02-16-2007, 01:22 AM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Vista Public Folders: Cool, But a Bit Broken
One of the new things in Vista is an evolution of the "shared folder" concept. Under Windows XP, you'd have the Shared Documents folder, but it wouldn't actually be shared until you right clicked on it and set up sharing. Under Vista, there's a new area called the Network and Sharing Center:
This screen is quite easy to understand and allows the user to set up media sharing, password protected sharing, printer sharing, public folder sharing, file sharing, and network discovery. It's easy to turn on Public Folder Sharing, which will allow others on your network to have read-only or (optionally) full read/write access to all of the folders under Public (photos, videos, recorded TV, documents, downloads, and music). You can also control whether or not it will prompt for a user password, or be completely open. It works quite well and is a definite improvement over Windows XP.
But, strangely enough, I ran into a snag on the computer acting as my DVR (I guess I can't call it a Windows Media Center machine any more). I had configured it to allow everyone on the network into the public folders, with full read/write access, no password needed. When I tried to access the Recorded TV folder from another PC (to edit a DVR-MS file with Windows Movie Maker - it's still a thrill!) I noticed that the folder wasn't showing up. I could see the other public folders, but not that one. I checked the source folder, and it had the sharing icon on it. I right clicked on the folder, selected Share, and set it to "Everyone". A quick refresh on the other PC showed me that it was successful - but why would I need to do that? What makes the Recorded TV folder different than the other public folders?
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