I recently purchased a Windows XP professional computer and hooked it
up to the network...

When i went to access the PC's hard drive through another computer
using the network, it asked me to input a password...

Where exactly can i change what that password is on my windowx XP
professional computer? if you need clarification please advise...

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Request for Question Clarification by aht-ga on 21 Dec 2003 22:58 PST

estropelic-ga:

Windows XP Professional uses user authentication to control access to
resources such as folders on the hard drive. The management of this
user authentication is based on user IDs and passwords that are
specific to either a machine or a domain.

For your specific situation, can you please let me know whether this
is an office network, or a home network? What operating system are the
other computers in the network running?

At the most basic level, in a peer-to-peer network, every time you
attempt to access the XP Pro machine from a remote machine, the XP Pro
machine will challenge you to enter a username and password for an
account on the XP Pro machine that is authorized to access the
resource. If the remote machine is not an NT/2000/XP machine, you will
only see a challenge asking for a password. The username that is
implied, is the username that you are using on the remote machine at
that time. So, for example, if the remote machine is a Windows 98
machine, and you are logged in as "default", then the username that
will be sent to the XP Pro machine is "default" (along with whatever
password you enter into the challenge prompt).

In this particular case, if the XP Pro does not have a local user
account with the same user ID as the Windows 98 machine's account,
then it will not be able to authenticate the request, and will deny
access.

To allow access, you need to create a new acount on the XP Pro machine
using the same user ID as on the Windows 98 machine, and provide a
password for that account that preferably matches the password for the
same user ID on the Windows 98 machine.

If this matches your situation, please let me know and I can provide
you with the exact instructions on how to do this as the Answer.

Regards,

aht-ga

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Clarification of Question by estropelic-ga on 22 Dec 2003 06:47 PST

Hi!
I apologize for not being too clear...

currently I have a netgear router and the XP machine is hooked up to port #1
then I have a windows 98 machine hooked up to port #2 and then I have
a windows ME machine hooked up to port #3

estropelic-ga:

Thank you for the additional information. In this case, the situation
is exactly as I described above.

To allow remote access to the resources on the XP Pro machine, you
need to do the following:

1. On the Windows 98 machine, identify the username that you are using
when you 'log in' to the machine. Write this down.

2. On the Windows ME machine, identify the username that you are
using, and write this one down too.

3. On the Windows XP Pro machine, go to Control Panel (on your Start
menu), and select 'User Accounts'

4. (Note: you must be logged in as an administrative user on the XP
machine) Select 'Create a new account'

5. The username for the new account is the username from the Windows
98 machine; the password can be any password you wish; the user status
should be User, NOT Administrator.

6. Repeat steps 4-5 for the WinME machine's username, use the same password.

7. This step is not required, as you are already able to reach the XP
machine; however, since you are already behind a NetGear router, the
"Internet Connection Firewall" for the XP machine should be disabled
in Control Panel>Network Connections... Properties of the Local
Connection>Advanced Tab

8. From either the Win98 or WinME machine, attempt to access the XP
machine again; this time, when asked for a password, enter the
password from Step 5 above, and you should have "User" level access to
the folder.


I hope that this helps, please let me know if you need any clarification.

Regards,

aht-ga
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