What do I need to achieve this? logging in from any computer...

  • Thread starter Thread starter John Smith
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John Smith

When I was in school, I was able to log in any computer and see my
files. It seems that my files were stored on a central server. I
have three computers at home. How do I achieve the same effect?
Thanks.
 
John Smith said:
When I was in school, I was able to log in any computer and see my
files. It seems that my files were stored on a central server. I
have three computers at home. How do I achieve the same effect?
Thanks.
Click to expand...

The easiest way to achieve this is probably to use the one that's always on
set all to the same "Workgroup", the default is MSHOME and simply create the
same username and password on each machine. You can find that user's "My
Documents" folder if you like and share it or you can simply create another
folder called MyStuff or something and share that. There is nothing
"Different" about a machine that's being used as a server in this manner.
Anything shared should show up in my network places under MS Networking /
Workgroup and when you find the shared folder you can drag an icon on to the
desktop or whatever. If the machines are always hooked up this should
present no problems and most of your software like Word etc remembers the
last folder used.

Alternatively you could use something like "Synctoy" to just copy files, in
a way this may be better as you will always have a recent backup and could
take a machine like a laptop off the network and still do your work.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...54-C975-4814-9649-CCE41AF06EB7&displaylang=en

Your school would probably have has security problems if they had used this
simple file sharing so I imagine they had a domain and used roaming profiles
etc, but you really don't want to go more complicated if you don't need to.

Charlie
 
In John Smith had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:
When I was in school, I was able to log in any computer and see my
files. It seems that my files were stored on a central server. I
have three computers at home. How do I achieve the same effect?
Thanks.
Click to expand...

Network 'em and put 'em all in the same workgroup and then assign
permissions. Note that the PCs will have to be on or you'll need to turn one
into a server and that one will always have to be on in order to accomplish
this.

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/ http://kgiii.info/

"Chance has put in our way a most singular and whimsical problem, and
its solution is its own reward." - Sherlock Holmes
 
That's what I do here at home.

Networked everything, and have one PC act as a "file server" and "print
server". To make this work well, and convenient, the "server PC would have to
be on all the time, else I have to get up, boot it up each time I need to
open or save a file or print.

The "MyDocuments" directory of the "server" PC is mapped as a drive on my
other computers, and shows up as a "mapped network drive" which makes saving
or opening a documents a lot easier.

Doing things this way, everything needs backing up is in one place, and when
I'm on the road, I log in thru the "server" PC, and everyhting I need is
right on it.

One down side is the electric on a PC on all day is $1.00/day, where I live,
so it hibernates itself around 9:00PM, and wakes itself up at 6:00PM to save
a little, about $10.00/month.

There are other options such as "network drives", and "network printers" as
well, but right now, making one PC the server works well for me.

Another option I'm considering is file storing services such as "Xdrive"
where files are actually stored on the internet, and you supposedly can map a
a drive on your computer. Besides the benefit of not having the PC on all the
time, files are stored safely offsite. The donwside is "personal and
confidential" stuff is out there some where, and I also have to worry about
the reliabilty of internet connections, reliabilty of the service itself.

Right now, as an AOL customer, the first five Gigs of Xdrive is available
free of charge.
 
That's what I do here at home.

Networked everything, and have one PC act as a "file server" and "print
server". To make this work well, and convenient, the "server PC would have to
be on all the time, else I have to get up, boot it up each time I need to
open or save a file or print.

The "MyDocuments" directory of the "server" PC is mapped as a drive on my
other computers, and shows up as a "mapped network drive" which makes saving
or opening a documents a lot easier.

Doing things this way, everything needs backing up is in one place, and when
I'm on the road, I log in thru the "server" PC, and everyhting I need is
right on it.

One down side is the electric on a PC on all day is $1.00/day, where I live,
so it hibernates itself around 9:00PM, and wakes itself up at 6:00PM to save
a little, about $10.00/month.

There are other options such as "network drives", and "network printers" as
well, but right now, making one PC the server works well for me.

Another option I'm considering is file storing services such as "Xdrive"
where files are actually stored on the internet, and you supposedly can map a
a drive on your computer. Besides the benefit of not having the PC on all the
time, files are stored safely offsite. The donwside is "personal and
confidential" stuff is out there some where, and I also have to worry about
the reliabilty of internet connections, reliabilty of the service itself.

Right now, as an AOL customer, the first five Gigs of Xdrive is available
free of charge.
 
Galen said:
In John Smith had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:




Network 'em and put 'em all in the same workgroup and then assign
permissions. Note that the PCs will have to be on or you'll need to turn one
into a server and that one will always have to be on in order to accomplish
this.
Click to expand...

That does not work. I already have all the pcs networked but I
don't see the same files when I log on invididual pcs.
 
In
John Smith said:
When I was in school, I was able to log in any computer and see my
files. It seems that my files were stored on a central server. I
have three computers at home. How do I achieve the same effect?
Thanks.
Click to expand...

Your school probably had a domain controller. If you are using a workgroup,
this isn't so easy - however, as the other reply suggested, you can network
everything, and store all your data on one computer, and point your My
Documents at the shared folder on the 'server' computer.
 
John said:
When I was in school, I was able to log in any computer and see my
files. It seems that my files were stored on a central server. I
have three computers at home. How do I achieve the same effect.
Click to expand...
Network 'em and put 'em all in the same workgroup and then assign
permissions. Note that the PCs will have to be on or you'll need
to turn one into a server and that one will always have to be on
in order to accomplish this.
Click to expand...

John said:
That does not work. I already have all the pcs networked but I
don't see the same files when I log on invididual pcs.
Click to expand...

Which leads to the rest of the short paragraph...
"... you'll need to turn one into a server and that one will always have to
be on in order to accomplish this ..."

Essentially - what you probably had was a roaming profile in combination
with redirected folders and/or just a Home Drive share where you could store
your files. A roamin profile would mean your desktop looked the same on
every computer and your favorites/etc followed you around. This is one
solution, but for things like "My Documents" and your other large folders
(potentially) - the redirection is a better idea. They can be used in
conjunction. In short - your "My Documents" folder can be redirected to a
network accessible location --> meanig no matter where you logon, it is
there.

To achieve exactly what your school had - you need a server. Windows 2003
maybe - but if you are good with computers - a linux server would work as
well.

The closest you will probably get is a network attached storage device (like
Ximeta, Netgear, Buffalo Technology, Linksys, etc) and redirection of your
"My Documents" folder. That *might*( work). Although - you could - more
easily - just start storing your files/folders on one of these devices and
make sure all the computers have access to it.
 
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