This is the most common problem that I encounter when we make a home network using Windows Workgroup that Windows starts asking for username and password when we try to access a shared folder across the network. The worst condition comes in when Windows asks for only the password. The user name is defaulted to ComputerNameGuest and the field is disabled. I have never been able to logon using ANY password under this situation.
While there are many other reasons for this password protection, one of the solutions that I have found out is an interesting one .. I’ve observed that if we disable the guest account in Windows, that freaky guest login also disappears. To disable the guest account, do the following:
Go to Start –> Run –> compmgmt.msc
From the left hand pane, select Local Users And Groups –> Users
In the right hand pane, right click Guest and go to properties.
Check “Account is disabled” option.
Got computer/technical problems? Get FREE help from Technize Forums
« « The Perfect Alternative To Microsoft Outlook
My guest account is disable, but still i am getting the same coomputernameguest(grayedout) & underneath that password box. I have no password on my machine..,
Any help
Thanks in Advance
windows in some settings requires the destination machine to have a password on it. so, if you are in machine “A” and you want to reach machine “B”, “B” Should have a password on it! I don’t know why for sure but that what I found.
Got it peeps! Temp solution, though, still working around it. I enabled the guest account and gave it a password, it’s just like Bilal said. In the computer I am using to access my main machine, I type that guest password when asked for it.
I’m trying to see if setting up an account on the main machine with the computer name of the second machine will work. If not, I’ll still have the guest account solution.
It’s described here:
http://en.kioskea.net/contents.....hiers.php3
Cheers!
Hey guys, I’ve been searching for a solution for this for ages as I didn’t want to enable another account etc.
I found this thread that opened up 4 days ago, and I didn’t even realise this option existed!
You can actually turn off password protected sharing under the advanced sharing settings…
http://www.sevenforums.com/net.....post362084
- has the answers shown in a screenshot.
Cheers
@Bilal
This is by design that there should be a username and a password to access a Windows share.
@Peek-A-Chu
Password protecting a guest account is the perfect solution for network sharing as it’s secure enough not to give a standard user password to any network app.
@Barnz
Great find. I was searching for that in my Windows 7 and found the solution in your comment
Turning off password protected sharing under the advanced sharing settings does nothing for me. Still can’t access shared folder from XP machine.
heloo,
i m using Windows 7 and have an issue of “network password” so i disable guest account and network password is disable at advance setting but i did not work beacuse i still require username and password
so if any one have its solution then kindly reply me at
dotmsn@msn.com / network.engineer@msn.com
Thanks Alot
Windows XP request for “Guest” Password when the Simple File Sharing is enabled.
Try This:
Control Panel>Folder Options> Click on View TAB>, in the Box look and clear “Use simple file sharing (Recommended)”, apply and try access again the computer from the network.
Font: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307874/EN-us
I have found a way to disable the nagging password box in Windows 7 (probably Vista too).
1. Click Start
2. Under you user picture, right click Network
3. Choose Properties (this opens Control PanelNetwork and InternetNetwork and Sharing Center)
4. Click Choose homegroup and sharing options in the lower list (this opens Control PanelNetwork and InternetNetwork and Sharing CenterHomegroup)
5. Click Change advanced sharing settings… (this opens Control PanelNetwork and InternetNetwork and Sharing CenterAdvanced sharing settings)
6. The setting right before the last one is: Password protected sharing!
7. Choose Turn off password protected sharing and you are good to go without any restarts and stuff.
Bonus: A quicker way: Type “advanced share” and choose Manage advanced sharing settings
(this will guide you to step 5.)
I had a similar problem to this (Windows 7 stopped being able enumerate or use file shares on an XP machine, even though passwords matched), but none of what’s described here worked. Here’s what I did to fix it. On the Windows 7 machine, in the Group Policy Editor, in the Computer ConfigurationWindows SettingsSecurity SettingsLocal PoliciesSecurity Options folder, set the “Network Security: LAN Manager authentication level” value to “Send LM & NTLM – use NTLMv2 session security if negotiated”. I don’t really understand why it worked, but that fixed it (no reboot needed).
This should work between any Windows machine of any release, but for machines without a group policy editor (home, professional etc), follow the instructions at http://www.windowsreference.co.....e-edition/ and use the value ’1′ (at least I think it’s 1, I’m just guessing). It should have the same effect.
keywords: Windows 7, Enter security password, sharing, DOMAIN, XP
As an update to my last post, it turns out the date was set wrong on the XP machine. Correcting that would have fixed it instead of the above, I think.
I used to view files on my television with an old xbox (not 360!) and XP. I have win7 now but I can’t seem to access them on the xbox. I can see the computer name so at least I know the network itself is ok. But I get that nasty username and password and I have no idea how to make it work. Anyone got an idea?
I tried all the methods that all of you told. But none of them worked. The enter network password box keep poping. Is there any other way..??
delete the login windows password from the user account on the host machine then try again with network machine it will work now
So um, will formatting fix this? cause i have 2 xp machines and my pc cant access the other pc without that password box popping up. Iv’e tried every xp suggestion here as theres NO WINDOWS 7 on my network. Email me with help plz, LJsHaven@Gmail.com
I would like to introduce Windows Password Recovery Tool 3.0 . it not only supports XP, 2000, and NT, I have personally tested it with Vista and windows 7. It works perfectly to reset any local user account to a blank password. I Wrote it to an old 128mb USB flash drive do this. Booting up and clearing a password takes a minute or two works like a charm.
It also supports cd/dvd
Another strange solution. I have been working at this problem for hours before I noticed my PC clock was over 4 years behind once I corrected the time. The shares were accessible.
hi
Guys try this one it worked for me …
usernameguest password prompt
Steve Winograd [MVP] posted on Sunday, August 12, 2007 9:30 PM
On the XP Home computer:
1. Make sure that the Guest account is enabled for access by other
computers over the network:
a. Open a command prompt window (Start > Run > cmd).
b. Type this command, then press Enter:
net user guest /active:yes
2. Remove the network password from the Guest account:
a. Click Start > Run.
b. Type “control userpasswords2″ in the box and click OK.
c. Click Guest.
d. Click Reset Password.
e. Click OK without entering a new password.
–
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)
Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I’m sorry, but I don’t answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.
Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
I applied leesoloongh’s two-step solution to my XP Home PC, rebooted, and logged in as Guest.
This has made a difference in what I see at the Win 7 PC. Now, instead of asking for a password, it just gives me an error message that says: “\XPNAME is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions. Logon failure: the user has not been granted the requested logon type at this computer.”
I can see the Win 7 files from the XP machine, but not vice versa.
Jim
LEESOLOONGH has the answer for me. I tried 100′s of things for many websites. I did what he prescribed below and it worked like a charm.
THANK YOU LEE.
leesoloongh says:
April 25, 2010 at 6:53 am
Guys try this one it worked for me …
usernameguest password prompt
Steve Winograd [MVP] posted on Sunday, August 12, 2007 9:30 PM
On the XP Home computer:
1. Make sure that the Guest account is enabled for access by other
computers over the network:
a. Open a command prompt window (Start > Run > cmd).
b. Type this command, then press Enter:
net user guest /active:yes
2. Remove the network password from the Guest account:
a. Click Start > Run.
b. Type “control userpasswords2? in the box and click OK.
c. Click Guest.
d. Click Reset Password.
e. Click OK without entering a new password.
–
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)
Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I’m sorry, but I don’t answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.
Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
Jim Parsons ,
don’t log in as a Guest in your XP PC .. use your normal account
and disable the guest account in your XP PC ..
this is how i did it.
to disable your guest account go to
Control Panel > User Account > Guest . and disable the account ..
then try to enter your XP PC from the Win7 PC.
Hmmm. That (Guest disabled, logged into normal account) was how I started. That’s the state that keeps asking for a password at the Win7 end.
I never used the Guest account before today, so it was disabled. I enabled it after following your instructions for making sure it didn’t require a password.
So, I’ve just disabled the XP Guest account, logged in using my normal XP account, and I’m back to the Win 7 request for a password and subsequent log-in failure. This is where I came in. There must be more to it.
Jim
I had the same problem and its been driving me crazy.
On a Workgroup network, the Win 7 machine could access shared folders on a Win XP machine. But from the Win XP machine access was blocked by a prompt for a password to access the Win 7 Shared folder. There was no way through the password, even though the two machines have exactly the same User Name and Password.
I tried several suggestions from this thread and others finally only this worked.
On the Win 7 machine I set up a new Standard User (not Guest and not Administrator). When I added a password to this new account, I finally got access from the Win XP machine.
Oh yes – earlier I’d:-
a) Shared the chosen folder(s) on the Win 7 machine,
b) Enabled Guest User on the Win7 machine(as suggested above),
c) Changed the Network Security default as Scooby Doo suggested.
“On the Windows 7 machine, in the Group Policy Editor, in the Computer ConfigurationWindows SettingsSecurity SettingsLocal PoliciesSecurity Options folder, set the “Network Security: LAN Manager authentication level” value to “Send LM & NTLM – use NTLMv2 session security if negotiated”.
Thanks for all the postings on this thread. They’ve made the impossibly obscure possible. Mr Gates should be proud of his ‘easy to use’ software!
I have a similar problem that is driving me insane. I have a media player that I have connected to my router so that I may play movies from my computer on my TV. The media player works fine and can see my computers name but I get prompted for a Net User ID and password each time I try and access my computer. Same setup – windows 7 64 bit. I have disabled network password in advanced settings and tried everything mentioned earlier. Any help would be greatly appreciated
Keith M. solved it for me – I had everything configured correctly for windows 7 public sharing with password protected sharng off – except there was one existing user account without a password. Once I gave it a password, my other workstations can now access the windows 7 public share with no login / logon prompt. Seems to be a glitch with windows 7.
Hi,
I have a similar issue. I have a HTPC with Win7 on it and one admin account without a password. I can see my Vista laptop and use the shares fine but Win7 shares won’t open on my laptop (over wireless).
As soon as I set a password it worked which is great but I don’t want a password or to create another account – I have it like this so I can reboot my win7 HTPC from my remote control and it will boot back in to the OS and load my media centre app XBMC from startup.
Having a password would break this and I’d need to get a keyboard out to enter the password which is not acceptable.
Any advice??
On your Windows 7 Machine, Open ControlPanel > UserAccountsAndFamilySafety > Credential Manager
Choose ‘Add A Windows Credential’
Enter Username (Use Computer Name of Your Other Computer) followed by backslash, then, ‘HomeGroupUser$’
Looks Like This:
UserName: James-PCHomeGroupUser$
Password: The Login Password of your other computer
You should be able to access the shared folders without a login appearing now.
Have you tried running Windows Explorer as an Admin. I was suffering from this exact same thing and I just decided to run it as an admin and it worked perfectly
Same problem here, disabled all but one account, always asks for password. Too frustrating that this is so hard to debug.