# Sharing an external Hard Drive over a network. [Moved from HW]



## Jack.Sparrow (Jan 22, 2007)

:wave:

I'll try to keep this one short :smile: 

I bought an external hard driver today (Maxtor) and I'd like to share it over my network. 

It's plugged into a PC, running Vista. So I right clicked on it and did the 'share' thing as I've done with folders on the PC's local hard drive. The issue is my laptop (running XP) can see the hard drive and access the 'first level folder' i.e. It shows me the two folders on the hard drive but I can't get past that 'level' i.e. I can't open either of the folder. I get an access denied message. I've even tried sharing the folders but that didn't work. The same method works fine with folders on the local hard drive. :4-dontkno


Any suggestions? 

Also, if I leave it plugged into both the power supply and the computer, will that cause it harm? 

Thanks for reading/responding :smile:


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## Deleted090308 (Jan 25, 2007)

*Re: Sharing an external Hard Drive over a network.*

Hi :wave:

Try taking ownership - *How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP.*

It won't hurt the drive to leave it plugged in. Just remember to "safely remove" when/if you disconnect it.


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## Jack.Sparrow (Jan 22, 2007)

*Re: Sharing an external Hard Drive over a network.*

:laugh: I had to do the same thing with my old hard drive to delete stuff of it, somehow I didn't think to do the same in this scenario. I'm currently coping stuff off my laptop onto it. I'll try the ownership this thing first thing tomorrow. 

Thanks for the reply :4-wave: I'll be back if it doesn't work :grin: 

Leaving it plugged in - I left it in for a bit but it doesn't seem to wind down. Is it still ok to leave it plugged in?


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## Deleted090308 (Jan 25, 2007)

*Re: Sharing an external Hard Drive over a network.*

I would shut it down and only use it when needed.
It's not supposed to be spinning all the time - or is it a fan?


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## Jack.Sparrow (Jan 22, 2007)

*Re: Sharing an external Hard Drive over a network.*

I'm fairly sure it's the HDD spinning. I think I'll play it safe :smile:


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## Jack.Sparrow (Jan 22, 2007)

*Re: Sharing an external Hard Drive over a network.*

The ownership thing didn't work. It doesn't even give me the option to take ownership. 
I can access the hdd if I connect it directly to my laptop, if that makes any difference.


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## Deleted090308 (Jan 25, 2007)

*Re: Sharing an external Hard Drive over a network.*

I don't know very much about network sharing >> thread moved.


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## Jack.Sparrow (Jan 22, 2007)

Thanks :smile:


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## rockstat (Mar 8, 2008)

In the setup, do you have it networked to Vista (by this i mean, can you access every file and folder in the PUBLIC folder)?

If you do, then try this, go into "network and sharing center" and check what is enabled and what is disabled and post back.

one other thing, try opening the properties on the hard drive by right clicking and go to "sharing" and select "permissions". See who has what kind of permissions.


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## Jack.Sparrow (Jan 22, 2007)

Hi Rockstat, 

Yes, I can access every file and folder in the Public folder. 

The only things disabled are "Password Protected Sharing" and "Media Sharing" 

I have set the permissions so that "Everyone" has full read write access.


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

Have you tried enabling *Simple Sharing* on the XP box?


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## Jack.Sparrow (Jan 22, 2007)

I haven't. I need to share it using the PC (running Vista) so that other computers can see it. My laptop isn't always in the house so it wouldn't really work :smile: 

Thanks for the reply.


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