Files created in shared folder default to invisible

Question

Windows 7 Home Premium SP1.

I create a folder F:\Foo, and share it via "Share With" > "Homegroup (Read/Write)"

I create a file in this folder: either by dragging from a flash drive , or for the purposes of this post, by going copy con a.txt and typing some stuff.

I have a Windows 8 laptop also. The laptop can view Foo on my PC , however it cannot see a.txt. If I list permissions in Cygwin, it shows as:

-rwx------+ Matt 5 May  5 02:22 a.txt

If I go chmod a+rx a.txt, then the laptop can now see a.txt

It is annoying that I have to chmod every file I copy into the shared folder, I'd like to be able to put files there and then have them visible on the network share by default, without having to chmod.

My question is: how do I configure the share so that the files default to visible?

I googled this problem earlier and it suggested using icacls as a diagnostic. Here is the output before doing chmod:

a.txt BUILTIN\Administrators:(F)
  Matt-PC\Matt:(I)(F)
  BUILTIN\Administrators:(I)(F)
  Matt-PC\HomeUsers:(I)(F)
  NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(I)(F)

And after chmod:

a.txt Matt-PC\Matt:(M,WDAC,WO)
  Matt-PC\None:(RX)
  Everyone:(RX)
  BUILTIN\Administrators:(F)
  Matt-PC\HomeUsers:(F)
  BUILTIN\Administrators:(F)
  NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(F)

Extra question: what does the (I) indicate here? It's not listed in the official documentation for icacls.

The laptop connects by doing \\192.168.1.99\Foo, and no username/password required (This is how I want it to be).

I tried the idea of creating and deleting a folder as suggested on this post, however that did not cause the permissions of a.txt to change.

Answer 1

Solution

Rather then sharing through a homegroup, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the folder, and choose Share with > Specific people from the context menu.
2. Type Everyone, and press Enter.
3. Select either the Read or Read/Write permission level, as needed.
4. Click Share.

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As for the (I) permission, it's actually documented in the command help (icacls /?). It means permission inherited from parent container.