Network sharing problems

Being relatively new to networking problems, I have
several related networking questions related to my XP
(SP1) laptop connected to a LAN in our office. We all
work under a common workgroup name, not a domain name. We
experimented with some of our options regarding this
configuration and got stuck in several areas, as described
below.

If I sit at one of the Win 2000 systems on the network
and try to drill down into my laptop (as one of the list
of machines in our workgroup), I get a popup asking me
to "Enter network password". (We thought setting up a
user account and password on the laptop would work, but
it didn't)
QUESTION #1: How do I set up this "network
password" on my laptop?

When we first did this, nothing was shared on the laptop,
and thinking that might have had an effect, we set out to
share the Shared Documents folder. Accessing the "Shared
Documents Properties" for this folder revealed the
text "As a security measure, Windows has disabled remote
access to this computer." and suggests running the
network Setup Wizard. However, the popup also states "If
you understand the security risks." you can share files
without running the wizard. We chose that option,
received the "hand" under the folder, and were then able
to see it from the Win 2000 system on the LAN.
Unfortunately, the sharing was then available to anyone,
with no authentication required.
QUESTION #2: Is there any way to password protect
a shared folder in this configuration?

Thinking we then wanted to back out of this (unsecure)
sharing option, we tried to determine what exactly XP had
done when we enabled sharing. Unsharing the folder did
not re-engage authentication into my laptop. In addition,
trying to share any other folder no longer gave us
the "As a security measure." message, etc., implying XP
has done something global to the machine configuration.
QUESTION #3: What did XP do to enable sharing,
and how can it be undone?

We finally ran System Restore on a previous restore point
and that brought us back to where we started. Doesn't
seem like the optimal way to do things...

Thanks for any info explaining any of this. Please
respond to this newsgroup.

On Wed, 22 Sep 2004 08:56:48 -0700, "Dave Shaw"
wrote:

Being relatively new to networking problems, I have
several related networking questions related to my XP
(SP1) laptop connected to a LAN in our office. We all
work under a common workgroup name, not a domain name. We
experimented with some of our options regarding this
configuration and got stuck in several areas, as described
below.

If I sit at one of the Win 2000 systems on the network
and try to drill down into my laptop (as one of the list
of machines in our workgroup), I get a popup asking me
to "Enter network password". (We thought setting up a
user account and password on the laptop would work, but
it didn't)
QUESTION #1: How do I set up this "network
password" on my laptop?

When we first did this, nothing was shared on the laptop,
and thinking that might have had an effect, we set out to
share the Shared Documents folder. Accessing the "Shared
Documents Properties" for this folder revealed the
text "As a security measure, Windows has disabled remote
access to this computer." and suggests running the
network Setup Wizard. However, the popup also states "If
you understand the security risks." you can share files
without running the wizard. We chose that option,
received the "hand" under the folder, and were then able
to see it from the Win 2000 system on the LAN.
Unfortunately, the sharing was then available to anyone,
with no authentication required.
QUESTION #2: Is there any way to password protect
a shared folder in this configuration?

Thinking we then wanted to back out of this (unsecure)
sharing option, we tried to determine what exactly XP had
done when we enabled sharing. Unsharing the folder did
not re-engage authentication into my laptop. In addition,
trying to share any other folder no longer gave us
the "As a security measure." message, etc., implying XP
has done something global to the machine configuration.
QUESTION #3: What did XP do to enable sharing,
and how can it be undone?

We finally ran System Restore on a previous restore point
and that brought us back to where we started. Doesn't
seem like the optimal way to do things...

Thanks for any info explaining any of this. Please
respond to this newsgroup.

Dave,

You are seeing Simple File Sharing on the laptop. Is it XP Home (with SFS
only), or XP Pro (with SFS enabled)?

If it's XP Home, then you are stuck with SFS, and its use of the Guest account
for file sharing.

If it's XP Pro, then disable Simple File Sharing (Control Panel - Folder Options
- View - Advanced settings).

With XP Pro, if SFS is disabled, check the Local Security Policy (Control Panel
- Administrative Tools). Under Local Policies - Security Options, look at
"Network access: Sharing and security model", and ensure it's set to "Classic -
local users authenticate as themselves". You can then setup local accounts,
with passwords, and provide controlled network access.

More about file sharing, between all different versions of Windows:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=87c0a6db-aef8-4bef-925e-7ac9be791028&DisplayLang=en

Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.