Folders inaccessible on my external hard disc.

[frstdrkngl]

I use my external hard drive to store and share movies, TV series and music with my friends. Lately, however,I have been unable to access folders on my external hard disc when I use it on another computer other than where the folders were created. It says "Access is Denied". When I point the cursor on the folders, it shows folder is empty. But the hard disc is actually utilized. Please advise me on how to resolve this glitch.

[Salem]

Which operating system(s) do you use to access the drive?

[Frank Wallis]

What Operating System are you using?

Do u get any messege when you try to access a folder on
external hard drive when it is connected to the 1st computer?

[frstdrkngl]

I use windows vista and the file system is on NTFS.

[frstdrkngl]

I use windows vista and the file system is on NTFS.

When i'm on the 1st computer I can access and view the folders OK as long as I copied the folders from there but when I use another computer I can't access the folders on the external HDD. That's why I think it's a problem to do with the hard disk. I'm not sure though.

[Salem]

Do you have UAC turned on?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_Account_Control

You might be able to modify the permissions using the command line.

C:\>ICACLS /?

ICACLS name /save aclfile [/T] [/C] [/L] [/Q]
    store the the acls for the all matching names into aclfile for
    later use with /restore.

ICACLS directory [/substitute SidOld SidNew [...]] /restore aclfile
                 [/C] [/L] [/Q]
    applies the stored acls to files in directory.

ICACLS name /setowner user [/T] [/C] [/L] [/Q]
    changes the owner of all matching names.

ICACLS name /findsid Sid [/T] [/C] [/L] [/Q]
    finds all matching names that contain an ACL
    explicitly mentioning Sid.

ICACLS name /verify [/T] [/C] [/L] [/Q]
    finds all files whose ACL is not in canonical for or whose
    lengths are inconsistent with ACE counts.

ICACLS name /reset [/T] [/C] [/L] [/Q]
    replaces acls with default inherited acls for all matching files

ICACLS name [/grant[:r] Sid:perm[...]]
       [/deny Sid:perm [...]]
       [/remove[:g|:d]] Sid[...]] [/T] [/C] [/L] [/Q]
       [/setintegritylevel Level:policy[...]]

    /grant[:r] Sid:perm grants the specified user access rights. With :r,
        the permissions replace any previouly granted explicit permissions.
        Without :r, the permissions are added to any previously granted
        explicit permissions.
<snip>

But don't ask me, it's outside my area without lots of research.
But be aware this can just as easily screw things up as fix them!

Another plan would be to create the directory structure using the machine with the least privilege, then just write the files on your machine.