Folder not visible in shared directory but is accessible with direct UNC path

Question

I have a shared Users directory that I access at the following UNC path:

\\servername\Users

Inside this directory each User in my company has a folder that they are allowed to store pretty much anything they want. The UNC path for each user is similar to the following:

\\servername\Users\username$

Each user folder is shared directly as well and I can also access each folder with the following path:

\\servername\username$

The server that hosts all of these folders and shares is running on Windows Server 2003.

I have one User, lets call him Joe, who has a folder in this share. Whenever I open the share \\servername\Users from a Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 machine I am unable to see his folder listed. However I am still able to directly access his folder with \\servername\Users\Joe$ and \\servername\Joe$.

I do however see Joe's folder listed when I access the same shares from a Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 machine.

I have already double checked all of the share and security permissions on his folder and they are correct and match every other users folder.

What could be causing this?

Answer 1

By default when you add the $ character to a share, it becomes a hidden share. So if you have \\SERVER\Folder and \\SERVER\Folder1$ both with the same permissions, you will NOT be able to see Folder1$ when you browse to \\SERVER.

The relevant MS knowledge base article is here but the first line of the article:

A hidden share is identified by a dollar sign ($) at the end of the share name. Hidden shares are not listed when you look through the shares on a computer or use the net view command.

Says it all.

EDIT Per our discussion below, the only solution I can think of is to delete/recreate the folder and see what happens. I'm baffled as to what would cause the behavior otherwise.