Solved Sharing external HDDs between Windows 7 and Windows 8

HEdwar2013

New Member
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3
Location
USA
First off, If this is in the correct location I humbly apologize in advance. I've been searching like crazy and haven't found anything helpful (I may just not be looking in the right place.) ;)

This may take a bit of explanation so please be patient and bare with me!

Situation:
I have recently purchased a new laptop and want to be able to use my two external hard drives and a folder on my desktop on my new laptop. I store the majority of my files on each of these drives as well as comics, music, pictures, etc.

Devices Involved:

Desktop Computer:
HP Pavilion HPE Elite 477e
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU: Intel Core i5 650 @ 3.20Ghz
RAM: 8.00 (2x4Gb sticks) Gb Dual-Channel DDR3
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5450
Network: Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller

Laptop Computer:
Toshiba Satellite S855-S5377
OS: Windows 8 64-bit
CPU: Intel Core i5 3210M @2.50 Ghz
Network: Realtek RTL8723AE Wireless Lan

Router:
D-Link DIR-825

What I've Tried:
  • I have went through and made sure that all the sharing options within both Windows 7 and Windows 8 are enabled in Network and Sharing Center. I've also shared the two drives and the folders on the Windows 7 computer. I've attempted to make shortcuts for them on the Windows 8 computer and they randomly work but often times it comes up with an error saying it can't locate the connection.
  • Both computers are actively running Norton 360 (current version) and have went through and made certain that the firewall on both is set to allow it's partner computer.
  • As I mentioned before, the Windows 8 computer will randomly show the connections when I try to access them but more times than not it doesn't work.
  • The two computers are connected to the same router mentioned above. The desktop is on a hard wired Cat5e connection and the laptop is connecting via wireless to the same router.
  • The laptop can access the internet just fine through Wi-fi.
  • I have also attempted to share the drives and folders on the laptop with the same result most of the time.

Any help in this would be greatly appreciated. I don't normally have these sort of problems but this one has me stumped. What makes this issue even more weird is that some of the shares that I have on one of the network drives is directed to the same physical drive but will access some of the folders but not others.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 64-bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satellite S855-S5377
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3210M (Ivy Bridge) @ 2.50Ghz
    Motherboard
    Intel Ivy Bridge
    Memory
    8Gb (2x 4Gb Modules) Kingston PC3-12800 DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Browser
    Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Norton 360
You didn't mention if you have tried to set up a Homegroup between those two machines.

Setting up a Homegroup will ease up restrictions on file and drive access so you should try that first. If setting up the Homegroup doesn't solve the drive sharing problems there are some adjustments we can try.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/15824-homegroup-create-windows-8-a.html

You should be aware that Norton can cause problems with sharing in a network unless it is configured correctly.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro WMC
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home built
    CPU
    Q9650 @ 4.05 GHz
    Motherboard
    Gforce 780i SLI FTW
    Memory
    8GB Gskill DDR2 1200Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    GTX-480
    Sound Card
    Asus D2 Xonar
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HannsG
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Gskill 120GB SSD
    PSU
    Thermal Take 1000watts
    Case
    Thermal Take Xtreme
    Cooling
    9 fans air cooled
    Keyboard
    G15 logitech
    Mouse
    G9 logitech
    Internet Speed
    50mbps
Yeah! I actually posted this before trying to reconfigure it (I have a networking degree from college). I went back in and made sure all the permissions were set correctly and that the laptop could connect to it and it's actually running flawlessly right now.

Thanks for the feedback!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 64-bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satellite S855-S5377
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3210M (Ivy Bridge) @ 2.50Ghz
    Motherboard
    Intel Ivy Bridge
    Memory
    8Gb (2x 4Gb Modules) Kingston PC3-12800 DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Browser
    Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Norton 360
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