[tlug] Samba network permissions suddenly restricted

[Dave M G <martin@example.com>]

TLUG,

I'm running Windows XP as a virtual machine using Vmware Player within 
Ubuntu Dapper 6.06.
I have the two OSs networked together, using a standard Samba 
connection. So far as I know, the fact that one is a virtual machine 
makes no difference to the network setup. It should behave as any 
network connection does.
And it was working fine for days after the initial set up. I had a 
folder on my Gnome desktop marked "WindowsXP", which linked to a shared 
folder on the Desktop of XP. I could move, copy, delete, and modify 
files in that directory.
Today, I went to that directory, expecting business as usual, and 
discovered that I could not copy files from Windows to Linux. It said:
"smb://192....filename.txt" cannot be copied because you do not have 
permissions to read it.
Checking the permissions of the folder, it's dr--r--r--, or 444.

So far as I know, I didn't do any modifications to the folder since last 
time I successfully moved files from it. Nor have I even rebooted.
I checked on the Windows side to make sure all the folders are set to be 
shared and modified by anyone. I unmounted and remounted the network 
drive. I tried creating and using other shared files in Windows.
And of course I went down the Google trail to see what to do, but was 
unsuccessful in finding a parallel to my current problem.
So here I am. I can not modify the directories at all from within Ubuntu 
anymore.
What do I do to set permissions on this network drive? And how do I get 
it to stick?
--
Dave M G