Filesharing Headache

[dr.tikitimes]

Friday a local stone cutting shop called me regarding their local network.
They have six computers hardwired to the router and at times two or more laptops connecting to the wifi.
The OS's are mixed as follows:
Titan 1 CNC Machine Windows Xp
Titan2 CNC Machine Windows Xp
Cad 1 Windows Xp
Cad 2 Windows Xp
Cad3 Windows 7
Cad4 Windows 7
All Xp Computers were networked and sharing files just fine.
Upon introduction of the Windows 7 computers all is working fine EXCEPT :
Cad 3 and Cad 4 cannot log into Titan1. Titan2 no problem.( they are seen just cannot logon using user/password)
All computers have the same Username and Password. (that is how their provider set it up.)
I have compared shares and security settings on Tittan1 and Titan2. Both appear to be identical.
All are setup on WORKGROUP and simple file sharing is turned off on XP computers.
What am I missing? Any input would be greatly appreciated.
I wish they had a commercial router and server enviornment, but for now I just need to get it working
Thank-you in advance.

 

[Emulex]

do any machines share the same username but with no/different passwords?

read up on simple sharing feature on win7. also disable IPV6 on all machines (vista/win7).

 

[JackMDS]

Hi

Maybe this can Help.
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The following looks like a long story (it is only 600 words). I do not know what the user's overall knowledge is, and what exactly was already done. Thus the info goes through the motions of configuring and checking most of the common aspects of Windows OS' LAN features.
All aspects should be checked, stating that it "worked before" , or persevering on"I did Not do any thing ", is not a way to deal with current Sharing problems.
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Win7 when configured on peer-to-peer Network has three types of Sharing configurations.

HomeGroup = Works only between Win 7 computers. This type of configuration makes it very easy to Entry Level Users to start Network sharing.

Home Network or Work Network = Basically similar(and better) to the previous methods of Work Group sharing that let you control what, how, and to whom folders would be shared with.

Public Sharing = Public Network (like Internet cafe) to reduce security risks.

For best results log to each computer's System Screen and set all the computers to be on a with the same Work Group name while each computer has its own unique name.
http://www.ezlan.net/Win7/net_name.jpg

Make sure that the Software Firewall, AV, or other components of Security allow free local traffic on all Networked computers. If you use 3rd party Security On, Vista/XP Native Firewall should be Off, and the active Firewall has to adjusted to your Network IP numbers on what is some time called the Trusted Zone (consult your 3rd Party Firewall instructions

General example, http://www.ezlan.net/faq.html#trusted

Please Note that some 3rd party Software Firewalls/AV/Security suits keep blocking aspects of Local Traffic even it they are turned Off (disabled). If possible configure the Firewall correctly, or totally uninstall it to allow clean flow of local network traffic.
If end up with the 3rd party software uninstalled or disabled, make sure that Windows native Firewall is On .
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If your network is comprised of Win 7 only and you want a simple Network, use this.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/help/videos/sharing-files-with-homegroup
After configuring the Homegroup scroll down to the Permission/Security section.
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Networking Win 7 with other version of Windows as Work Network (works very well if all computers are Win 7 too).
In the Network Center, clicking on the Network type opens the window to the right.
Choose your type of Network. Notice the check mark at the bottom, and check/uncheck it according to your needs.

http://www.ezlan.net/Win7/net_type.jpg

Win 7 - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Networking-home-computers-running-different-versions-of-Windows

Win 7 Work Network specific folder sharing - http://www.onecomputerguy.com/windows7/windows7_sharing.htm

Vista File and Printer Sharing- http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727037.aspx

Windows XP File Sharing - http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;304040

In Win XP Pro with simple sharing Off, you can Visually see the Permission/Security setting , and configure them to your liking.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/security/learnmore/accesscontrol.mspx#securityTab

Printer Sharing XP - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/expert/honeycutt_july2.mspx

Windows Native Firewall setting for Sharing XP - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/875357

Windows XP patch for Sharing with Vista (Not need for XP-SP3) - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922120

When finished with the setting of the system it is advisable to Reboot all the hardware including the Router and all computers involved.
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If you have Permission and Security issues with Vista/Win7, check the following settings.
Point to the a Folder that meant to to be share. Right click and choose properties.
In the properties
Click on the Security tab shown in the pic bellow to the right) and check that the users and their permission (shown in the pic bellow center and left) are correctly configured. Then do the same to the Permission tab.

This screen shot is from Win 7, Vista's menus are similar.

http://www.ezlan.net/Win7/Permission-Security.jpg

In both the Security panel, and the Permission panel you have to highlight each User/Group and examine that the Permission Controls are checked correctly.
When everything is OK, Reboot the Network (Router, and computer).

* Note . The Groups and Users shown in the screen-shoot are just an example. Your list will look the way your system is configured.

**Note . All users that are allowed to share need to have account onall the computers that they are allowed to connect to.

Everyone is an account, it means a group of all of the users that already have an account and been established as users. It is available to avoid the need of configuring permission to each on its own, it does not mean Everyone that feel that they would like to login.

 

[imagoon]

All are setup on WORKGROUP and simple file sharing is turned off on XP computers.

Well there's your problem. I find windows 7 + XP using workgroups to be pretty hit or miss. Make sure all the passwords are the same. Windows 7 also like to log in using the fully concatenated name. IE it will often try "win7computername\billy" as the user name when it should be using "titan1\billy". You shouldn't need to shutoff IPv6 and doing so has made Vista / 7 unstable in the past for me. "computername"\"username" is the way windows determines which passwords to lookup and which computer to try and authenticate to.

 

[ITJunkie]

One thing you can check is your Local Security Policy to make sure it's set to "Classic - Local users authenticate as themselves" (Local Policies -> Security Options -> Network Access: Sharing and security model for local accounts)

 

[dr.tikitimes]

Well I'm back.
First. Thanks to all for your help.
I have spent inumerable hours on this issue.
But still no luck.
The windows 7 computers will not login to the Titan1 computer. Can see it just not login. Xp computers will connect. (Titan 2 no problem even from windows 7)
The shares on titan 1 are administrative shares C$, D$ etc.
Titan 2 same scenario.
Titan 2 no problems.
This is not an easy situation in that I cannot make any serious changes to the CNC computer without risking a shutdown of operation if I render the system even temporarily inoperable.
The system does not have a CD drive to even use Acronis Boot disc etc..
At this point I do not want to make anymore system setting changes wthout a failsafe backup.
Additional note: The XP CNC machines are at XP SP2. (no internet connection) Is SP3 required for this issue.?
I hope I am succinct. If not am rambling, but I sure could use some more input.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I have a gigabit NAS with an IDE drive in it. I put access-control on it, created some users and passwords, and assigned them to the shares. Works perfectly in XP.

In Win7, it hardly works at all. MS screwed something up bigtime. 99% of the time I cannot connect. Unless, of course, I set my Windows password to the same password as the share. Then it will connect. But then I have to login to Windows in order to boot the computer, which is a hassle.

And sometimes, magically, the NAS will "forget" the connection, and clicking it doesn't refresh it like it's supposed to, instead, it says something about authentication denied.

So I have to reboot the computer, and/or the NAS.

Again, no problem with XP that I can see.

 

[Jamsan]

I have a gigabit NAS with an IDE drive in it. I put access-control on it, created some users and passwords, and assigned them to the shares. Works perfectly in XP.

In Win7, it hardly works at all. MS screwed something up bigtime. 99% of the time I cannot connect. Unless, of course, I set my Windows password to the same password as the share. Then it will connect. But then I have to login to Windows in order to boot the computer, which is a hassle.

And sometimes, magically, the NAS will "forget" the connection, and clicking it doesn't refresh it like it's supposed to, instead, it says something about authentication denied.

So I have to reboot the computer, and/or the NAS.

Again, no problem with XP that I can see.

This isn't help to the OP, but Windows 7 supports the ability to login with a given username/password automatically, as XP did. Go to Start --> Run and type in control userpasswords2 - Uncheck "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer", hit apply, and it'll prompt for credentials. This will allow the computer to login automatically and have the same un/pw as the NAS.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I recently discovered a solution for my NAS. The "net use" command, allows you to specify the username. The Windows 7 GUI map network drive somehow keeps insisting on providing the username as "COMPUTER\Username", rather than just "username". The NAS doesn't like that. But NET USE works great now.

 

[dr.tikitimes]

Follow up:

Strange, but I synced the time on the Titan1 computer (it was off a couple of months)and suddenly everything worked. Could it have been SMB authenitacation? In a non server enviornment, huh? could that be true? I am confused, but it worked.
I thank everyone for their support.

I finally convinced the the company to invest in a SBS server and MicroTik router.
That should suffice for a few years.

Champagne on a beer budget. Baby steps... Oh well.

Regards to to the Anandtech community.