Backup on Duo v2 and Window 7 64 bit

After reading about 15-20 posts here and elsewhere on the web and spending about 2-3 hours with the Netgear tech support staff, I figured out how to resolve the problems I was having using the Duo v2 (not FrontView) ReadyNAS backup interface to backup folders from my Win 7 Home 64 bit computer. I'm posting this mainly because the solution turned out to be very simple and hopefully this will save others the hassle. I imagine a similar strategy would work for those having trouble backing up from the ReadyNAS Duo v2 to their Win 7 machine, too.

The problem:

I had a folder in my user directory that I wanted to backup to the NAS. I (as well as the Netgear support staff person who tried to resolve my problem using Ammyy) had correctly set the share permissions on the folder in Win 7:
1. Right click the folder, choose Properties, then Sharing tab.
2. Click Advanced Sharing. Tick Share this folder. Click Permissions. Add "everyone" [no quotes] to the list. Choose rights. Click Apply. OK.
3. Back in the Sharing tab of Properties, click Share. Add "everyone" [no quotes] to the list. Click Share. [A dialogue will come up with the new share path, which should look like \\PCNAME\foldername . OK.]
4. Click Apply and OK on the Properties.

Then, in the ReadyNAS backup screen, to backup FROM the shared Win 7 folder to the NAS share create a new job, and enter the following:
Backup Source
Type: remote
Name: Windows/NAS timestamp
Host: PCNAME --> [note: it also failed when I or the tech support person used the IP address of the Win 7 machine on the network, e.g., 192.168.1.14]
Path: foldername --> [note: no need to type the full path here....just the info from the share screen listed above]
Log In: myWin7login*
Password: myWin7password*

* this was the source of the problem, BTW.

Backup Destination
Type: share
Name: share:sharename
Host:
Path: foldername
Log In:
Password:

With the above setup, I (and tech support) could press the "test connection" button and the ReadyNAS could access the Win7 path. However, when you ran the backup job, it would fail with the following error:

Backup failed. Thu Aug 9 15:59:41 EDT 2012.

Reason for failure:
Unable to access remote path //192.168.1.14/test.

I'm probably at best an intermediate user, and take my Win7 laptop to my office network, too. Not understanding all the ins and outs of networking, I was also uneasy with the Netgear's support staff setting the share permissions to "everybody" in the steps above.

In any case, impatient with the ReadyNAS support escalation delay, I came back here to see if I could sort this out on my own, by reading more posts. This post (which is specific to FrontView, not the interface on the Duo v2.... like much of the online documentation.... grrr):
http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=59681
...which led me to this page:
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-7/share-files-and-printers-between-windows-7-and-xp/
... and again, because I take my laptop to work, I didn't want to turn off password protected sharing, I took note of this line:

If you want to keep it enabled make sure there is a log in account for the other XP machines and they have a password.

So, I suspect, but don't know for sure that part of the reason the backup wasn't working is because I was ALREADY logged in to the Win7 with that user name, and the Win7 machine didn't want to give the same user remote access, too. I'm no expert so I don't know if that's true, but here's....

The solution:
Create a user on my Windows 7 machine for the ReadyNAS to use. Then, in the Backup job, use those user credentials instead of my usual Win7 login. [Incidentally, this may explain why some people have backup jobs that seem to work intermittently... maybe they only work when the user in the backup job is not actually logged in?]

1. Create a new user in Windows 7. While logged in on an Administrator account, in Start menu box, type Add user, choose Add or remove user accounts. Create a new user (I gave mine the name of the NAS) with a password (other posts make me think the password is necessary).
2. Go through the steps above to share the folder on the Win 7 machine with the new NASuser account. [I removed 'everyone' and instead typed the name for the NASuser account.]
3. Go to the ReadyNAS backup screen and change the Login and Password for the remote share on the Win 7 to the new NASuser account info (rather than your usual Win 7 user). Click Apply.
4. Run the job.

This worked for me, and eliminates my worries about sharing the folder with "everyone" as the Netgear tech support would have me do.

Hope this saves someone the many hours I spent trying to figure it out.

Also, if anyone can explain either a) why this works or b) whether setting the permission to "everyone" will make all my shares/folders visible on a work network, I would be glad to know. I regularly see my colleagues' shared music folders, and I would prefer not to inadvertently share my private folders at work just because I am trying to share them with the ReadyNAS.

Cheers! Michelle