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I have two drives, C: and D:. C: is the main hard drive, and D: is my external hard drive that is connected via USB.

On my computer, I'm able to access both \\localhost\c$ and \\localhost\d$ fine. However, when connecting from other devices, \\\10.0.0.8\c$ is a valid folder (as in allows me in with my correct credentials) while \\10.0.0.8\d$ replies with "Access Denied" no matter if a password was entered or not..

According to many reports, this seems to be a bug caused by a computer policy which enables the auditing object access over network, however - The setting in question is disabled; it's never been turned on at all. Point is, I can't turn it off because it is already off.

Others have suggested to rather use admin shares, use a regular share to any folder that isn't the root. Unfortunately, the "Access Deined" error still stands when trying to access a shared directory that was on the external drive D:. Even with full permissions, anything on D: would yield an "Access Denied" while anything C: would function just fine.

Symbolic links (remapping a C: folder to be simply an alias of said folder in D:) does not seem to work at all.

What could be causing this problem, and how would I allow access to my external drive? Could a different policy or some hidden Registry setting be causing it?

It's worth noting that I tried accessing with both another Windows 10 PC, and through my Android phone.

Update: So upon further investigation, the "Access Denied" message appears whenever:

  • The specified path does not exist, or:
  • An error occurred while accessing said directory, or:
  • The request was received successfully, but the response wasn't returned in full (ie. a mid-response disconnect), or:
  • The specified path exists, but you do not have permission to view it.

The equivalent of:

enter image description here

For the example above, it's the first point. A blank endlessly loading window appears for the third point.

The "Forbidden" message means that:

  • The specified path exists, and you do not have permission to access it.
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1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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In the discussion below, assure that you are using an administrator login for the actions below and for the access over the network.

Try to set LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy:

The LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy setting affects how administrator credentials are applied to remotely administer the computer.

This command, run as Administrator, will set this registry item:

cmd /c reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\system /v LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

If this does not help, try to disable UAC Admin Approval mode:

  • Open the Local Security Policy application
  • Navigate to Local Policies > Security Options
  • Set to Disabled the policy User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode.

The "Access Denied" message should now disappear if you try to access the D$ Administrative Share with a local account in the administrators group.

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  • Nope. That's not it. It's already set to 1. Nice try. A setting of 0 returns a definite "Forbidden". Whereas 1 returns a vague "Access Denied".
    – aytimothy
    Commented Dec 15, 2018 at 0:09
  • Added another setting.
    – harrymc
    Commented Dec 15, 2018 at 10:28
  • Nice try again, still no.
    – aytimothy
    Commented Dec 15, 2018 at 10:47
  • You might need to disable UAC totally. Even if this will make it work, I would counsel to create your own share in parallel to D$, over which you will have full control, rather than disabling UAC.
    – harrymc
    Commented Dec 15, 2018 at 10:58

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