FAQ Question

I really appreciate the effort and expertise of the MS-MVPs and the MSFT
employees who answer so many questions here, and I don't pretend to be
an expert with regard to any of the topics posted -- much less WinXP,
which I've only had for a few months.

But ... my experience differs from the portion of the FAQ copied below.

I have a WinXPpro box to which I have a printer connected directly
(LPT1). Using a Linksys router, I have a small network comprising the
XPpro box, and old Win95b box, and a middle-aged Win98SE laptop. I have
shared the printer on the XP box, and can print to it, through the
network, from both Win95 and Win98SE. I've never been asked for a
password for IPC$ or otherwise. The Guest account on WinXP is turned
off. I don't use a userid or password to logon to either the Win95 or
Win98se computers. If it's relevant, I use the native Win95 and Win98se
drivers (because they were already installed on my old machines), rather
than having the "Additional Drivers" setup using the XP printer
properties dialog. All I did was to check "share this printer" on the
XP printer properties "sharing" sheet, and then in the other machines,
use "Add a Printer," select "network printer," and browse to the one I
wanted.

So...am I just lucky, or is there another solution for those who are
getting prompted for the IPC$ password, no?

3) When I try to print from my Windows 9x computer I get prompted for the
password for IPC$

1. You have a printer connected to a Windows NT, 2000, 2003 or XP computer
that is shared. You connect to that share from a Windows 95, 98 or Me
computer, but always get prompted for the password for the IPC$ share. You
can't find anywhere on the NT, 2000, 2003 or XP computer to set such a
password and all passwords you key get rejected.

2. You can't find where to set the password because there isn't one!

When a user attempts to connect to a share (printer or file) on a Windows
NT, 2000, 2003 or XP computer, the target computer requests "credentials"
from the client. The client computer responds with the logged on username
and password. If this does not match any username and password known on the
target computer, that computer will send back a "failed authentication"
message. A Windows NT, 2000, 2003 or XP computer will respond to this by
prompting the user for a username and password. Windows 9x, unfortunately
interprets this to mean a request for the password for the IPC$ share
instead.

3. The solution is to logon at the Windows 9x computer with a username and
password that is known on the NT, 2000, 2003 or XP computer. Then, when the
target computer requests credentials, the Windows 9x computer will send the
logged on username and password and that will "authorize" the user on the
client to access the target computer. A much less secure alternative is to
enable the "Guest" user account on the target computer.

No, you probably have enabled Simple File Sharing as per
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/...ilesharing.htm

Cari
www.coribright.com



"Lem" wrote in message
...
I really appreciate the effort and expertise of the MS-MVPs and the MSFT
employees who answer so many questions here, and I don't pretend to be
an expert with regard to any of the topics posted -- much less WinXP,
which I've only had for a few months.

But ... my experience differs from the portion of the FAQ copied below.

I have a WinXPpro box to which I have a printer connected directly
(LPT1). Using a Linksys router, I have a small network comprising the
XPpro box, and old Win95b box, and a middle-aged Win98SE laptop. I have
shared the printer on the XP box, and can print to it, through the
network, from both Win95 and Win98SE. I've never been asked for a
password for IPC$ or otherwise. The Guest account on WinXP is turned
off. I don't use a userid or password to logon to either the Win95 or
Win98se computers. If it's relevant, I use the native Win95 and Win98se
drivers (because they were already installed on my old machines), rather
than having the "Additional Drivers" setup using the XP printer
properties dialog. All I did was to check "share this printer" on the
XP printer properties "sharing" sheet, and then in the other machines,
use "Add a Printer," select "network printer," and browse to the one I
wanted.

So...am I just lucky, or is there another solution for those who are
getting prompted for the IPC$ password, no?

3) When I try to print from my Windows 9x computer I get prompted for
the
password for IPC$

1. You have a printer connected to a Windows NT, 2000, 2003 or XP
computer
that is shared. You connect to that share from a Windows 95, 98 or Me
computer, but always get prompted for the password for the IPC$ share.
You
can't find anywhere on the NT, 2000, 2003 or XP computer to set such a
password and all passwords you key get rejected.

2. You can't find where to set the password because there isn't one!

When a user attempts to connect to a share (printer or file) on a
Windows
NT, 2000, 2003 or XP computer, the target computer requests
"credentials"
from the client. The client computer responds with the logged on
username
and password. If this does not match any username and password known on
the
target computer, that computer will send back a "failed authentication"
message. A Windows NT, 2000, 2003 or XP computer will respond to this by
prompting the user for a username and password. Windows 9x,
unfortunately
interprets this to mean a request for the password for the IPC$ share
instead.

3. The solution is to logon at the Windows 9x computer with a username
and
password that is known on the NT, 2000, 2003 or XP computer. Then, when
the
target computer requests credentials, the Windows 9x computer will send
the
logged on username and password and that will "authorize" the user on
the
client to access the target computer. A much less secure alternative is
to
enable the "Guest" user account on the target computer.

You're right. Thanks for the clarification. Although I have XPpro, because I'm
really the only one using the network, have very few files for which sharing is
enabled, and the network is behind a NAT router, I figured that SFS was safe
enough. Interestingly, the companion article about XPpro file sharing on the
practically networked site describes a method of setting up a security policy to
permit users to log onto their computers without a password (the way most have
Win95 and Win98 set up) and still be permitted access to the XP computer. It
looks like you at least have to have XP user accounts that are the same as the
usernames on the remote computers, even if you don't force them to have
passwords.

"Cari (MS-MVP)" wrote:

No, you probably have enabled Simple File Sharing as per
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/...ilesharing.htm

Cari
www.coribright.com

"Lem" wrote in message
...
I really appreciate the effort and expertise of the MS-MVPs and the MSFT
employees who answer so many questions here, and I don't pretend to be
an expert with regard to any of the topics posted -- much less WinXP,
which I've only had for a few months.

But ... my experience differs from the portion of the FAQ copied below.

I have a WinXPpro box to which I have a printer connected directly
(LPT1). Using a Linksys router, I have a small network comprising the
XPpro box, and old Win95b box, and a middle-aged Win98SE laptop. I have
shared the printer on the XP box, and can print to it, through the
network, from both Win95 and Win98SE. I've never been asked for a
password for IPC$ or otherwise. The Guest account on WinXP is turned
off. I don't use a userid or password to logon to either the Win95 or
Win98se computers. If it's relevant, I use the native Win95 and Win98se
drivers (because they were already installed on my old machines), rather
than having the "Additional Drivers" setup using the XP printer
properties dialog. All I did was to check "share this printer" on the
XP printer properties "sharing" sheet, and then in the other machines,
use "Add a Printer," select "network printer," and browse to the one I
wanted.

So...am I just lucky, or is there another solution for those who are
getting prompted for the IPC$ password, no?

3) When I try to print from my Windows 9x computer I get prompted for
the
password for IPC$

1. You have a printer connected to a Windows NT, 2000, 2003 or XP
computer
that is shared. You connect to that share from a Windows 95, 98 or Me
computer, but always get prompted for the password for the IPC$ share.
You
can't find anywhere on the NT, 2000, 2003 or XP computer to set such a
password and all passwords you key get rejected.

2. You can't find where to set the password because there isn't one!

When a user attempts to connect to a share (printer or file) on a
Windows
NT, 2000, 2003 or XP computer, the target computer requests
"credentials"
from the client. The client computer responds with the logged on
username
and password. If this does not match any username and password known on
the
target computer, that computer will send back a "failed authentication"
message. A Windows NT, 2000, 2003 or XP computer will respond to this by
prompting the user for a username and password. Windows 9x,
unfortunately
interprets this to mean a request for the password for the IPC$ share
instead.

3. The solution is to logon at the Windows 9x computer with a username
and
password that is known on the NT, 2000, 2003 or XP computer. Then, when
the
target computer requests credentials, the Windows 9x computer will send
the
logged on username and password and that will "authorize" the user on
the
client to access the target computer. A much less secure alternative is
to
enable the "Guest" user account on the target computer.





--
p