Hi all,I'm getting error when trying to share a folder "An error occurred while trying to share folderxxx. Incorrect function". Upon researching I see that File and printer sharing is not turned on. Seems simple enough but...I've gone through Control Panel | Network and Sharing Center | Advanced Sharing Settings - on both "Network discovery" and "File and printer sharing" I select "Turn On..." for either or both and Save changes - but neither is saved! Going back into the advanced sharing settings both revert back to "Turn off...." state. (I am local and domain admin).The Windows 7 computer is joined to a domain and Firewall settings are mostly set via Group policy though local settings are allowed (merged). Let me add that I can access the admin shares (c$, d$) on the computer no problem across the network so Advanced Firewall settings in that regard are ok.At a loss as to why File and printer sharing will not enable and I assume that is what is keeping me from creating additional shares on the workstation? Thanks.

Hi, Please check the following: 1. Go to Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network Connections and check if File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks is enabled in your NICs properties. 2. Check the related firewall rules: 1) Click the Start Button. 2) In the search bar type wf.msc and press Enter. 3) Check the Inbound Rules and Outbound Rules and ensure that the File and Printer Sharing rules in Domain profile are set to Allowed and they are enabled. If there are some other Windows 7 clients on the network, please also check if the issue also occurred on these machines. Hope this helps.Nicholas Li - MSFT

Thanks for the reply Nicholas. File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks is enabled. As I stated I can access the admin shares c$, d$ on this computer from other workstations which I don't think wouldn't be possible if some part of the file and printer sharing wasn't enabled on the NIC or Advanced Firewall settings. Firewall is allowing the File and Printer Sharing rules for all profiles - though the rules are customized to allow only for our local subnets. Same goes for the Network Discovery rules. Testing another Windows 7 (fresh install) computer on our Domain and I can successfully create shares on this one. Which sort of surprises me since it too has its Firewall and other settings set via Group Policy similar to the computer where I'm unable to create a new share. Ok - looks like an imported Firewall profile is causing the problem. On the system that was able to create a share it had the default Firewall settings as well as the ones merged from Group Policy. But we've been then importing a saved Firewall profile that removes some default settings and all those disabled ones from the default profiles. Something rules must be missing here...I'll tbshoot and post what I find (may help someone else).

Looks like I figured out what was wrong. During the process of deploying our new Windows 7 systems the default Outgoing Firewall rules are completely removed which seemed ok since Outbound connections were set to "Allow" by default. But only when I added back the Outgoing rules for File and Printer Sharing can new shares can be created. If after the share(s) are created those Outbound rules are removed the share still works fine as the Inbound rules remain. I guess this is by design but it doesn't quite make sense to me why the Outbound rules are explicitly needed for the File and Printer sharing when creating a share.

Just a followup on this issue that if these Outgoing rules are set via GP the new share creation still fails! Specifically it seems there must be the local rule for LLMNR-UDP-Out (Port 5355) scope: local subnet. If this Outbound rule is there but set by GP share creation fails. If the other File and Print Sharing Outbound rules are set via GP and this one rule is set locally then new shares can be created....sorry but this seem like a bug to me...

I had opened a ticket for this problem by the Microsoft Partner support. Microsoft confirmed that at least one in- or outbound local firewall rule must exist. It doesn't matter wich one and it doesn't matter if the rule is in- or outbound. Otherwise no file Shares can be created. Original message form Microsoft: Share creation fails with error "Incorrect function" alternatively "Your folder can't be shared" Symptom Sharing a folder fails. If you're trying to create the share within Explorer you get the error "Your folder can't be shared". If you're using the command NET SHARE you get the error "Incorrect function". Cause Amongst potential other reasons there are two directly related to the configuration of the Windows Firewall for advanced security: 1. All predefined Firewall rules are deleted on the local system, so also the whole File and Printer Sharing rule group. This happens because the server service (lanmanserver) checks - if the firewall service is running (if not, share creation works, but it would be an unsupported configuration) and - if a rule from File and Printer Sharing rule group exists (only if yes, share creation works) 2. The client has a Group Policy assigned which disables the Windows Firewall for a given profile. The local settings of the firewall have not been modified. A standard user tries to share a folder on the client machine. Enabling 'File and Printer Sharing' in the 'Advanced sharing settings' of 'Network and Sharing Center' for the given Windows Firewall profile by the user does not change the behaviour. This happens because the 'Detection and Sharing' component relies on the local firewall settings and rules for detection if 'File and Printer Sharing' is allowed or not. Resolution 1. Keep at least one of the File and Printer Sharing rules in the local firewall settings. 2. Either - Disable the Windows Firewall for Advanced Security for the given profile also in the local settings. or - Enable the inbound and outbound rules for 'File and Printer Sharing' in the local Windows Firewall for Advanced Security Note: Because Windows Firewall with Advanced Security plays an important part in helping to protect your computer from security threats, we recommend that you do not disable it unless you install another firewall from a reputable vendor that provides an equivalent level of protection.