XP Home Edition in a home workgroup

[psmith023]

asked to help my CEO with his home network problem. He has 2 desktops and 1 laptop, all with XP Home Edition and all joined to MSHOME. he has a cable modem directly attached to a LinksysWRT54G wireless router with one of the desktops (desktop1) directly hooked up to the wireless router. He then has a network cable(cat5e) running from the wireless router to a Linksys EtherFast 10/100 workgroup switch. From that switch, a cable runs to the other desktop (desktop2) and one cable runs to a Linksys Buffalo server/print server and attached to a HP ColorLaserJet 3550.

The problem is each time the laptop or desktop1 restarts, we have to re-connect to the buffalo server(login name and password) then we are able to use the printer hooked up to the print server. Desktop2 is able to restart and print right away without having to re-log back into the buffalo server.

My CEO does not want to have to have the users of Desktop1 and the laptop to login each time to print or access the buffalo drive and server. I thought desktop2 might always be connected because it and the buffalo server are both behind the Workgroup Switch because that is the only difference between all the puters. They all have SP2 along with Norton Internet Security 2005 with the firewall turned off for now. All have internect connectivity and can see each other.

Any help is much appreciated.

 

[acl03]

Why not try putting all wired pc's into the switch and see if that helps?

 

[vacunita]

You neglected to mention where the laptop is connected to?

Second are desktop1 or laptop sharing the printer??? Maybe the other Pc's attempt to use it as a shared resource through the other PC's .

Third Question how many ports does the router have?
if you have enough ports, like 4 you should be able to just plug in every device directly to the router and eliminate the middle switch.

Fourth Question. Have you checked that the print server is correctly configured? I find it really strange that the printer server would take the restarting of one machine as a sign that everything else must re authenticate themselves.






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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.

 

[psmith023]

vacunita, thanks for the quick reply.
1. The laptop is connected wirelessly to the wireless router.
2. the printer is connected to the buffalo print server via USB. all pcs have access to the print server but only desktop2 doesnt have to sign in each time.
3. the router has enough ports but since the one cable is being run through the wall and basement, he doesnt want to pay somebody to re-run it upstairs through the wall and ceiling.
4. the print server is configured correctly. there are no options to limit connectivity or access to the printer.

 

[psmith023]

acl03, desktop1 is downstairs in the basement, would be a pain to re-wire it through the ceiling so it doesnt look bad.

 

[linney]

Note - Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition lacks the Stored User Names and Passwords feature for network share connections. Windows XP Home Edition stores only Remote Access Services/Virtual Private Networking and Microsoft .NET Passport credentials."

Share-level mapped network drives are not connected after you restart your computer

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;283492&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

APPLIES TO - Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition

How To Manage Stored User Names and Passwords on a Computer That Is Not in a Domain in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;306541&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

 

[psmith023]

linney, thanks for the response. So why do you think the one desktop (desktop2) doesnt have to log onto the buffalo server on reboot while the other two do? It is connected to the Linksys workgroup switch where the buffalo server is also connected to? Thanks again.

 

[linney]

I wouldn't have a clue, I'm not even that sure that those articles apply to your problem in the first place. Maybe the odd machine is PRO (I doubt it though)? Maybe there are Access Permissions, or identical Username and Passwords coming into play?

 

[vacunita]

Linney makes a good point, check all Users in all three machines, to see if you have duplicate credentials.

Check the print server configuration, for passwords and "by machine permisssions".

If nothing seems to work, you might consider uninstalling the printer and reinstalling it on the other two machines.


----------------------------------
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.

 

[CharlieJax]

Hello linney,

You can correct this issue by doing the following:

create a batch file that logs the PCs into the required drives and printers and put that batch file into the startup menu.

The command:

NET USE Z: (or whatever drive letter) \\SERVER\PATH /USER:username password will let you setup the users to login to whatever drive they need

Then you can do:

NET USE LPT1 and setup the printer. This will require that you setup each machine to use the printer as a local device and print to LPT1, which then will direct the print jobs to the networked printer.

It is possible that the username and passwords between the machines do not match, and that might be why the system is requiring people to login to access the drives. Also check the permissions on the drives, you can make sure that everyone has access and it should not ask for passwords.

Personaly, I'd recommend getting rid of XP home and putting in XP Pro and a Windows 2003 server, but that's just me

CJ

Don't drink and post, save that for driving home!

 

[psmith023]

I was also told to go into users accounts and click on a user and then manage passwords or manage network passwords. I am not at a XP Home pc and wont be until Monday, but I was under the impression that this was a feature of XP Pro, not the Home edition. I checked before and swore it wasnt there, but a colleague of mine states that his home edition has this feature.

I also cannot find anything on XP Home and manage passwords on the web anywhere, it only pertains to XP Pro articles on it. Thanks again.

 

[linney]

Home does have that location (Manage Passwords) but it is a slightly different from the location found on PRO. For instance there is not the ability to Add entries in Home, manually. And as previously quoted from the MSKB article - "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition lacks the Stored User Names and Passwords feature for network share connections. Windows XP Home Edition stores only Remote Access Services/Virtual Private Networking and Microsoft .NET Passport credentials."

I have seen it rumored that the whole User Accounts (control userpasswords2) was by oversight included in Home and some sections of this can cause problems in Home due to the unavailability of a Power User Group.

http://www.jsifaq.com/subM/tip6400/rh6488.htm