroup, restart, then in win explorer, I go to:

My Network Places -> Entire Network -> Microsoft Windows Network -> WorkgroupName -> ServerName

But as soon as I click on ServerName, I get the error: ServerName is not accessible. Access is denied.

OK, I go through the usual range of troubleshooting options:

  • disable firewalls
  • create a new share
  • check user permissions on the share
  • create an “everyone” user and give it full access
  • make sure the “computer browser” and “server” services are running
  • ipconfig /flushdns

After a while, I decide to look at a PC that is able to see the shared drive… but it also gives the “access is denied” error… yet it is able to read and write files on the shared Z: drive…

Weird, yet that gives me a clue on how to fix it:

On the new PC, I open a command prompt and type:

net use z: \ServerNameShareName /persistent:yes

And that works!

Z: allows the user to access the shared drive just like everyone else.

Why? I’m really not sure, but its good to know there is a “back door” to fixing this!

vista: Windows cannot connect to the printer. Access is denied

Computer Aid Posted on by

Got an interesting Vista problem just the other day:

I tried to setup vista to print to a printer that was shared from an XP PC.

I go through the add printer menus in vista, follow the prompts for adding a network printer, until I get the message: “Windows cannot connect to the printer. Access is denied”… the printer was found on the network, but it just won’t let me print to it… why?

I found an excellent solution at:

http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PageIndex=3&SiteID=17&PostID=1333289

Basically, it boils down to creating a “local printer” instead of a network printer… and the local printer port is the windows domain name of the printer.

ie: Go to Control Panel. Choose printer, then choose Add Printer.

Add a local printer… Click on “Create a new port”. Leave the default in the drop down box (should be “Local Port”). Click next.

A dialog box will appear asking for you to enter a port name. Type in the \computerprinter (where computer is the network name of the PC that has the printer attached… and printer is the network name of the shared printer).

Thats all it takes!