Problems using net use

[Jerry Spence]

I have a problem trying to map drive letters to a PC across the Internet
on two XP machines.

If I have the two PC's together on the same LAN and I do:

net use j: \\<IPAddress>\cdrive passwd /user:username

then this works fine.

If the PC in question is elsewhere and I connect (my end via dialup, the
other end on broadband) I get the error 53, The Network path was not
found. I can ping it OK so I know it's there.

The other end has a broadband modem rather than a router so I don't
think there should be any routing issues.

The other strange thing I don't understand is that, on another PC on the
network (LAN), if I do:

net use j: \\<IPAddress>\cdrive passwd /user:username

using a username and password I know does not exist on the target PC,
the drive mapping is successful, as though it's ignoring the specified
username and password, and taking instead my own credentials (I have my
own username and password on both PCs). What is the mechanism here?

Thanks for any help

Jerry

 

[CZ]

I have a problem trying to map drive letters to a PC across the Internet
on two XP machines.

If I have the two PC's together on the same LAN and I do:

net use j: \\<IPAddress>\cdrive passwd /user:username

then this works fine.

If the PC in question is elsewhere and I connect (my end via dialup, the
other end on broadband) I get the error 53, The Network path was not
found. I can ping it OK so I know it's there.

The other end has a broadband modem rather than a router so I don't
think there should be any routing issues.

The other strange thing I don't understand is that, on another PC on the
network (LAN), if I do:

net use j: \\<IPAddress>\cdrive passwd /user:username

using a username and password I know does not exist on the target PC,
the drive mapping is successful, as though it's ignoring the specified
username and password, and taking instead my own credentials (I have my
own username and password on both PCs). What is the mechanism here?

Jerry:

Generally, no user should place his/her computer on the Internet in a
configuration wherein it is receptive to basic Windows networking
connections.

May I suggest that you and your friend explore VPN, Remote Desktop, or
Remote Assistance.
the drive mapping is successful, as though it's ignoring the specified
username and password

XP Home uses the Guest acct for all network connections