Windows 10 to use the Public folder on ethernet with 2 PC's

[loninappleton]

I've used the old style workgroup on Win7 for a long time. Now I have a 2 PC's on my DSL router box. All I need to do is share files on the Public folder between the 2 PC's just in a single apartment. Please, no Youtube tutorials.

What are the trouble shooting steps needed? Everything looks ok but if I open up the Network, the only thing showing is internet which works fine.

I thought the Public folder was automatically open but I'm not seeing the Public folder in Network with its "connecting pipes" imagery showing it is active. The 'share' icon top left screen appears grayed out. Ethernet cabling must be ok b/c I can access internet on both PCs.

[davexnet]

Hi Lon, see these screen grabs

[loninappleton]

Thanks Dave,

I may have missed something on those so will look at what you have.


[edit] Yes all that is familiar. But my Network location is empty. I should have a Public folder in it.
I will check again.

[loninappleton]

Here is the screen shot that shows what is at the Public folder.
Note that the Share Arrow is greyed out and not accessible. It should be green if it's working.
If I read it right for Windows 10, I should be able hit 'share' on both PCs to have the Public
folder recognized.

[davexnet]

Regarding the security setting for Public, check that "Everyone" has full access

[loninappleton]

Thanks again. I'll see what's in there. I never mess with any of that so it should be all default. Will get to it tomorrow

[loninappleton]

I can't see anything odd here in the screen shot.
You will see the "advanced" detail open as well.

[davexnet]

it shouldn't be necessary to manually change it. That "Everyone" access gets set when you turn on public folder sharing as in the third image of post #2

[Cornucopia]

It doesn't have to be that specific folder, you can use almost ANY folder.

What you DO have to do is Enable sharing for the particular folder. What you showed in the pix OUGHT to have done that automatically, but it might have messed up.
But you can do that manually, and that way, you know it will work for sure.

For mine, this is what I did:

1. PC1, added a new top level folder onto the Cdrive called "Xfers" (transfers).
2. Right-click, Properties, Sharing tab. Click the [Share] button.
3. While you are there, also click the [Advance Sharing] button.
4. Check the [Permissions] button and verify that user group "Everyone" has both read, write & full control access to the contents of the drive. (Or if you'd rather, you can make it read-only, etc)
5. Do exactly the same thing (steps 1-4) for PC2. Then put something in them. That way, either machine can be the "server".
6. **IMPORTANT** - when accessing the other's PC, you must remember that to that machine "everyone" is everyone listed ON THAT MACHINE. User "PC1\JohnDoe" does not exist on PC2, or vice-versa. EVEN IF THEY ARE THE SAME NAME. Because they have different Unique SID#s. Big companies get around this because they have a domain, and domain names (and their SID#s) are shared between devices.
7. Not to fear, the easy workaround is pretty straightforward. However, you may still not SEE that shared folder as available. That is also an easy workaround...
8. Go to Explorer, and in the address box at the top (which may already be filled with the address of your current location), type in "\\PC2\Xfers".
9. It may say there is no known resource or not able to connect, blah blah blah, but it also should pop up a dialog box (which in mine always opened behind everything else). It asks for Credentials.
10. Put in "PC2\JohnDoe" as user name and PC2's JohnDoe password (even though you are coming from PC1, with possibly a different username logged in there). DONE!

BTW, unless I'm mistaken, this way should work for Win7-11.


If you want to get real fancy, you can create a "Send To" for that folder, so you can right-click ANY file to send it to that folder. Just do [Win]+[R], and in the run dialog box type "shell : sendto" (no spaces). The folder will open up in its own explorer window. Right-click & drag a copy of the folder to that sendto, make sure it has created a shortcut (not copy or move). Then any file can have a copy be sent to that folder via simple Right-click menu, SendTo-Xfers.

Scott

[davexnet]

HI Scott, thanks for putting down those details. I'm familiar with this theory, but I don't think I've done it before.

The advantage of setting up the public folder as in post #2 is that no credentials are necessary.
I assume this must be using SMB v1 but I'm not certain

[loninappleton]

I appreciate all the advice but I'd probably go back to shoe leather than go through a lot of steps. IOW just replug a files only ssd
as I'm doing now.

The Public folder as being preset as shared I did not even realize in Win7 until after years of usage. I always had a workgroup set up.

According to MS they stopped support of HomeGroup which I never used. And according to MS, support of Win10 will stop in October of this year 2025. I don't know as how that affects me since I used the option to turn off updates for 20 years. I'm no fan of all this or the complications introduced to a single user.

Anyway, today the thing I can confirm is that the Public folder is in the same path on both machines. That should settle it.

I'll load Public and check that the folder is _shared_ and that should be enough.

Screen shots to follow. The second one shows Public is read only which must be a problem. I looked for a way to get it read write but couldn't see where to do it.

[davexnet]

That "read only" attribute on the general tab is normal, all folders show that

[loninappleton]

Here's my last posting on this, then consider it closed.

The screen shot shows the share screen and the code should be simple enough based on the Properties.

So the two machine names are ASUS and MSI760 the Share screen shows what is given as a blank box to fill in. I never knew what to do with it since no HINT is given as to how the code should look. If anyone has any idea on how to correct this ok. Logic tells me that's all that's needed. Both Public folders are located in \\ machine name\Users\Public.

But as you can see it gives a can't find error. I'm out of ideas and don't want any more frustration on it.

For the Record, these same two PCs show a Workgroup in both as fully operational in Win7. It's just this Win10 that's the problem.

[loninappleton]

I have seen the error at Asus Network Path on the Properties. But when I go to public, the Path shows this in the screen shot:

So I don't know what is right. It could be a syntax/code problem but that's all I can do. The computer name is ASUS like it shows.
The SSD name is as shown: Win10 Prometheus Backup C:

But it cannot be both.

[ProWo]

Retry with this:


[Attachment 87238 - Click to enlarge]

[loninappleton]

the black and white sheet does not show a sample of what's in the share with box and the path. If someone would provide a working instance of that in a screen shot, I think I'd have it.

[davexnet]

Are you talking about this field? I think you misunderstood something, that's not where you enter the path,
that's where you add the user (eg. "davex") or class of user (eg. "Adminstrators") and define their access.
Since "everyone" is there (as I mentioned earlier) and it has read write access, nothing to do here.

Can you access the other PC using the \\pc_name\ in Explorer ?
Does each PC at least show itself in Explorer/Network?

[loninappleton]

Any time I look at the network screen it shows nothing there on either PC in Win10. I've always been able to at least build a workgroup between Win7 and Win10. But between Win10 and Win10 I don't seem to be able to add or create anything in there. This should be simple: load Public folder,> Properties, >Share tab then... ? Where the PC name is ASUS. That's the one I'm on. A Public folder should be created but I get nothing over and over. I can just go back to using the storage on a Win7 HD.

[davexnet]

Make sure these two things are on:
Also, are you running any third party A/V or Firewall?