Shared folder over network suddenly asks for password

9 Jul 2009 9:01 PM

Dr Bob

I have 3 computers on my home network, Dad, Son and Laptop. Dad has XP Media
center addition, the other two XP Home (all with SP3). I backup Laptop work
files to Shared folder on Dad. Suddenly I cannot access shared folder on
Dad, which now asks for a password.

I do not have users password protected. I have tried every conceivable
password I have ever used, with no success.

Dad can ping Son and Laptop without any problems and son and laptop can ping
Dad. Neither Son nor Laptop can access shared folder on Dad.

I have disabled all firewalls. I have simple file sharing enabled on Dad
(media center apparently is like XP Pro in allowing this option).

I have run and rerun Network Wizard and even renamed all the computers to
see what happens. The shared folder on Dad continues to ask for a password
whenever I try to access shared folder on Dad from either Son or Laptop.

This occured I believe after I deleted another user account on Dad that
*was* password protected, but I did not need anymore. The shared folder on
Dad obviously has nothing to do with that account.

Guest accounts are active on all computers as I've read Microsoft Tec
Bulletins that say disabling Guest can cause problems accessing some network
resources.

This is *not* a problem with a lost password. Dad was never password
protected in the first place, other than the single user account now deleted.

All computers show up when I check for networked computers on Son, Laptop
and Dad. I have even placed Dad outside the router firewall, with no
success.

I have seen others with this sudden problem but no solution. Any help would
be appreciated.

...........Bob

9 Jul 2009 10:20 PM

Jim

Show quote Hide quote

"Dr Bob" <Dr***@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:03CE0E6F-1A43-4A8E-B61D-6D0105560324@microsoft.com...
>I have 3 computers on my home network, Dad, Son and Laptop. Dad has XP
>Media
> center addition, the other two XP Home (all with SP3). I backup Laptop
> work
> files to Shared folder on Dad. Suddenly I cannot access shared folder on
> Dad, which now asks for a password.
>
> I do not have users password protected. I have tried every conceivable
> password I have ever used, with no success.
>
> Dad can ping Son and Laptop without any problems and son and laptop can
> ping
> Dad. Neither Son nor Laptop can access shared folder on Dad.
>
> I have disabled all firewalls. I have simple file sharing enabled on Dad
> (media center apparently is like XP Pro in allowing this option).
>
> I have run and rerun Network Wizard and even renamed all the computers to
> see what happens. The shared folder on Dad continues to ask for a
> password
> whenever I try to access shared folder on Dad from either Son or Laptop.
>
> This occured I believe after I deleted another user account on Dad that
> *was* password protected, but I did not need anymore. The shared folder
> on
> Dad obviously has nothing to do with that account.
>
> Guest accounts are active on all computers as I've read Microsoft Tec
> Bulletins that say disabling Guest can cause problems accessing some
> network
> resources.
>
> This is *not* a problem with a lost password. Dad was never password
> protected in the first place, other than the single user account now
> deleted.
>
>
> All computers show up when I check for networked computers on Son, Laptop
> and Dad. I have even placed Dad outside the router firewall, with no
> success.
>
> I have seen others with this sudden problem but no solution. Any help
> would
> be appreciated.
>
> ..........Bob

Did you just press Enter when asked for a password?
Did the deleted account own the shared folder?
You have false info about the Guest account. Mine has been disabled for
four years now with no problem. (it has also been renamed).
Jim

10 Jul 2009 2:19 AM

Dr Bob

Hi Jim:

Pressing "enter" just results in the same request for a password. The
shared folder is part of the "all users" account under "Documents and
Settings." It iwas not part of the account I deleted.

As far as the guest account info, that came straight from Microsoft's
Technical bulletin. I don't have the number handy. It said that "certain"
network resources may not be available if "guest" is disabled. it did not
specify which resources. Frankly, I think I have had guest disabled at times
with no problem. I've read that guest should be disabled for security
reasons anyhoo.

I failed to mention that I am able to access the printer folder on Dad from
Son and Laptop (network printer is attached to Dad). I simply cannot access
*any* other shared folder on Dad from either Son or Laptop, regardless of how
I set the folder's permissions.

I have faught this for several days now and do not believe this has anything
to do with folder permissions, but something more fundamental regarding
connecting one computer to another via the Microsoft Home network.

Dad has its shield's up and I can't figure out why. Another fellow with the
exact same problem and I have been fighting this problem on another Tec site
with no solution yet. I cannot find anything within Microsoft's bulletins
that deals with this either. It's very frustrating, to say the least.

..............Bob

Show quoteHide quote

> Did you just press Enter when asked for a password?
> Did the deleted account own the shared folder?
> You have false info about the Guest account. Mine has been disabled for
> four years now with no problem. (it has also been renamed).
> Jim
>
>
>
>

10 Jul 2009 6:23 AM

John Wunderlich

=?Utf-8?B?RHIgQm9i?= <Dr***@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
Show quoteHide quote

news:03CE0E6F-1A43-4A8E-B61D-6D0105560324@microsoft.com:

> I have 3 computers on my home network, Dad, Son and Laptop. Dad
> has XP Media center addition, the other two XP Home (all with
> SP3). I backup Laptop work files to Shared folder on Dad.
> Suddenly I cannot access shared folder on Dad, which now asks for
> a password.
>
> I do not have users password protected. I have tried every
> conceivable password I have ever used, with no success.
>
> Dad can ping Son and Laptop without any problems and son and
> laptop can ping Dad. Neither Son nor Laptop can access shared
> folder on Dad.
>
> I have disabled all firewalls. I have simple file sharing enabled
> on Dad (media center apparently is like XP Pro in allowing this
> option).
>
> I have run and rerun Network Wizard and even renamed all the
> computers to see what happens. The shared folder on Dad continues
> to ask for a password whenever I try to access shared folder on
> Dad from either Son or Laptop.
>
> This occured I believe after I deleted another user account on Dad
> that *was* password protected, but I did not need anymore. The
> shared folder on Dad obviously has nothing to do with that
> account.
>
> Guest accounts are active on all computers as I've read Microsoft
> Tec Bulletins that say disabling Guest can cause problems
> accessing some network resources.
>
> This is *not* a problem with a lost password. Dad was never
> password protected in the first place, other than the single user
> account now deleted.
>
>
> All computers show up when I check for networked computers on Son,
> Laptop and Dad. I have even placed Dad outside the router
> firewall, with no success.
>
> I have seen others with this sudden problem but no solution. Any
> help would be appreciated.
>
> ..........Bob

You say you have Simple File Sharing enabled. With Simple File Sharing
is enabled, all network access to shares is through the Guest
account... no matter which account you may specify, the access will be
through Guest. It doesn't matter whether the Guest account is
"Enabled" or not. What matters is whether Guest is "Active" or not.
On "Dad", bring up a command window and enter the command:
net user guest
and examine the line "Account Active" -- it must be "Yes" to allow
access. If it is not active, enter the command:
net user guest /active:yes

Having said all that,
1) Verify the user "Guest" on computer "Dad" does not have a password.
2) Right click on the shared folder on "Dad" and select "Security" and
make sure that access to this folder is specifically permitted for the
Guest user and/or "Everyone".
3) Under Simple File Sharing, folders in certain locations cannot be
shared. IIRC, those places include the "Program Files" folder, the
"Windows" folder, and and folders directly inside the "Documents and
Settings" folder. There are others that I can't remember. Try logging
into "Dad" with your normal login, make a folder under "My Documents"
named "My Shares" and try sharing that (that should be a safe place).
4) If the login window still comes up, try entering "Dad\Guest" in the
username field. This makes it clear that you are authenticating using
the Guest account on computer Dad.

Hoping one of these suggestions helps...
-- John