Windows 8 And File Sharing

[Siannabrookes]

Right, I have had enough! I am sick to death of all of the SHIT from Windows 8 about permissions and file sharing! Up to the eye teeth, enough is enough, this is absolute crap!

So here we go, if any one out there can take me through the steps to get a laptop to share (NO I DO NOT WANT THAT CRAP HOMEGROUP) files I will pay them 1000 Baht as soon as it works - no bullshit, no lies, if someone can e mail me or set up a PM with me and between us we can get Windows Explorer to access my main computer using a laptop over a WiFi router, where I can actually connect and play a simple bloody video from my computer on my laptop in the bedroom without getting these <deleted> messages from windows telling me that it cannot Access...\\\ PC whatever, despite me sharing almost everything except my kids arse! I would be most willing to pay. If we can sort it out on a matter of trust, I will promise here and now to pay you 1000Baht for your time.

I want my laptop to be able to access everything on my PC, both Laptop and PC are running Win 8 Prof. x64, I don't want to use Homegroup as this is usually taking up space on C:, I simply want to be able to get to my files, mainly video from the laptop to say D/E or F on my PC, using the WiFi Network in my home without having to copy anything, just to be able to play the files on say VLC or at worst that crap called media player.

I have tried "SHARING" I have tried "PERMISSIONS" in fact the cat has probably got permissions on this PC - If anyone is interested in making 1000 Baht, drop me a PM, and it needs to work 100% - I want to be able to hook up the laptop to the PC and access it as if it is just another set of hard drives. Thank You!

Before I destroy this bastard laptop! If someone can help, I can provide a SKYPE address where we can talk it through, you can send me your bank details by PM and I will gladly put 1000 Baht in your account!

[BlackPuddingBertha]

In your situation Homegroup is the way to go. Easy, quick, reliable, secure. It uses no extra hard drive space.

[hml367]

Did you do this with something before Windows 8?

[Dork]

While it is possible to manually enable the kind of sharing that you want, it is fairly complex setting the necessary users rights & creating firewall exceptions so that even if you get it working it is easy to unwittingly make your network vulnerable.

As BPB suggests, Homegroup will make all the necessary changes to get it working in one go. So if you haven't already smashed all your equipment, I would suggest putting everything back to default settings and start from scratch with the Homegroup setup wizard.

[wpcoe]

OP: Did you use a previous version of WIndows that had the file sharing configured the way you want on Windows 8? Manually configuring file sharing on Win8 is exactly the same as on Win7, and IIRC, as it was on Vista.

I manually set up sharing on both my desktop and notebook Win8 computers. First thing I did was disable the "Sharing Wizard": <Windows key+x>, P, Folder Options, View tab, scroll down to uncheck "Use Sharing Wizard (Recommended)" and click OK.

Then open File Explorer and <right-click> on any file, folder, drive that you want to share, choose "Share with" > "Advanced sharing...", click on Advanced Sharing..., put a checkmark before "Share this folder," change the "Share name" if you want, change the number of simultaneous users if you want, add a comment if you want and click "OK." By default, "Everyone" will have Read permissions. If you want to give them Full Control or Change permissions, you can change that before clicking "OK" by clicking the "Permissions" button.

My concern is that you may have already altered some permissions in an unuseful or counterproductive way. The possible permutations of options that can be set is beyond a simple forum post.

To see if shared files, folders and/or drives are available on the other computer, first verify that you have a connection established ... which hopefully you already do ... then in the address bar in File Explorer type the other computer's name preceded with two backslashes: \\computer name. If you have a network connection between the computers and if you successfully shared the files/folders/drives, the shares appear in File Explorer with the names and comments from your set-up. I have found that clicking on the Network icon in the left pane of File Explorer is not 100% reliable, but using \\computer name is. I have a desktop shortcut for \\computer name on each computer for one-click access to shared folders.

If you are having problem establishing a network connection between the two computers, a good first step is to disable the firewall and anti-virus on both computers to eliminate them as factors. Before you do that, though, it's a good idea to disconnect your internet connection so your computers are not potentially left exposed.

Good luck. Windows networking can be quirky, and has been since WinXP (and possibly before). But, if the gods are smiling, it can all happen smoothly.

[Chicog]

http://www.howtogeek.com/132462/5-alternatives-to-windows-media-center-on-windows-8/