XP Home and XP Pro workgroup computers

[Guest]

My laptop uses XP Home into a network with XP Pro PCs. When I 'View
Workgroup COmputers' and select a PC, I am asked for User Name and Password
BUT not asked if I want to remember these details (as I am used to when using
XP Pro). How do I get XP Home to ask for and retain these details for each
PC in the network please?

 

[Malke]

My laptop uses XP Home into a network with XP Pro PCs. When I 'View
Workgroup COmputers' and select a PC, I am asked for User Name and
Password BUT not asked if I want to remember these details (as I am used
to when using
XP Pro). How do I get XP Home to ask for and retain these details for
each PC in the network please?

Is this a domain? If yes, then you will always be asked for authentication
when trying to access domain resources because XP Home cannot join a
domain. See:

Why Windows XP Professional is Best for Domain-Based Networks -
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/evaluation/overviews/joindommore.asp
Windows XP Home - Accessing data on a Domain Server -
http://www.wown.com/j_helmig/wxphdoms.htm

If the computers are not in a domain but only in a peer-to-peer Workgroup,
see:

If one or more of the computers is XP Pro:

a. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab) and create identical user
accounts/passwords on all computers.

b. If you don't care about using Pro's advanced features, leave the Simple
File Sharing enabled.

Simple File Sharing means that Guest (network) is enabled. This means that
anyone without a user account on the target system can use its resources.
This is a security hole but only you can decide if it matters in your
situation.

Then create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users'
home directories (My Documents) or Program Files, but you can share folders
inside those directories. A better choice is to simply use the Shared
Documents folder.

Malke

 

[Guest]

It sounds like this PC is not "remembering" passwords. There are a number of
documented reasons for this, googling or searching Technet will give pages
explaining what to check.

Some useful clues could be gained by seeing if other passwords are retained,
for example those in Outlook Express.

The other posisbility is that a "net use /persistent:no" command has been
issued at some point. This makes all connections temporary, in which case
there would be no point in saving the password.

Sometimes this problem can be hard to resolve, and one workaround is to use
a batch-file to connect the resources instead. For example:

LOGON.BAT

net use /persistent:yes
net use \\computer1\share1 /user:username password
net use \\computer2\share2 /user:username password

; Will give you access to those computers' resources, while:

net use h: \\computer1\share1 /user:username password

; will create a drive-mapping.

Then just run the batch-file from a desktop shortcut.