Fran99 said:
I am Running 3 machines with XP Pro I am tring to access the desktop
thru the LAN.
I am tring to change the user names on all 3 computer to be the same.
When I change the name of the Computer Administrator user the file under
Documents and Settings is still the old name and I can't rename it.
WHY?
When I create a new folder with the new name and copy all the files I can
it seems to work.
You cannot change the true nature (underlying files/folders) of a user
account by simply changing the name. That is a cosmetic effect only. You
need to create new user accounts, all named the same or whatever you like.
You can then copy the old user account on each machine to the new user
account respectively on each machine if you wish. You need to make a third
user account from which to work which can be temporary (delete afterwards)
or just keep as an extra administrative account for emergencies. Just
follow the instructions in the link below. You will need to log into the
new accounts once before you can copy anything to them.
Copy a User Account -
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=811151
As for your last question, I don't know exactly what you mean. It doesn't
matter though; once you've created the matching user accounts and passwords
on all three machines (a matter of just a few minutes), your sharing will
work perfectly. See below for general network troubleshooting steps in case
any of it is applicable to your situation.
For XP, start by running the Network Setup Wizard on all machines (see
caveat in Item A below).
Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally caused
by 1) a misconfigured firewall or overlooked firewall (including a stateful
firewall in a VPN); or 2) inadvertently running two firewalls such as the
built-in Windows Firewall and a third-party firewall; and/or 3) not having
identical user accounts and passwords on all Workgroup machines; 4) trying
to create shares where the operating system does not permit it.
A. Configure firewalls on all machines to allow the Local Area Network (LAN)
traffic as trusted. With Windows Firewall, this means allowing File/Printer
Sharing on the Exceptions tab. Normally running the Network Setup Wizard on
XP will take care of this for those machines.The only "gotcha" is that this
will turn on the XPSP2 Windows Firewall. If you aren't running a
third-party firewall or have an antivirus with "Internet Worm
Protection" (like Norton 2006/07) which acts as a firewall, then you're
fine. With third-party firewalls, I usually configure the LAN allowance
with an IP range. Ex. would be 192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you
would substitute your correct subnet. Do not run more than one firewall. DO
NOT TURN OFF FIREWALLS; CONFIGURE THEM CORRECTLY.
B. For ease of organization, put all computers in the same Workgroup. This
is done from the System applet in Control Panel, Computer Name tab.
C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. You do not
need to be logged into the same account on all machines and the passwords
assigned to each user account can be different; the accounts/passwords just
need to exist and match on all machines. DO NOT NEGLECT TO CREATE
PASSWORDS, EVEN IF ONLY SIMPLE ONES. If you wish a machine to boot directly
to the Desktop (into one particular user's account) for convenience, you
can do this. The instructions at this link work for both XP and Vista:
Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm
D. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab).
E. Create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users' home
directories or Program Files, but you can share folders inside those
directories. A better choice is to simply use the Shared Documents folder.
Malke
