Sharing All or Nothing? 2

[MountainNetworks]

I can't believe this is the case, but I haven't been able to figure out the solution.

With Windows 95/98/NT, if you shared your C: drive, or any folder underneath, you had the option of providing a sharing password.

With Windows XP, it seems that either I share the drive and give carte blanch access to anyone browsing the network neighborhood, or I don't share the drive. I notice that I can UNshare the shared files and folders folder, but that really doesn't help me satisfy the client's needs.

The client works in a real estate office. Everyone plugs in their machines on the same subnet with DHCP that is served with a Linksys box. Changing the network is not an option, so don't even go there . I only support a group of agents in the office...not the office as a whole.

Two agents in the same group need to share each other's files in a peer to peer network. The windows 98 machine was no problem to password protect, and when trying to map a drive from any other machine to the windows 98 machine, there is a proper and desired password prompt.

How do I password protect the shares on this windows XP machine?

Thanks...

 

[Netherbeast]

You need to right click the folder -> sharing and set the permissions so that only certain users can access the folder. You can also change the "security" tab and controll what the user can do while opening the folder.

Hope this helps.

 

[bcastner]

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=307874

 

[wowonet]

Mountain Networks:

I'm dealing with the same issue. I turned off simplified sharing, but now I'm at a loss as to how to add a simple password to share the folder.

Just wondering if bcastner has any more input.

 

[bcastner]

Add a new user on the sharing machine with a password. Use NTFS permissions to permit only the Administrator and that new user access to the folder.

Share the folder with share permissions only for that new user.

When someone tries to map to that folder they will be asked to type the username and password credentials of that new user account.

 

[MountainNetworks]

Hey Bcastner:

I'm in the same boat as wowonet. I'm trying to share an entire Drive...not just a folder, but still...

 

[bcastner]

Same deal.
Set NTFS permissions, set share restrictions on the users.

The only complication is the notion of cached credentials.

So lets refine this a bit.

1. Hide the share from Network Places (Neighborhood):

You do this by appending a "$" symbol to the end of the sharename, whether folder or drive. e.g. Sharename: MyHiddenShare$

2. Explicity deny all NTFS permissions to non-authorized users.

This can be tedious in large workgroups. But you use the Security tab to add the user you want to deny access to, and remove all priviliges. Under No Circumstances Deny All To The Group Everyone.

This also means adding all the users as local users on the sharing computer so that you can deny them access.

 

[wowonet]

It used to be so easy with Windows 98. Thanks for the suggestions bcastner. I'll give it a try.

 

[bcastner]

You need to be a little more flexible, as the security model has changed.

The NT model assumes that the local Administrator makes decisions as to what local resources are available to remote users.

It begins by defining eligible remote users through the user account process; otherwise they are 'Guests.'

The Sharing tab then sets a top-level access control for each share.

The Security tab can set 14 different NTFS level permissions to increase the granularity by Drive, Folder and even File on a per-user basis.

The key to everything is the username and password (and the 'Hidden' Security principles assigned to them.

What it does make is managing Workgroups a great deal more work. What it yields is a more secure Workgroup. In combination with local policies that can enforce strong passswords and set intervals in which password changes are forced.

What you may find incredibly useful is Doug Knox's MS-MVP's Security Tool for Windows to manage these settings from a single location:

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_securityconsole.htm

 

[wowonet]

I think I need to adopt bcastner! Thanks for the info.