Mr. Kay, file sharing and Messenger question

I installed the current version (8.5?) of Messenger Live in order to attempt
to assist a friend via Windows Remote Assistance. Ever since then, almost
every file on my system has the "sharing" icon showing two figures in the
lower-left of the icon (much like the 'shortcut arrow'). I've removed
Messenger Live (& rebooted) and the file sharing icon persists. When I check
the properties of any of those files, I get SYSTEM, my account name, and a
third entry: "Account Unknown" with the SID right after it. I'm running
WinVista Enterprise 64-bit SP1. Any thoughts? I'd like to avoid the
wipe-and-restore, but having sharing possibly enabled for over 5,000 files on
my machine (according to the handy "My Shared Files" search feature in
WinVista) makes me NERVOUS!

Greetings Mark,

This really has nothing to do with Messenger or RA. It would just be a coincidence that it
happened at that time.

That icon indicates that Windows is sharing it over standard Windows file sharing (which
neither RA nor Messenger use). Is it really showing up for -files-, or is it just folders?
It really should only be the latter, in which case, open up the Sharing tab in the folder
properties for one of these things and see what's up. Note that some things are shared
automatically in this way (like Pictures and Music), just by turning on media sharing
features.

As for the unknown SID, there are lots of possibilities -- for instance, the media sharing
I've already mentioned has its own security permissions it'll add for its service, an old
windows install on that drive or even permissions added for domain reasons (assuming you are
attached a domain -- you are using Vista Enterprise after all).

--
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger
MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
MessengerGeek Blog: http://www.messengergeek.com
Messenger Resources: http://messenger.jonathankay.com
(c) 2008 Jonathan Kay - If redistributing, you must include this signature or citation
--




"Mark Racicot" <m(dot)e(dot)r(at)@racicot.us> wrote in message
news:A0186D20-E991-4EE8-898C-...
> I installed the current version (8.5?) of Messenger Live in order to attempt
> to assist a friend via Windows Remote Assistance. Ever since then, almost
> every file on my system has the "sharing" icon showing two figures in the
> lower-left of the icon (much like the 'shortcut arrow'). I've removed
> Messenger Live (& rebooted) and the file sharing icon persists. When I check
> the properties of any of those files, I get SYSTEM, my account name, and a
> third entry: "Account Unknown" with the SID right after it. I'm running
> WinVista Enterprise 64-bit SP1. Any thoughts? I'd like to avoid the
> wipe-and-restore, but having sharing possibly enabled for over 5,000 files on
> my machine (according to the handy "My Shared Files" search feature in
> WinVista) makes me NERVOUS!