But what if we DON'T WANT Passwords??

[Myself]

Just upgraded to XP from W2000. Reason was that the W2000 was on a
used laptop.
We have six other machines in our workgroup, with W98SE and WME.
All (simply) shared directories on the WINXP laptop are not accessible
from the other machines..we get user and password dialogues. (NETBUI
discontinuance in XP?)
Possibly there are legacy security settings from W2000 that have been
carried forward from the upgrade?
Initially, upon connectiing the laptop to the LAN, it demanded a
password, which did not exist. So I booted from a W9X floppy and
killed the WINNT\config\sam file. Fine.
But look. There are only two of us here!
Can we just dispense with all this, so it runs like my OEM WinXP Dell,
and just GET RID of it all??
I want the other machines to access the shared folders at will. We do
not WANT all this W2000 legacy paranoia!
We have adequate firewalls to the WAN/Cable. I just want the HP
Laptop to run like everything else.

I am sure I am not the only one who finds it significant that there
are so many threads here indicating that to many non-power users or
non-network gurus, the whole security mechanism causes more problems
than it solves, and many Joe Users do not want it, do not appreciate
it, and do not want to learn it. (Yes, hardly unique to this
situation!)
We simple users want the stability of W2000/XP. We do not want to
create an IT bureaucracy, or a second occupation. We want to turn the
thing on and get to work, cut the crap with the guessing games about
who we are and what the Secret Password of the Day is, and did it
expire overnight, etc..etc..
Any suggestions welcomed. Thanks.

[Michael]

Boot into safemode and from the administrator account go into User Accounts
and delete the password.
"Myself" > wrote in message
...
> Just upgraded to XP from W2000. Reason was that the W2000 was on a
> used laptop.
> We have six other machines in our workgroup, with W98SE and WME.
> All (simply) shared directories on the WINXP laptop are not accessible
> from the other machines..we get user and password dialogues. (NETBUI
> discontinuance in XP?)
> Possibly there are legacy security settings from W2000 that have been
> carried forward from the upgrade?
> Initially, upon connectiing the laptop to the LAN, it demanded a
> password, which did not exist. So I booted from a W9X floppy and
> killed the WINNT\config\sam file. Fine.
> But look. There are only two of us here!
> Can we just dispense with all this, so it runs like my OEM WinXP Dell,
> and just GET RID of it all??
> I want the other machines to access the shared folders at will. We do
> not WANT all this W2000 legacy paranoia!
> We have adequate firewalls to the WAN/Cable. I just want the HP
> Laptop to run like everything else.
>
> I am sure I am not the only one who finds it significant that there
> are so many threads here indicating that to many non-power users or
> non-network gurus, the whole security mechanism causes more problems
> than it solves, and many Joe Users do not want it, do not appreciate
> it, and do not want to learn it. (Yes, hardly unique to this
> situation!)
> We simple users want the stability of W2000/XP. We do not want to
> create an IT bureaucracy, or a second occupation. We want to turn the
> thing on and get to work, cut the crap with the guessing games about
> who we are and what the Secret Password of the Day is, and did it
> expire overnight, etc..etc..
> Any suggestions welcomed. Thanks.

[Myself]

On Sun, 22 Jun 2003 19:09:40 -0500, "Michael" >

>Boot into safemode and from the administrator account go into User Accounts
>and delete the password.
Thanks, I'll try it!
If it is that easy you have my undying gratitude! And it just ruined
my beautiful rant, too.
I guess I should just jump off a bridge or something. :-)

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Myself wrote:
> On Sun, 22 Jun 2003 19:09:40 -0500, "Michael" >
>
>> Boot into safemode and from the administrator account go into User
>> Accounts and delete the password.
> Thanks, I'll try it!
> If it is that easy you have my undying gratitude! And it just ruined
> my beautiful rant, too.
> I guess I should just jump off a bridge or something. :-)

An easier and safer way would be to go to Start/Run, type:
controluserpasswords2 and press ENTER. Remove the check mark from the
appropriate option at the top of this dialog box.

--
Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User
Please reply only to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
Unsolicited e-mail is not answered.

For a better way to access these newsgroups look here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/newsgroups/setup.asp

[Earl F. Parrish]

"Myself" > wrote in message
...
> Just upgraded to XP from W2000. Reason was that the W2000 was on a
> used laptop.
> We have six other machines in our workgroup, with W98SE and WME.
> All (simply) shared directories on the WINXP laptop are not
accessible
> from the other machines..we get user and password dialogues.
(NETBUI
> discontinuance in XP?)
> Possibly there are legacy security settings from W2000 that have
been
> carried forward from the upgrade?
> Initially, upon connectiing the laptop to the LAN, it demanded a
> password, which did not exist. So I booted from a W9X floppy and
> killed the WINNT\config\sam file. Fine.
> But look. There are only two of us here!
> Can we just dispense with all this, so it runs like my OEM WinXP
Dell,
> and just GET RID of it all??
> I want the other machines to access the shared folders at will. We
do
> not WANT all this W2000 legacy paranoia!
> We have adequate firewalls to the WAN/Cable. I just want the HP
> Laptop to run like everything else.
>
> I am sure I am not the only one who finds it significant that
there
> are so many threads here indicating that to many non-power users
or
> non-network gurus, the whole security mechanism causes more
problems
> than it solves, and many Joe Users do not want it, do not
appreciate
> it, and do not want to learn it. (Yes, hardly unique to this
> situation!)
> We simple users want the stability of W2000/XP. We do not want to
> create an IT bureaucracy, or a second occupation. We want to turn
the
> thing on and get to work, cut the crap with the guessing games
about
> who we are and what the Secret Password of the Day is, and did it
> expire overnight, etc..etc..
> Any suggestions welcomed. Thanks.

Windows XP expects remote users to connect using the Guest account.
The Guest account is created without a password by default. If you
enable the Guest account on the Windows XP machines, no password
will be required. Contrary to the advice of the other poster, it
does not matter what file system the remote computer is using. The
host computer does all the file access even if you connect with a
computer running MS-DOS. How do you think the Internet would work
if all the computers had to have the same file system? That would
stifle innovation. We use protocols which are compatible across
multiple platforms.

It would be very difficult to control access to your computers
without passwords. A visitor could go into a room with an
unattended computer and transfer sensitive data to others or install
malware on your computer to capture keystrokes or impede your
operations. How would you stop a fired employee from continuing to
have access to your computers? He could just logon as another user
if you deleted his account.

--
Earl F. Parrish

[Myself]

>It would be very difficult to control access to your computers
>without passwords. A visitor could go into a room with an
>unattended computer and transfer sensitive data to others or install
>malware on your computer to capture keystrokes or impede your
>operations. How would you stop a fired employee from continuing to
>have access to your computers? He could just logon as another user
>if you deleted his account.

We are AT HOME! At Work, of course I recognize the need.
We LIVE here, behind routers and firewalls and a steel front door and
we're armed.
I walk up to my new Dell with WinXP and turn it on and use it. My wife
does likewise with her WinXP Dell.
I walk up to my 3 Win98SE machines and turn them on and use them. I
turn on the WinME machines and use them.
I want to turn on the WinXP HP Laptop, use it, and have the other
machines access a few of its directories without password guessing
games.
My desires are MODEST and reasonable.
And from the number of posts regarding password and security
annoyances both on this newsgroup and the security newsgroups, it
appears that our needs are reflected by MANY other people equally
exasperated.
We have no fired previous employees. Perhaps a burglar could sneak in
and peek at our files, but we have laws in this state about the use of
OTHER hardware to manage that very well. :-)

[Earl F. Parrish]

"Myself" > wrote in message
...
>
> >It would be very difficult to control access to your computers
> >without passwords. A visitor could go into a room with an
> >unattended computer and transfer sensitive data to others or
install
> >malware on your computer to capture keystrokes or impede your
> >operations. How would you stop a fired employee from continuing
to
> >have access to your computers? He could just logon as another
user
> >if you deleted his account.
>
> We are AT HOME! At Work, of course I recognize the need.
> We LIVE here, behind routers and firewalls and a steel front door
and
> we're armed.
> I walk up to my new Dell with WinXP and turn it on and use it. My
wife
> does likewise with her WinXP Dell.
> I walk up to my 3 Win98SE machines and turn them on and use them.
I
> turn on the WinME machines and use them.
> I want to turn on the WinXP HP Laptop, use it, and have the other
> machines access a few of its directories without password guessing
> games.
> My desires are MODEST and reasonable.
> And from the number of posts regarding password and security
> annoyances both on this newsgroup and the security newsgroups, it
> appears that our needs are reflected by MANY other people equally
> exasperated.
> We have no fired previous employees. Perhaps a burglar could sneak
in
> and peek at our files, but we have laws in this state about the
use of
> OTHER hardware to manage that very well. :-)

Your original post did not make that clear. Most home users do not
have a six-computer workgroup so I thought of a office environment.
You can set your password to never expire. If each Windows XP
computer only has a single user you can have it bypass the logon
screen. If you have multiple users you can turn off passwords. The
Guest account which is what is used on Windows XP does not require a
password in the default setting. If the Guest account is turned
off, you will be prompted for passwords whether there are passwords
or not for the resources. If you turn on the Guest account, you
cannot then bypass the logon screen.

There is no paranoia out there. Computers are compromised on a
daily basis. If outsiders can get into corporate systems which are
more hardened than any home setup, your seemingly secure system
would be like police tape across a highway to stop cars. Why take a
secure operating system and take off all the locks? Why not use a
less secure operating system in the first place? If you take that
laptop out of the home environment, how will you keep it secure?

--
Earl F. Parrish

[Myself]

> Most home users do not
>have a six-computer workgroup so I thought of a office environment.

Old computers have become of such little value that even charities do
not take them...So we simply add them to the network in case there is
an old file we want, or an old program that we need to run. Seems a
shame to throw them in a landfill. Though I suppose I did learn to
live without Wordstar 2000 and Wordperfect 3.x

> Why take a
>secure operating system and take off all the locks? Why not use a
>less secure operating system in the first place?

You bring up a very good point, that has been the basis of much
contemplation around here, and I have seen other posters mention the
possiibility of downgrading.
Essentially it is hardware support issues, plus everyone loves the
stability of the W2000 kernal.
So an analogy, I suppose, is that while many people wanted a Jaguar
XKE with a V12, you could still buy an XJ6
Dell simply refuses to sell anything without WXP; I still do not
respect myself for not telling them to shove them.
XP is a lot more user friendly than its W2000 ancestor, and once
certain bad things were fixed(MSN Messenger harrassment, etc, pounding
at the firewall), we are very happy with it. One year with never a
blue screen, for example.
..
>If you take that
>laptop out of the home environment, how will you keep it secure?

Very good point! We do have an old clunker of a laptop that we bring
on vacations, but it never has anything of consequence except Letters
To Auntie and such drivel...No passwords or ID's except for the
temporary Maglobe mailer. If someone stole it they would die of
boredom, and also possibly be doing us a favor!
The HP laptop is not taken out. It is used for poolside work, late
night work in bed, etc.. The docs are then e-mailed to Work.

Many thanks for the thoughtful answers here. You have given me some
good ideas, and some things to try. I may have to rethink that
security issue for the laptop, as well. As you say, what IF we DO
want to bring it somewhere!