I.D. stopped working

[Clueless in Seattle]

I have two hand-me-down computers, a laptop and a desktop, connected
together in a peer-to-peer network. This network has worked well for
a year or more without any major problems.

But day-before-yesterday, when I tried to access a file on the laptop
from the desktop computer, I got that little box that asks for your
i.d. and password.

That little box has been a persistent nuisance ever since I set up
this network ages ago, but I learned early on that all I had to do was
type in "administrator" in the i.d. field, leave the password blank,
and hit enter.

But yesterday (and today too) when I did that, I got that same little
box back on the screen again, with a message saying something like
"incorrect i.d. or password."

As far as I can remember, I haven't intentionally changed my i.d. and/
or password (I never had a password). But, I have been trying
(unsuccessfully so far) to switch over to a router so that I may add
a third hand-me-down computer to my network. This has entailed
repeatedly disconnecting and reconnecting network cables, and checking
and re-checking network settings. So all that fussing around may have
been what triggered this recent problem.

What is interesting is that from the laptop I can access all the files
on my desktop machine; the problem only occurs when I try to go the
other way, i.e., to access files on the laptop from the desktop
machine.

I'd be grateful for some coaching on getting around this glitch.

Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Clueless"

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

I have two hand-me-down computers, a laptop and a desktop, connected
together in a peer-to-peer network. This network has worked well for
a year or more without any major problems.

But day-before-yesterday, when I tried to access a file on the laptop
from the desktop computer, I got that little box that asks for your
i.d. and password.

That little box has been a persistent nuisance ever since I set up
this network ages ago, but I learned early on that all I had to do was
type in "administrator" in the i.d. field, leave the password blank,
and hit enter.

But yesterday (and today too) when I did that, I got that same little
box back on the screen again, with a message saying something like
"incorrect i.d. or password."

As far as I can remember, I haven't intentionally changed my i.d. and/
or password (I never had a password). But, I have been trying
(unsuccessfully so far) to switch over to a router so that I may add
a third hand-me-down computer to my network. This has entailed
repeatedly disconnecting and reconnecting network cables, and checking
and re-checking network settings. So all that fussing around may have
been what triggered this recent problem.

What is interesting is that from the laptop I can access all the files
on my desktop machine; the problem only occurs when I try to go the
other way, i.e., to access files on the laptop from the desktop
machine.

I'd be grateful for some coaching on getting around this glitch.

Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Clueless"

Type the following words into a Google search box and you'll get more hits
that you ever thought you'd get:

forgot windows password

In other words, it is a VFAQ.

 

[Clueless in Seattle]

Type the following words into a Google search box and you'll get more hits
that you ever thought you'd get:

forgot windows password

In other words, it is a VFAQ.

Thanks, Pegasus!

I looked at a lot of those hits and the procedures all seem to be very
complicated and difficult. I'm disabled by severe chronic pain,
fatigue and a circulation disorder that makes it very difficult for me
to sit up for more than a few minutes. That's why I have the laptop
networked to the desktop; I can work in bed using the laptop.

I'm wondering if I couldn't just delete the current network connection
from the desktop computer and then create a new connection. Would
that require me to enter a password?

I'm also wondering how I got into this situation in the first place.
I live alone and I'm the only one who ever uses my computer, so I
never bothered creating a password. How could the P2P network
suddenly require me to enter a password? I mean, where could that
password have come from? And if I could answer that question, would
the answer provide me the key to reversing the process so that I could
get back to the previous state in which no password was required?

Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Clueless"

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

Type the following words into a Google search box and you'll get more hits
that you ever thought you'd get:

forgot windows password

In other words, it is a VFAQ.

Thanks, Pegasus!

I looked at a lot of those hits and the procedures all seem to be very
complicated and difficult. I'm disabled by severe chronic pain,
fatigue and a circulation disorder that makes it very difficult for me
to sit up for more than a few minutes. That's why I have the laptop
networked to the desktop; I can work in bed using the laptop.

I'm wondering if I couldn't just delete the current network connection
from the desktop computer and then create a new connection. Would
that require me to enter a password?

I'm also wondering how I got into this situation in the first place.
I live alone and I'm the only one who ever uses my computer, so I
never bothered creating a password. How could the P2P network
suddenly require me to enter a password? I mean, where could that
password have come from? And if I could answer that question, would
the answer provide me the key to reversing the process so that I could
get back to the previous state in which no password was required?

Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Clueless"

===================

Sorry, I misunderstood your initial question. If you are denied access to a
shared resource then this is because of one of these reasons:
a) Your current logon account/password combination does not match an
account/passwordcombination on the other computer.
b) The share permissions on the other computer are insufficient for your
current logon account, or they do not exist.
c) The NTFS permissions of the shared folder on the other machine are
insufficient for your current logon account, or they do not exist.

How you got into this situation I cannot tell - I wasn't there when it
happened! You can certainly drop the existing share connection, then
recreate it, but I doubt that this would help you. You most likely need to
check the three points I raised above.

 

[Clueless in Seattle]

Sorry, I misunderstood your initial question. If you are denied access toa
shared resource then this is because of one of these reasons:
a) Your current logon account/password combination does not match an
account/passwordcombination on the other computer.
b) The share permissions on the other computer are insufficient for your
current logon account, or they do not exist.
c) The NTFS permissions of the shared folder on the other machine are
insufficient for your current logon account, or they do not exist.

How you got into this situation I cannot tell - I wasn't there when it
happened! You can certainly drop the existing share connection, then
recreate it, but I doubt that this would help you. You most likely need to
check the three points I raised above.

Thanks again, Pegasus!

I finally got the network working again, and you provided me with one
of the clues I needed.