No Prompt for Shares

[mhaight]

I made a share for my school network with some files I want to give
only to a few people. When people try to connect, it just gives them
an "Access Denied" message and a "You might not have permission to
access this network resource." Etc. Etc. There is no prompt!

I want a prompt! I want to be able to give out a computer name,
username, and password to an account with read only access so that
people can access my computer.

How do I get windows XP to prompt for a username and password?

Thanks!

Mike

 

[Malke]

I made a share for my school network with some files I want to give
only to a few people. When people try to connect, it just gives them
an "Access Denied" message and a "You might not have permission to
access this network resource." Etc. Etc. There is no prompt!

I want a prompt! I want to be able to give out a computer name,
username, and password to an account with read only access so that
people can access my computer.

How do I get windows XP to prompt for a username and password?

XP does not use passwords to protect resources. It uses permissions
instead. Here is information to help you with that:

How to disable Simple Sharing and set permissions on a shared folder in
Windows XP (Pro only)
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307874

HOW TO: Set, View, Change, or Remove File and Folder Permissions in
Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308418

By default in XP Home, you can only make files and folders under My
Documents "private". Otherwise, to see the security tab in WinXP Home,
restart in Safe mode and log on with an account that has administrator
privileges. To get into Safe Mode, repeatedly tap the F8 key as the
computer is starting up. This will get you to the menu where you can
choose Safe Mode.

Note that the file system must be NTFS, not FAT32.

Passwording of folders is not supported unless you zip them. When you do
(right click a folder, then "send to > compressed folder") and then open
the zip file, you will find an option under file>"add a password".
Otherwise, use third-party software. Google "password protect folders".

Malke

 

[mhaight]

I understand this. I'm pretty good with permissions. My question is
that, if I set permissions for one user, when someone tries to access
the shares from a different computer, why does it not prompt? I've
read online that it should default to prompt when accessing them. I
want to give people the option to sign in as the account I have gave
read permissions to.

It is very frustrating when it works for some people (a few kids down
the hall) but not for me. Their explaination is that "it just worked
for them." So, they weren't of much help.

Does anyone have any ideas?

\Mike

"Passwording of folders is not supported unless you zip them."

Completely not true. I want people to be able to be prompted to sign
in under an account on my computer. I'm telling you, I've seen it work
on other computers.

Sorry, but you didn't really answer my question. This, too, is
frustrating.

 

[Malke]

I understand this. I'm pretty good with permissions. My question is
that, if I set permissions for one user, when someone tries to access
the shares from a different computer, why does it not prompt? I've
read online that it should default to prompt when accessing them. I
want to give people the option to sign in as the account I have gave
read permissions to.

It is very frustrating when it works for some people (a few kids down
the hall) but not for me. Their explaination is that "it just worked
for them." So, they weren't of much help.

Does anyone have any ideas?

\Mike

"Passwording of folders is not supported unless you zip them."

Completely not true. I want people to be able to be prompted to sign
in under an account on my computer. I'm telling you, I've seen it
work on other computers.

You are not seeing a prompt for a password for a *folder* (unless the
folder is zipped or third-party software is in force). You are seeing a
prompt for user authentication when someone tries to access a resource.
Peer-to-peer Windows computers (members of a Workgroup as opposed to
members of a domain) authenticate by user accounts/passwords on the
local machine, not by computer name or by who is contacting the
computer from the outside.

Start by telling us what version of XP you have - Home, Pro, Media
Center?

If you have XP Home since it authenticates as Guest, that may be why you
don't get a request to the user to provide authentication (username and
password). XP Home doesn't provide the fine-grained permissions
available in Pro. If you have XP Home, you may find MVP Doug Knox's
Security Console useful (www.dougknox.com) or the MS Shared Computer
Toolkit from:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sharedaccess/default.mspx

If you have XP Pro, then create a new user group, assign users to it
(not forgetting yourself and Administrator) and then assign permissions
to resources accordingly.

Malke