Unable to browse MCE PC?

[Pheasant Plucker®]

Hi there,

I have a home network with up to 6 PC/laptop/storage .devices present at any
one time.

Obviously all belong to the same workgroup and I have no problem browsing
the shared resources from any PC to any other PC...except I cannot view the
resources on the MCE 2005 PC.

This originally belonged to a different workgroup but I have since changed
it to be the same as all the other PC's on my network.

With the MCE box I can browse resources on the other PC's, access the
Internet, share printers and even logon to the MCE box using Remote Desktop
from any other PC's on my network but I cannot browse the resources on the
MCE box from any other PC.

When I attempt to view the MCE box via My Network Places on my W2K PC I get
the error "Incorrect password or unknown username for: \\PC" Despite putting
in the correct name/password the Enter Network Password box keeps appearing.

If I try from another XP PC I get the same box but I am unable to type the
Username as the box is ghosted with \\PC\Guest\ in the username space. The
Guest account is not active on the MCE box.

What is causing this and how can I overcome it please?

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

Hi there,

I have a home network with up to 6 PC/laptop/storage .devices present at any
one time.

Obviously all belong to the same workgroup and I have no problem browsing
the shared resources from any PC to any other PC...except I cannot view the
resources on the MCE 2005 PC.

This originally belonged to a different workgroup but I have since changed
it to be the same as all the other PC's on my network.

With the MCE box I can browse resources on the other PC's, access the
Internet, share printers and even logon to the MCE box using Remote Desktop
from any other PC's on my network but I cannot browse the resources on the
MCE box from any other PC.

When I attempt to view the MCE box via My Network Places on my W2K PC I get
the error "Incorrect password or unknown username for: \\PC" Despite putting
in the correct name/password the Enter Network Password box keeps appearing.

If I try from another XP PC I get the same box but I am unable to type the
Username as the box is ghosted with \\PC\Guest\ in the username space. The
Guest account is not active on the MCE box.

What is causing this and how can I overcome it please?

On the MCE box, open a command prompt window and enter this command to
enable the Guest account for network access:

net user guest /active:yes

Then remove any network password from the Guest account:

1. Enter this command:

control userpasswords2

2. Click Guest.

3. Click Reset Password.

4. Click OK without entering a new password.

Enabling or disabling the Guest account in Control Panel > User
Accounts has nothing to do with networking. It determines whether
someone can log in as Guest from the local keyboard.
--
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

 

[Pheasant Plucker®]

Thanks for the reply Steve,

I would rather not enable the Guest account but want to use my existing
Administrator logon and password.

Do you know if this is possible please?

Thanks & kind regards,
-=pp=-

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

Thanks for the reply Steve,

I would rather not enable the Guest account but want to use my existing
Administrator logon and password.

Do you know if this is possible please?

Thanks & kind regards,
-=pp=-

Why not enable the Guest account for network access? That's the
default behavior of all versions of Windows XP in a workgroup. The
messages that you see when trying to access the MCE box over the
network indicate that something has gone wrong with the default
settings. The commands that I gave should fix the problem.

Enabling the Guest account for network access has nothing to do with
enabling someone to log onto the computer as "Guest" at the keyboard.
That's controlled by the Guest account setting in Control Panel >
Network.

If you don't want to enable the Guest account for network access, then
you need to:

1. Disable simple file sharing. Go to My Computer > Tools > Folder
Options > View, scroll to the end of the list of advanced settings,
and un-check the "Use simple file sharing" box.

2. Create matching user accounts (same user name and non-blank
password) on the MCE box and on all of the computers that want to
access the MCE box over the network.
--
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

 

[Pheasant Plucker®]

Thanks again for the reply Steve,

I have checked two other XP SP2 PC's on my network and the Guest Account is
definitely off and Simple File Sharing is enabled.

They all have matching Username/Password setups also.

I could as you suggest alter the settings on the MCE PC but in fact as far
as I can see the MCE PC has exactly the same settings as the other two XP
machines on my network which can browse each others resources without
problems.

Sorry to string this one out but I would prefer to know why I am unable to
browse the MCE PC from any other PC on my network but not the other way
around?

Thanks & kind regards,
-=pp=-

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

Thanks again for the reply Steve,

I have checked two other XP SP2 PC's on my network and the Guest Account is
definitely off and Simple File Sharing is enabled.

They all have matching Username/Password setups also.

I could as you suggest alter the settings on the MCE PC but in fact as far
as I can see the MCE PC has exactly the same settings as the other two XP
machines on my network which can browse each others resources without
problems.

Sorry to string this one out but I would prefer to know why I am unable to
browse the MCE PC from any other PC on my network but not the other way
around?

Thanks & kind regards,
-=pp=-

How did you determine that the Guest Account is off? Did you look in
Control Panel > User Accounts? The Guest Account setting there has
nothing to do with networking.

With Simple File Sharing enabled, there's no need for matching
username/password setups.

With Simple File Sharing enabled, all users who request access over
the network validate as Guest. That's why the Guest account MUST be
enabled for network access when Simple File Sharing is enabled. If it
isn't, other computers can't access this computer's shared disks and
folders. To enable the Guest account for network access:

1. Open a command prompt window.

2. Type this command, then press Enter:

net user guest /active:yes

You might need to un-share and then re-share all shared disks and
folders after that.
--
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

 

[Pheasant Plucker®]

OK Steve, the bit about the Guest Account in Control Panel vs. the Guest net
account I understand now(!).

You were right - the behaviour of the other 2 XP machines had the net user
guest as active - the MCE box did not.

Hoping that would be the issue I enabled the net user guest account as you
stated - the MCE box is now the same as the other XP machines on the network
in that respect.

However before I even think about sharing disks/folders should I expect when
I click the MCE PC in My Network Places to get the usual username/password
box open up as before?

This does not happen now and I just get the \\MCE is not accessible. You
might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the
administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions.
Logon failure: the user has not been granted the requested logon type at
this computer.

I'm hard work for such a 'simple' issue aren't I?

Thanks for your patience.

Kind regards,
-=pp=-

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

OK Steve, the bit about the Guest Account in Control Panel vs. the Guest net
account I understand now(!).

You were right - the behaviour of the other 2 XP machines had the net user
guest as active - the MCE box did not.

Hoping that would be the issue I enabled the net user guest account as you
stated - the MCE box is now the same as the other XP machines on the network
in that respect.

However before I even think about sharing disks/folders should I expect when
I click the MCE PC in My Network Places to get the usual username/password
box open up as before?

This does not happen now and I just get the \\MCE is not accessible. You
might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the
administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions.
Logon failure: the user has not been granted the requested logon type at
this computer.

I'm hard work for such a 'simple' issue aren't I?

Thanks for your patience.

Kind regards,
-=pp=-

You're welcome.

There will not be a username/password prompt when another computer
accesses the MCE PC in My Network Places. With Simple File Sharing
enabled, all users validate as Guest. With Guest enabled for network
access, there's no prompt.

The "Logon failure" message indicates a specific, easily solved
problem. On the MCE PC:

1. Click Start > Run, type "secpol.msc" in the box, and click OK.
2. Click Local Policies.
3. Click User Rights Assignment.
4. Click "Access this computer from the network" and make sure that
the Everyone group is included.
5. Click "Deny access to this computer from the network" and make sure
that the Everyone group is NOT included.
--
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

 

[Pheasant Plucker®]

Well this is an odd one then...followed your instructions to the letter and
can confirm that the Everyone Group was already included under "Access this
computer from a network" but was excluded under "Deny access to this
computer from the network" so all seemed fine there...

I would have put money on the fact that my other XP machines prompted for
username/password the first time they were accessed under My Network Places
but then again I am not a betting man and with this MCE PC all bets are off
anyway! ;^)

<sigh>

Thanks again & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-