Some questions on Sharing files and folders in Windows XP

[Rawan AbuSalman]

Hi,

I have a couple of questions about sharing files and folders in XP...

Firstly, is there any possible way I can set the permissions for users on the network????
When I go to Sharing and Security, permissions, add>>>why cant I change the location???its only the location of the computer I am at! cant i change to a networkd pc???

Cant I add a user on my other pc??so that only him can access this file over the network (and not anyone who connects to the network??!)

Anotehr thing....

Sometimes when I try connecting to the netwrok files...i get the Username and password...sometimes i enter anything (such as asdfg as username, asfajaslkj as password...and it works!!) (which, btw, i never understood why, and tried several times to make it always appear, to ask for username and pass, so that not anyone can connect to the network....) but recently, i added a $ to the end of the shared folder name so that it will be hidden...and now when i try to access it, i get the username and password, but nothing works!!!! i try entering the username and passwrod of the computer I am on, the one which i am connecting to, nothing!!

Anyone has a clue why>??? (is it possible that because i have the same username on both pcs???)


Is there a way to make it always appear like that?? (to enter hte username and password) so that only people with the username and passwrod can access the files??

Thanx in advance...and sorry for the lenghthy post, and if there any repetion...because i wrote in a hurry and came and back several times, so wasnt sure what i wrote and what i didnt...

10x again...

 

[Law]

Hi,

I have a couple of questions about sharing files and folders in XP...

Firstly, is there any possible way I can set the permissions for users on the network????
When I go to Sharing and Security, permissions, add>>>why cant I change the location???its only the location of the computer I am at! cant i change to a networkd pc???

Cant I add a user on my other pc??so that only him can access this file over the network (and not anyone who connects to the network??!)

No, permission are local but you can create identical account on your computer and go to the properties of your shared folder, on the sharing tab click permission and remove the "Everyone" group and add that identical account only if you need that one person to have access or add your own account that you made up. You'll have to do the same for the Security tab.

Anotehr thing....

Sometimes when I try connecting to the netwrok files...i get the Username and password...sometimes i enter anything (such as asdfg as username, asfajaslkj as password...and it works!!) (which, btw, i never understood why, and tried several times to make it always appear, to ask for username and pass, so that not anyone can connect to the network....) but recently, i added a $ to the end of the shared folder name so that it will be hidden...and now when i try to access it, i get the username and password, but nothing works!!!! i try entering the username and passwrod of the computer I am on, the one which i am connecting to, nothing!!

I'm not sure why this is happening, but I think before you made the share hidden, the "Everybody" group was part of your allows, therefore anyone can access it without an account. I may be wrong but I have never seen this problem before so I am guessing that when you made it hidden, the "Everybody" was remove and only administrators group can have access.

Anyone has a clue why>??? (is it possible that because i have the same username on both pcs???)

Is what possible?

Is there a way to make it always appear like that?? (to enter hte username and password) so that only people with the username and passwrod can access the files??

Yea like I explain above, remove the "Everyone" group and add only the the identical user or add your own user with a password.

Thanx in advance...and sorry for the lenghthy post, and if there any repetion...because i wrote in a hurry and came and back several times, so wasnt sure what i wrote and what i didnt...

10x again...

I'll see if I can find a website that explains this better than I can, I'm really bad at explaining things.

 

[Rawan AbuSalman]

I'll see if I can find a website that explains this better than I can, I'm really bad at explaining things.

Not at all!!you explained well!!

So the only way I can limit access to my files is by creating an identical username on both computers??Isn't there any way I can simply let the pc ask for a username and access each time a user on the network tries to access a file....if he knows the credentials, he can access the files and folders...if not, tough luck?? lol!

 

[Rawan AbuSalman]

ok...i just checked something out....!!

When I try to see the permisions on the folders that I have changed the share name (added $ to the end of it), I guess what you said was correct...:

hidden, the "Everybody" was remove and only administrators group can have access.

When I try to access the Permissions, it gives me an error saying this folder was shared for administrative purposes only, permissions cannot be set! when I remove the $ from the end of the name, I can set the permissions again...!!

(what I dont get is that I am an administrator on the computer!!)


I do not care if the folders are hidden or not (if its gonna make problems) as long as they require log-in credentials to access!!!


thanx again!

 

[Law]

Not at all!!you explained well!!

So the only way I can limit access to my files is by creating an identical username on both computers??Isn't there any way I can simply let the pc ask for a username and access each time a user on the network tries to access a file....if he knows the credentials, he can access the files and folders...if not, tough luck?? lol!

You don't have to create an identical user name, you can create a user on your computer and add that user to the sharing & security tab on the shared folder. The user account should have a password. Now the other computer will have to use this credential to access the share that you put the account on. (Make sure you remove the “Everyone” group from the share tab for this to work)

ok...i just checked something out....!!

When I try to see the permisions on the folders that I have changed the share name (added $ to the end of it), I guess what you said was correct...:

quote:
hidden, the "Everybody" was remove and only administrators group can have access.



When I try to access the Permissions, it gives me an error saying this folder was shared for administrative purposes only, permissions cannot be set! when I remove the $ from the end of the name, I can set the permissions again...!!

(what I dont get is that I am an administrator on the computer!!)


I do not care if the folders are hidden or not (if its gonna make problems) as long as they require log-in credentials to access!!!


thanx again!

I get that all the time, and I am unsure why (haven't had the time to find out). But of course as you said, you can modify the permission after removing the $ sign. I think that's normal for any Windows version running NTFS.

Tip1: Even though you made the folder hidden, users can still access it if they know the path, even though they may not see it when they browse over the network. Only accounts in the Administrator group can see the hidden shares if they are log in with their credential, but other users can't. However they can still access it, so it's recommended to modify the share tab and remove the "Everyone" group and add only the users who are authorized and password protect their account.

Tip2: You can control who has access to your computer in the Local Security Policy. Go to Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Local Security Policy. Take a look in Local Policies/User Rights Assignment, you'll see the entry:
“Access this computer from the network”
“Deny access to this computer from the network”

and many other entry you can modify your system with.


Here's a nice guide I told you I was going to find, plenty of information to keep you busy reading

http://www.quepublishing.com/articles/article.asp?p=30421&rl=1

 

[Rawan AbuSalman]

Thanx alot!That was really helpful!!

but I still have a couple of questions!!

You don't have to create an identical user name, you can create a user on your computer and add that user to the sharing & security tab on the shared folder. The user account should have a password. Now the other computer will have to use this credential to access the share that you put the account on. (Make sure you remove the “Everyone” group from the share tab for this to work)

so basically, i dont need to create any username exept add the password protected username I am currently working on to the permissions..and whenever anyone tries to access the files, he will be prompted for these credentials...if he knows them, he will be able to access them, if not, then he cant.,.....right???




I removed the $ from the share names...you are right...it is of no use if the permissions are set for specific password-protected users...so it is just causing trouble to have $!!

Till now, everything is working fine...exept one thing Im not sure how to do...

Lets say I try to access a file on a network that has Full Control for EVERYONE in the permissions..i get prompted for username and password....I enter anythign (asdf etc) and it works...but then, I want to access a file that only User1 has access to (and I know the credentials for User1) but when I try to connect, it says bad username or password or something like cannot open 2 share sessions with different usernames or something...close the previous session and try again...

The question is...how can i close the session???

I tried going to the PC I am connected to and open the Sessions in Administrative Tools, I saw user ASDFG connected...I right-clicked and closed the session...but when I go to the laptop and open the shared file again. it automatically uses user ASDFG and opens and does not prompt me for a username and password!!!


Another question, a little bit off topic...

I set the Security of 1 of my folders to only my username....
On my sisters account (limited) she could not access it, ofcourse (it said Access Denied) but i tried something...and to my surprise it worked!!!i right clicked on the folder (still on my sisters account) and went to Security, added Everyone and clicked apply...and voila!!she could access the file!!(of course she would not know how to do that...but how does that happen????in this case, all the security options are nonsence!!!!

Another thing I tried was went to Administrative Tools, clicked on Users and saw my sisters username (im still using HER account!!) when I opened it, it said Member of USERS...I clicked ADD and added Adminstrators...AND IT WORKED!!!so she was now an admin!!!!


This is all beyond me!!what went wrong??or is this supposed to happen???because if it is, then any limited user can simply make himself Adminstrator!!!!!


Thanx again!!

 

[Law]

Thanx alot!That was really helpful!!

but I still have a couple of questions!!



so basically, i dont need to create any username exept add the password protected username I am currently working on to the permissions..and whenever anyone tries to access the files, he will be prompted for these credentials...if he knows them, he will be able to access them, if not, then he cant.,.....right???

Yes.

I removed the $ from the share names...you are right...it is of no use if the permissions are set for specific password-protected users...so it is just causing trouble to have $!!

Till now, everything is working fine...exept one thing Im not sure how to do...

Lets say I try to access a file on a network that has Full Control for EVERYONE in the permissions..i get prompted for username and password....I enter anythign (asdf etc) and it works...but then, I want to access a file that only User1 has access to (and I know the credentials for User1) but when I try to connect, it says bad username or password or something like cannot open 2 share sessions with different usernames or something...close the previous session and try again...

The question is...how can i close the session???


I tried going to the PC I am connected to and open the Sessions in Administrative Tools, I saw user ASDFG connected...I right-clicked and closed the session...but when I go to the laptop and open the shared file again. it automatically uses user ASDFG and opens and does not prompt me for a username and password!!!

In Windows NT/2000 and XP, a client can only use one set of credentials for all connections to a specific computer. If you attempt to create a new connection with a different set of credentials to the same computer, the following error message appears:

"The credentials supplied conflict with an existing set of credentials."

You will need to end all connections to that computer, for example with the command "net use \\[server] /d", before you can create a connection with the other set of credentials.

[server] being the name of the remote computer.

Another question, a little bit off topic...

I set the Security of 1 of my folders to only my username....
On my sisters account (limited) she could not access it, ofcourse (it said Access Denied) but i tried something...and to my surprise it worked!!!i right clicked on the folder (still on my sisters account) and went to Security, added Everyone and clicked apply...and voila!!she could access the file!!(of course she would not know how to do that...but how does that happen????in this case, all the security options are nonsence!!!!

Another thing I tried was went to Administrative Tools, clicked on Users and saw my sisters username (im still using HER account!!) when I opened it, it said Member of USERS...I clicked ADD and added Adminstrators...AND IT WORKED!!!so she was now an admin!!!!


This is all beyond me!!what went wrong??or is this supposed to happen???because if it is, then any limited user can simply make himself Adminstrator!!!!!


Thanx again!!

If she can access the Security tab, that would mean she is the owner of the folder/file, or in the Administrators group. Check in computer management/group and click on every group and see if her account is in any of them beside Users.

No way can a limited user account add themself as an administrator! Are you sure her account wasn't already part of the Administrators group already? That's just weird, I can't explain that, maybe it has to do with something on the local security policies or in gpedit.msc

 

[Rawan AbuSalman]

Thank you for your reply...

You will need to end all connections to that computer, for example with the command "net use \\[server] /d", before you can create a connection with the other set of credentials.

[server] being the name of the remote computer.

It did not work!!!

I tried several things before i finally got it right (the spaces and the slashes etc....)

When it worked...
I typed"
net use \\home /d

It said \\home was successfully deleted....
I went to My Coputer (where i have mapped some networkd drives) and opened them, they opened and did not prompt for any user name/password

I went to my network places, same thing!

If she can access the Security tab, that would mean she is the owner of the folder/file, or in the Administrators group. Check in computer management/group and click on every group and see if her account is in any of them beside Users.

No way can a limited user account add themself as an administrator! Are you sure her account wasn't already part of the Administrators group already? That's just weird, I can't explain that, maybe it has to do with something on the local security policies or in gpedit.msc

I think someting was wrong when I did that...I tried again...and it didnt work...my bad

 

[willsko87]

I have been search for a thread on this sorta subject. I want to make it so when someone tries to access my computer over the network, they have to put in a Username and Password to access my files.
I read what was said above but I wasnt sure how to do this.
So when someone goes to My Network Places > View Workgroup Computers and my computer is showing. When they click on it I want them to have to put in a Username & Password to access it.