Can't log into XP from OS X - password problem

[peterv12]

I'm running a home network with 3 Windows XP Professional SP3 machines, named server0, server1, and server2.

From server0 I can login to both server1 and server2.

From server1 I can only log into server2.

From server 2 I can only log into server 1.

Whenever I attempt to login to server 0 from either server1 or 2, I get a login dialog box asking me for the username and password. (I don't get this logging into either of the other servers.) I enter the username and password and I get the message about the server being inaccessible.

I attached a screenshot of the message, but I don't know that works, so you can see the screenshot at

http://www.vanderhaden.net/inaccessible.png

I've been working on this problem all day, and I've run out of ideas. Can anyone help me with this? The firewall is off, so that shouldn't be the problem. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

 

[vacunita]

I'm assuming you are simply trying to view shared folders on the machines? If so that would not be considered logging in to anything.

How is Sharing set up on the machines? Thourgh Simple File sharing or Advanced?

Does the user and password in server1 exist in server2 and vice-versa?

If they do exist are they limited in any way in permissions to the machine?

Where does OSx factor into all this? Is one of the XP machines using boot camp or similar to run Windows XP?

If so, which one is actually the Mac running XP?


----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
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Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

Behind the Web, Tips and Tricks for Web Development.

http://behindtheweb.blogspot.com/

 

[linney]

Look at Firewalls as a possible problem. Some anti virus software have hidden firewalling components.

Adding Windows XP to an Existing Network

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp/addxp.htm

There is a "Manage Passwords" section obtained via typing Control Userpasswords2 in the Start Run box. In the resulting window you will get to it via the Advanced tab.

See if there is anything mentioned in "Manage Passwords"?

Another thing you can look at is this -

306541 - HOW TO: Manage Stored User Names and Passwords on a Computer That Is Not in a Domain in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306541

Behavior of stored user names and passwords

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/281660

 

[peterv12]

vacunita,
As for the OS X in the heading, there is an OS X machine on the network, but I feel that if I resolve the problems between the XP machines first, that problem may be resolved as a side benefit. (The OS X machine is the one that asks for the username and password.)

"How is Sharing set up on the machines? Thourgh Simple File sharing or Advanced?" I'm not sure what you're referring to when you say advanced. The disks are set up as shared. What I do is go into My Computer and right click on the drive to be shared and click on share this folder. (Stupid wording, it's not a folder, it's a drive.) Please read this entire response, as I put a step by step for how I got to the error in the response to LINNEY.

As for users, when the machine asks for a username and password, I use the username and password for the Administrator account of the machine I'm trying to log in to. (This has ALWAYS worked in the past.)

I've been looking at the sharing permissions on both XP machines and can't see any differences, so I'm considering reformatting the server0 drive and reinstalling XP. I think that will be faster than debugging this problem.


LINNEY,
Thanks for the manage passwords command. I didn't know about that. Unfortunately, those fields are all blank. It may be helpful to tell you exactly what I'm doing to get to the problem.

I go to my network places.
I click on Entire Network.
I click on Microsoft Windows Network

At this point my workgroup HADEN is displayed and I double click on that.

3 servers are listed:

MBP17 - a MacBook Pro running OS X Snow Leopard (irrelevant for this.)
server0 - Windows XP Pro SP3
server1 - Windows XP Pro SP3

If I do these steps while on server0, then double click on server1, the next screen displays the shared folders on server1, allowing me access to them.

If, however, I do these steps while on server1, and try to access server0, I get the inaccessible error message shown here:

http://www.vanderhaden.net/inaccessible.png

 

[vacunita]

Windows XP has 2 sharing modes. Simple File sharing and the Regular or Advanced File Sharing.

When Simple File Sharing is enabled from the tools menu in Windows Explorer you get a screen similar to this.

When Simple File sharing is disabled you get:

From there you can set specific permissions to the folder or in this case the drive.

With that said, can you access the share directly by typing the following into Windows Explorer Address bar on server1:

\\server\sharename

or  by IP:

\\xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx\sharename

I'd also check for any firewall on server 0 that may be limiting access.

----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

Behind the Web, Tips and Tricks for Web Development.

http://behindtheweb.blogspot.com/

 

[linney]

Do you have the same usernames and passwords on all machines? It may make life easier if you do.

On the Simple File Sharing Disabled windows as per "Vacunita's" example, make sure the users have permission to share via the permissions tab. Also make sure that the ordinary NTFS Security Access Permission (via the Security Tab of the actual shared file) is allowing access. There is a User (group) called "Everyone", it is not very secure, but handy for testing purposes if you give "Everyone" permission to access files. If "Everyone" can't access anything perhaps you ought to concentrate on the Firewall.

Turning off simple file sharing is done via Folder Options/ View, there you uncheck the very last option "use simple file sharing (Recommended)". Turning of that option will also allow you to see and access the NTFS Security Tab.

WinXP Pro File Sharing

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp_filesharing/08clientconnect.htm

 

[BadBigBen]

It is best to set up a COMMON user and password on all the machines in question and access the shares through that user instead of the Administrator account... and there should then be no problem accessing those shares then through Samba on the OSX machine later...

the above seems like that there may be NO password set for the ADMIN account on SERVER0, thus it bombs out when you are trying to access a share...

How to configure file sharing in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304040

How to disable simple file sharing and how to set permissions on a shared folder in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307874

Windows XP Professional File Sharing

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp_filesharing/

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"