IPC$ Problem

[Jim McColl]

I have a Windows XP Home computer runing Sp2 which is connected via an SMS
wireless broadband router to a laptop running W98SE.

When I try to logon to the XP computer from the 98 computer I get prompted
to enter a password to connect to IPC$.

I have done a lot of research on this problem on the Internet and als tried
a bunch of things like enabling user account with same name and password on
each machine. So far nothing works. Since I am being prompted for a pasword
for IPC$. One must exist. How do I find out what it is? Or failing that at
least be able to reset it ?

Anybody know ?

Thanks

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

I have a Windows XP Home computer runing Sp2 which is connected via an SMS
wireless broadband router to a laptop running W98SE.

When I try to logon to the XP computer from the 98 computer I get prompted
to enter a password to connect to IPC$.

I have done a lot of research on this problem on the Internet and als tried
a bunch of things like enabling user account with same name and password on
each machine. So far nothing works. Since I am being prompted for a pasword
for IPC$. One must exist. How do I find out what it is? Or failing that at
least be able to reset it ?

Anybody know ?

Thanks

There's no correct response to the IPC$ prompt. Matching user
accounts aren't necessary to access a computer running XP Home. They
might be necessary to access a computer running XP Pro with simple
file sharing disabled.

Run the Network Setup Wizard on the XP computer, and tell it that the
computer connects to the Internet through a residential gateway
(broadband router). That's usually all that's needed to fix the IPC$
problem. Don't bother running the Wizard on the W98SE computer, even
if it tells you to.

If that doesn't do the job:

1. Enable the Guest account for network access by typing this line at
a command prompt on XP:

net user guest /active:yes

2. Remove any network password from the Guest account:

a. Click Start | Run.
b. Type "control userpasswords2" in the box and click OK:
c. Click Guest.
d. Click Reset Password.
e. Click OK without entering a new password.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

 

[Doug Sherman [MVP]]

Steve, I'm finding conflicting Knowledge Base info on this issue, and I
don't know the answer:

According to this article, XP Home does not create adminstrative shares:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314984

According to this article, bad or missing administrative shares can be
caused by viruses and trojans AND the affected operating systems include XP
Home:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;842715

Jim's machine certainly thinks it has an IPC$ share - I guess I should
install a copy of XP Home and see if it creates IPC$, but maybe someone
knows the answer?

Doug Sherman
MCSE Win2k/NT4.0, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

Steve, I'm finding conflicting Knowledge Base info on this issue, and I
don't know the answer:

According to this article, XP Home does not create adminstrative shares:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314984

According to this article, bad or missing administrative shares can be
caused by viruses and trojans AND the affected operating systems include XP
Home:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;842715

Jim's machine certainly thinks it has an IPC$ share - I guess I should
install a copy of XP Home and see if it creates IPC$, but maybe someone
knows the answer?

Hi, Doug. XP Home doesn't create administrative shares for root
partitions or volumes (e.g. C$, D$) or for the system root folder
(ADMIN$). It does create the IPC$ administrative share for temporary
connections between clients (like Jim's Win98 computer) and servers
(like his XP Home computer).
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

 

[Doug Sherman [MVP]]

Thanks - it even makes sense!

Doug Sherman

Hi, Doug. XP Home doesn't create administrative shares for root
partitions or volumes (e.g. C$, D$) or for the system root folder
(ADMIN$). It does create the IPC$ administrative share for temporary
connections between clients (like Jim's Win98 computer) and servers
(like his XP Home computer).
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

 

[Jim McColl]

Thanks to all of you. I had a new hard drive installed last Friday and made
it the primary drive. I also had the vendor re-install my copy of XP Home on
the new drive.

Shortly after turning on the computer, I found that the drive was loaded
with viruses worms and spyware. I have been running frequent scans with
Norton Anti Virus, Ad Aware and Spybot. Some of the problems the above
programs find they are not able to fix. Interestingly enough a scan of my
old drive, shows it is as clean as a whistle, so the corruption definitely
occurred as a result of the hard drive installation.

I have come to the conclusion that the only way out of this dilemma is to
re-initialize the disk and re-install everything.

I have a concern that MS might not like me re-activating XP. Do you know
whom I should contact to get permission for this?

A second question is:

Should I run the Western Digital drive Installation software before
Installing Windows, or should I just go straight ahead and do a new
Installation of Windows, which I believe will also reformat the drive.

Finally, do I need to be concerned at all about boot sector viruses or will
the recommended steps above take care of any concerns in this area..

Thanks Again for your help. .

 

[Hans-Georg Michna]

I have come to the conclusion that the only way out of this dilemma is to
re-initialize the disk and re-install everything.

I have a concern that MS might not like me re-activating XP. Do you know
whom I should contact to get permission for this?

Jim,

let me stand in while the others are hopefully getting a good
night's sleep. Steve is the expert, but I hope I can help out
quickly. -)

When it comes to activation, try to activate over the Internet
first. If the software doesn't allow that, it will provide a
telephone number for activation.

If you call that number and explain that you reinstalled Windows
from scratch, you will be given an activation code over the
telephone without any problems. It may take 5 minutes. No
worries here.

A second question is:

Should I run the Western Digital drive Installation software before
Installing Windows, or should I just go straight ahead and do a new
Installation of Windows, which I believe will also reformat the drive.

Do not run the WD software. Just install Windows. If you install
it on the empty disk, it will create a partition and install
itself into it. That's usually the best way.

Finally, do I need to be concerned at all about boot sector viruses or will
the recommended steps above take care of any concerns in this area..

Boot sector viruses used to spread through booting from infected
diskettes.

Your bigger security worry should be connecting to the Internet
without firewall protection. Never do that, not even for a short
time. The current average time till infection for an unprotected
Windows computer without any security patches is 16 minutes,
but, this being an average, your computer can be infected within
seconds.

You want that firewall activated first. Then you are reasonably
safe for the hopefully short time until you install Service Pack
2 or have it installed automatically. You can also order SP2 on
CD from Microsoft (see http://www.michna.com/kb/WxSP2.htm for
details).

Hans-Georg

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

Thanks to all of you. I had a new hard drive installed last Friday and made
it the primary drive. I also had the vendor re-install my copy of XP Home on
the new drive.

Shortly after turning on the computer, I found that the drive was loaded
with viruses worms and spyware. I have been running frequent scans with
Norton Anti Virus, Ad Aware and Spybot. Some of the problems the above
programs find they are not able to fix. Interestingly enough a scan of my
old drive, shows it is as clean as a whistle, so the corruption definitely
occurred as a result of the hard drive installation.

I have come to the conclusion that the only way out of this dilemma is to
re-initialize the disk and re-install everything.

I have a concern that MS might not like me re-activating XP. Do you know
whom I should contact to get permission for this?

If you install XP from the same CD as the previous activation and the
computer's hardware is substantially unchanged, the activation will go
through without a hitch. If not, it will give you a phone number to
call to explain the situation and complete the activation.

A second question is:

Should I run the Western Digital drive Installation software before
Installing Windows, or should I just go straight ahead and do a new
Installation of Windows, which I believe will also reformat the drive.

When you install Windows, it will give you the option of reformatting
the drive.

Finally, do I need to be concerned at all about boot sector viruses or will
the recommended steps above take care of any concerns in this area..

I'd ask that question in one of these news groups:

microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
microsoft.public.windowsxp.setup_deployment

Thanks Again for your help.

You're welcome.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

 

[Hans-Georg Michna]

...

Ha, still up at this time! I should check your time zone. -)

Hans-Georg