TR Forums

fc34 · Fri Oct 01, 2004 9:38 pm

When I share a folder over a network, How do I:

1. Set a password so that users have to type it in in order to see the folder?

2. Make it such that windows prompts you for the password everytime.

Cheers

Tdash · Fri Oct 01, 2004 10:26 pm

Share permissions in Windows are kind of complicated if you want to do them correctly, as everything uses ACLs. First of all, turn off "Use Simple File Sharing" in the Tools -> Folder Options menu.

Now, when you share a folder, you can set "Permissions" or "Security." Permissions specify what users and groups will be able to access the share. If you just want to share something simply without granular control, remove the "Everyone" group here and add the group of users you want to give permission to see the share. Also note, if you are using NTFS, you will have a "Security" tab. This tab relates to files and folders, and who has permission to view/edit the files on the filesystem.

That said, you have to make sure that your users have permission to both get into the share and then actually read/write the files as the case may be. Note also that if you're not on a domain, user groups are local to the machine, and the user accessing the share must have an account on the local computer. I apologize for the long winded answer, but I hope this helps.

Cheers

fc34 · Sat Oct 02, 2004 2:08 am

OK, everything seems to check out, but how can I get the computer to prompt the user for a password everytime he connects to the computer, rather than just the first time?

blitzy · Sat Oct 02, 2004 2:35 am

thanks for the informative post Tdash, it has made my understanding of the windows file sharing clearer too

SuperSpy · Sat Oct 02, 2004 2:52 am

fc34 wrote:
OK, everything seems to check out, but how can I get the computer to prompt the user for a password everytime he connects to the computer, rather than just the first time?

Explorer tries to keep logged into the share, so you don't have to retype the password every time. There may be a way to cause the host computer to disconnect you after you finish, but most likely that would cause it to prompt for each item you view, even if you don't close the local window, such as for each folder you browse.

There may be a setting to make explorer drop the connection when it is idle, but I do not personally know of one.

fc34 · Sat Oct 02, 2004 7:53 am

Is there any way to stop explorer from cacheing the passwords? Or to automatically clear cache of passwords?

Tdash · Sat Oct 02, 2004 9:45 am

Hey no problem blitzy, happy to help.

fc, I was looking through the group policies and couldn't find the right option :-?

I googled it and found something you might want to try:

http://www.winnetmag.com/Article/Articl ... 15206.html

good luck and please let me know if it works.

fc34 · Sat Oct 02, 2004 11:09 pm

Hmm..thats for win9x, but i'll give it a shot

fc34 · Sat Oct 02, 2004 11:12 pm

I tried that registry entry with no effect.

I looked up http://www.computerhope.com/nethelp.html, and it said that there was a command under net use like

net use drive: \\computername\folder /savepw:no

but I can't seem to get that to work under XP. Perhaps that is refering to an older version of net, perhaps in 9x computers?

I'm sorry for not clarifying, but I'm using Windows XP Pro SP2.

Tdash · Sun Oct 03, 2004 11:36 am

The thing is, caching passwords would probably be some kind of option local to the client, not the server. In this case, you need a domain controller to enforce the group policy on the client. All net use does is mount a share to a drive letter, so I don't think that is going to help. Just out of curiousity, why do you want to do this? If you log out, all caches are cleared in any case, so if another user logs in he or she will have to enter the password again anyway.

fc34 · Mon Oct 04, 2004 2:54 am

Setting up a network for a friend's store, and the store manager wants it that way...dunno for what reason.

Domain Controller? Whats that?

Mon Oct 04, 2004 8:38 am

fc34 wrote:
Setting up a network for a friend's store, and the store manager wants it that way...dunno for what reason.

Domain Controller? Whats that?

The Primary Domain Controller (a.k.a. PDC) is a designated machine that manages the security info for the machines on your LAN. It must be running one of the "server" flavors of Windows (machines running Home/Pro versions cannot be a PDC).

IIRC there's a way to make a Linux box act as a PDC for a Windows LAN, but I've never tried it.

Usacomp2k3 · Mon Oct 04, 2004 9:43 am

is it me, or did the move to XP make sharing a lot more complicated, although safer :roll:

sometimes it's not worth it, me thinks

Mon Oct 04, 2004 10:09 am

Usacomp2k3 wrote:
is it me, or did the move to XP make sharing a lot more complicated, although safer sometimes it's not worth it, me thinks

Well... PDCs have been around since the WinNT days. You've always had the option to use them or not (i.e. set your LAN up as either a Domain or Workgroup) as you see fit.

Tdash · Mon Oct 04, 2004 5:44 pm

Although it's a little off topic, there is no longer a "PDC" on Windows networks. All domain controllers running Active Directory are considered to be "Masters" when considering replication. There is a PDC Emulator in order to allow NT4 clients to log in, however.

Sharing might have been easier before, but MS is under a lot of pressure to improve security and make XP a viable client in an enterprise setting. In any case fc, I recommend you set up sharing as we discussed earlier, and if someone else needs to use the computer and access the share, he or she should have to log in again so that Windows prompts for the credentials again.

TR Forums

Windows Networking Passwords

Windows Networking Passwords

Who is online