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Asked: 2011-01-07 12:43:13 +0800 CST

Windows File Share: Can access share\subfolder1 but share\ is inaccessable when accessing share\subfolder2

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I'm on a Windows Vista client trying to access a file share running on a Windows Server 2008 R2 box. The network is in a Windows Active Directory Domain.

The shares I am trying to access:

\\Server1\FileShare1\Folder1\foo and \\Server1\FileShare1\Folder1\bar

The client does not have any permissions at Folder1. The client has read permissions at folders foo and bar.

In this example I can access \\Server1\FileShare1\Folder1\foo but I get the following error when I try to access \\Server1\FileShare1\Folder1\bar:

Network Error: 
Windows cannot access \\Server1\FileShare1\Folder1\bar.  
Check the spelling of the name. Otherwise, there might be a problem with your network.
To try to identify and resolve network problems, click Diagnose

I hit Diagnose. It returns with Windows checked the path and '\\Server1\FileShare1' is correct but 'Folder1' could not be found.

What is going on? It finds Folder1 fine when going to \\Server1\FileShare1\Folder1\foo.

windows-server-2008 network-share file-sharing permissions

2 Answers

  1. Did you try navigating through the folders before accessing it with the direct address? This can cause trouble. Run "net use" at cmd prompt and delete any entries for that server and try the direct link in explorer again. I would also double-check your NTFS/Share permissions.

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  2. When you have a structure like this one:

    \\Server1\Share\
               - Folder1\ 
                        - Foo\
                        - bar\

    You can map a drive directly to the sub-folders:

    \\server1\share\folder1\foo\
\\server1\share\folder1\bar\

    But you can't map a folder to the root and browse down:

    \\server1\share\

    You may see "Folder1" in that list but you can't get past it. Nor can you map to Folder 1:

    \\server1\share\folder1\

    And see the sub-folders.

    If you're getting the stated error while trying to map directly to the "bar" directory, Windows does require one specific right in order to map. It requires "Read" to the "bar" directory itself. If the rights on that directory read, "Read, to Files and Sub-Folders" then you can't map to that directory. If you need to, you can add a Special Permission, of Read to "This Folder Only".

    icacls bar /grant groupname:RX

    Which will apply the "Read" right to only the Bar directory-entry itself. This is sufficient to map the drive.

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