creating shares on a xp pro peer to peer network

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jawdoc - 26 May 2008 22:51 GMT

I have a question regarding creating shares on a xp pro peer to peer
network. I recently encountered a network that was setup with a peer
to peer configuration even though there was a Windows 2003 server on
the network.
The network was setup by someone else and he created unique usernames
and passwords for each node on the network. My question is, what is
the easiest way to allow shares on a machine without adding every user
on the network to the machine that needs to share?
They don't want to go to a domain setup for some reason.

Thanks in advance!

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Malke - 27 May 2008 00:45 GMT

> I have a question regarding creating shares on a xp pro peer to peer
> network. I recently encountered a network that was setup with a peer
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> on the network to the machine that needs to share?
> They don't want to go to a domain setup for some reason.

Use a generic logon.

Malke

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jawdoc - 27 May 2008 01:25 GMT

> > I have a question regarding creating shares on a xp pro peer to peer
> > network. I recently encountered a network that was setup with a peer
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> Elephant Boy Computerswww.elephantboycomputers.com
> Don't Panic!

When you say generic account, you mean create an account with the same
name and password on each machine?

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Malke - 27 May 2008 12:56 GMT

> When you say generic account, you mean create an account with the same
> name and password on each machine?

If you aren't using a domain controller, yes you will need to create the
same username and password on all machines that need to share resources. If
the only shared resources are on one computer, then you only need to create
the matching user accounts/passwords on that one computer hosting the
resources, not on all the workstations.

By a "generic account", I mean that instead of creating 20 different
accounts with users' names (often undesirable anyway because people leave),
use a few generic accounts instead.

Examples for a school: Student, Teacher, Tech

Examples for a business: Sales, Secretary, Accounting

Examples of more generic user accounts but still individual logons for
auditing purposes: User1; User2;User3; Desk12; Desk15, etc.

If you gave more details about what you're trying to do, including the
number of computers and users, people could help you more precisely.

Malke

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Terry R. - 27 May 2008 14:27 GMT

The date and time was 5/27/2008 4:56 AM, and on a whim, Malke pounded
out on the keyboard:

>> When you say generic account, you mean create an account with the same
>> name and password on each machine?
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> the matching user accounts/passwords on that one computer hosting the
> resources, not on all the workstations.

This must be a troubleshooting method, correct? I've never had to set
up identical accounts on workstations when setting up shared folders.

This particular workstation I work on has shared folders, and none of
the workgroup workstations have logins/passwords that match this one,
but sharing works fine on all of them.

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Malke - 27 May 2008 14:53 GMT

> This must be a troubleshooting method, correct? I've never had to set
> up identical accounts on workstations when setting up shared folders.
>
> This particular workstation I work on has shared folders, and none of
> the workgroup workstations have logins/passwords that match this one,
> but sharing works fine on all of them.

Because you're connecting as Guest (which doesn't have anything to do with
the Guest user account you see in Control Panel, which is normally
disabled). You either have Simple File Sharing checked if you're using XP
Pro or you've got XP Home boxen which only connect as Guest.

If your method works for you and the lack of security works for you (or you
only have XP Home machines), then great. For most networks with mixed OS
boxen on them, it is necessary to create matching user accounts/passwords
for successful sharing. When people are having difficulties - or need to
set fine-grained permissions and/or restrictions without a domain
controller - the latter is the way to go so authentication (which is always
done locally peer-to-peer) is satisfied.

Malke

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Terry R. - 27 May 2008 17:26 GMT

The date and time was 5/27/2008 6:53 AM, and on a whim, Malke pounded
out on the keyboard:

>> This must be a troubleshooting method, correct? I've never had to set
>> up identical accounts on workstations when setting up shared folders.
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> disabled). You either have Simple File Sharing checked if you're using XP
> Pro or you've got XP Home boxen which only connect as Guest.

SFS is not used on any of the XP Pro workstations. There is one XP Home
box in the mix.

> If your method works for you and the lack of security works for you (or you
> only have XP Home machines), then great. For most networks with mixed OS
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> Malke

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Big Al - 27 May 2008 00:57 GMT

> I have a question regarding creating shares on a xp pro peer to peer
> network. I recently encountered a network that was setup with a peer
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
> Thanks in advance!

I have a simple peer to peer at home with 2 xp pro.s and one home
machine. I did nothing but make a folder called C:\share on each PC
and share it with full permission. Now I can move files to and from
any 'share' folder on any pc.

And if you ask, no, I cannot get to the documents and settings of any
PC, as I get a permission denied. I don't care either. I just want to
move files around.

And I've shared a few other cute folders like 'photos' and 'software'
and 'downloads' on the main Desktop 500Gig drive for all to play with.

But I did nothing special. I think its the guest account getting
used, since I saw something about guest when accessing the 'documents
and settings' folder one day.

And I have unique usernames in all 3 machines too.

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Terry R. - 27 May 2008 06:21 GMT

The date and time was 5/26/2008 4:57 PM, and on a whim, Big Al pounded
out on the keyboard:

>> I have a question regarding creating shares on a xp pro peer to peer
>> network. I recently encountered a network that was setup with a peer
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
> PC, as I get a permission denied. I don't care either. I just want to
> move files around.

You can't navigate to the d&s folder using \\computername\C$ ?

> And I've shared a few other cute folders like 'photos' and 'software'
> and 'downloads' on the main Desktop 500Gig drive for all to play with.
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
> And I have unique usernames in all 3 machines too.

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Big Al - 27 May 2008 14:37 GMT

> The date and time was 5/26/2008 4:57 PM, and on a whim, Big Al pounded
> out on the keyboard:
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>
> You can't navigate to the d&s folder using \\computername\C$ ?

No I can't. And I don't want to. I've probably turned off the C$ D$
etc drive shares. I consider it a security hole.
For my situation, 4 shared folders on one pc and one on the others is
fine. I can move things around. It might take a double move: Pc1 ->
pc2/share -> pc2/goodfolder. But it works. And I don't use it often.
Its a convenience tool.

>> And I've shared a few other cute folders like 'photos' and 'software'
>> and 'downloads' on the main Desktop 500Gig drive for all to play with.
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>>
>> And I have unique usernames in all 3 machines too.

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