2 Network questions; Please help!

[Guest]

Hello,

I have one Notebook computer and one Desktop Computer on a home network
using a Net Gear router. The desktop is hard wired to the router and the
notebook is using it's internal wireless card. Both computers are running
Vista Home Premium; completely updated to the best of my knowledge.

When I make a connection from my Notebook to the Desktop Computer through
the Network for the first time each day I have to type in my user name and
password I use on the Desktop PC. Each time I do this I check the box to
remember this information, but it never does.

Second; is there away to set a password to access my Notebook through the
Network without setting one to log on to my Notebook? I am the only user of
my Notebook so I really don’t need a password to log on. Plus I don’t want to
assign one so when I boot the Notebook it will go right to my Desktop. The
problem is there are multiple users on my Desktop PC and I want to be the
only one to be able to access my Notebook. I set the Notebook to need a
password to access it through the Network. When I try to access the Notebook
from my Desktop it asks for the user name and password like it should. I am
using the user name for the Notebook, but I don’t know what to use for the
password. I tried leaving it blank and I tried using the password for the
Desktop, but neither worked. Can someone help me with this problem?

Any help would be deeply appreciated!

Thanks, James

 

[David Dickinson]

I'll take your second question first:

All user accounts should always have passwords, especially on notebooks or
on machines that have wireless access. (Actually that "especially..."
phrase is unnecessary. All user accounts should always have passwords.)

Use a password on all accounts on the notebook. Make sure that you assign a
password to ALL accounts, including the built-in Administrator. Do not
allow any access to your notebook without a password. After all, it will be
stolen, and someone will break into it via the some wireless network to
which you connect. (The other definite thing about a notebook is that you
will drop it. These are the three things that you have to accept when you
buy a notebook. They're preventable, but you must assume that these things
will happen.)

Check your notebook's network properties to see if Password protected
sharing is on. If it is, leave it on. If it isn't on, turn it on.

As to your second question, this sounds like a good thing, but I'm afraid
that I don't have an answer without more information about your
configuration. It sounds like the desktop isn't remembering passwords.

David Dickinson
eveningstar at die-spammer-die dash mvps dot org

 

[Flyerfan27]

Hello David,

Thank you so much for replying to my posting, I deeply appreciate it. Also
thank you for the great advise you gave me. I really did not think about the
Notebook getting stolen and used. I will be giving my Notebook a password as
soon as I can think of a good one to use. Since I am the administrator can I
give myself and the administrator the same password? Also how do I bring up
the administrator to give it a password. When I go to the "Manage Accounts"
there is only mine and the Guest; the Guest account off. Should I set both
computers to need the password after the sleep mode too?

My other question is that the Notebook PC is not remembering the User Name
and password for accessing the desktop through the Network. In other words;
when I get on my Notebook and go to the Network and click on the name of my
Desktop computer it asks me for a user name and a password. Now when I put
the user name and password in I also check the box for my Notebook to
remember them, but it does not. The very next time I go to access my desktop
again from the Notebook using the Network after a restart I am asked for
them both again. Even though it is not a good idea to check the box I would
like to know how to fix it. I spend a lot of time at home from being
disabled so there is times I would like to be able to access the desktop
without having to put the user name and password in every time. I basically
use my Desktop hard drive to backup my Notebook files so I access it a lot
during the day.

Thanks again,
James

 

[David Dickinson]

Hi, James,

All of the accounts can have the same password. I often think of mnemonics
to help me remember passwords using variations of famous quotations or
clichés.

To change the Administrator's password on Vista Home Premium, use the "User
Passwords 2" hidden Control Panel applet: click Start/Run, then type in
"control userpasswords2" (without quotes), and click OK.

I know it's a pain to have to use a password to wake up your computer all
the time, but you get used to it after a while. When I think I'm going to
use my notebook exclusively at home for a while, I turn off the requirement
to use a password to stop the screen saver or to wake up the machine. But
whenever it leaves the house, all passwords are required.

As long as your notebook requires passwords to log on to it, having it
remember passwords is not a terrible idea (it's only somewhat unsafe
assuming that you don't store highly sensitive information on your notebook,
in which case you should use a version of Windows that allows you to encrypt
folders).

As far as getting the notebook to remember the password, I just don't know
why you have to keep re-entering it. The only non-help that Microsoft
offers that I can find is at

Troubleshoot Windows password problems
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Wi...56cd-902a-43ff-a648-5401543d4c991033.mspx#EJG

They say that Windows will remember the password "sometimes". But you might
try

Store passwords for automatic logon
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/3c6dd8b8-58f8-46b6-8231-6732c51e57f31033.mspx

but you might find something else in this search:

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/search.aspx?=&qu=remember+password

 

[Flyerfan27]

Hello David,

Thanks for answering my posting again. I really appreciate all your help
and advise you gave me. I can't thank you enough. It is great people like
yourself that makes this BB one of the best and most helpful on the
internet! I would be a compete mess if it was not for this place to come to
for help.

Thank You again,
James