Access Denied when Connecting to Windows Vista over the Network

If FileBrowser connects to your Windows Vista PC but shows an “Access Denied” error when opening folders or shares, the issue is usually related to Windows permissions or the account being used to connect.

This guide explains the most common causes and how to resolve them.

Here are some suggestions.

Try connecting as a user with more rights.

If you have connected as a Guest or user with no account, you may only have rights to see a limited number of folders or files. Using a named account should give you more access.

Try connecting as Administrator.

The Administrator account should have access to all available folders. You will need to enable this account and to give it a password. See the link below for more information.

Change folder security.

To access the folder security controls, right-click a folder and choose 'Properties'. Then select the 'Security' tab.

If you don't see this tab it could be that 'Simple File Sharing' is enabled. See the link below for instructions on how to disable it.

The 'Security' settings tab allows you to control which users have access to shared files and folders. Common options are 'Full Control' (users may read, change and delete files) and 'Read' to limit access so files cannot be changed or removed.

If you need to reset the permissions of all files and folders within your shared folder, you can click the 'Advanced' button to find this option:

Replace permission entries on all child objects with entries shown here that apply to child objects.

Selecting this option and clicking OK will reset all permissions to those you set in the table.