I need some help with my problem. Called Microsoft for 2 hours today and got NO WHERE! I recently got a Asus Laptop (Model W7J). After setting up the network on the laptop (desktop was already setup), I made sure I had all the folders and drives indicated for "sharing". I can access all the shared folders from the desktop on the laptop, except for the external drives. I do not acess these often, so I do not know who long I may have had this problem. There was a time, I KNOW I was able to access the Seagate external drive. I have the same problem with another laptop, HP zd7000. I am wondering if the USB connection or the size of the drives have something to do with it. One drive is 250 Gb (about 200 filled) and the other is 40 gb (about 20 filled). I have a USB jump drive connected to the desktop and can access this fine. PLEASE HELP! This is a frustrating problem and with a brand new laptop, it just makes me wonder! Also, when I start the desktop in Safe Mode with Networking, I can access the drives great. When I try a Clean Boot (All Services and Startups disabled, but Microsoft), I still cannot access the two external drives. Any ideas.... All of you have always been so great to go to for help, I anxiously await some replys to put my headaches to rest!