Re: Two-computer network, MSHOME is not accessible" on both

Tech-Archive recommends: Fix windows errors by optimizing your registry

On Fri, 13 Apr 2007 00:06:04 GMT, Jonathan Sachs <xxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Wed, 11 Apr 2007 15:44:36 -0700, Chuck <none@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Actually, you can put a password on Guest, just as any other account.

I was referring to a page from Microsoft's Windows XT documentation...

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/usercpl_overview.mspx?mfr=true

..., which says, "The guest account is intended for use by someone who
has no user account on the computer. There is no password for the
guest account, so the user can log on quickly to check e-mail or
browse the Internet."

I assumed that "there is no password" means "there is no password."
In retrospect I see that it could be interpreted to mean "by default,
there is no password," but that interpretation seems strained to me.
I'd hate to have to say whether Microsoft's statement is unclearly
worded or just plain wrong.

I tried to coax User Accounts into letting me define a password for
Guests, but it refused, although I am logged in as an administrative
user. Based on that, I would have said quite positively that Guest
cannot have a password. if it can, there must be some more obscure
procedure for creating one.

That's a side issue, but it reminds me that Microsoft documentation is
as likely to get me in trouble as get me out, and that even trying
something to see how it works can be misleading! Please bear this in
mind and be patient if I seem reluctant to try things or look things
up for myself.

With SFS though most people don't password protect anything.

My concern is with someone who has physical access to my computer but
does not have permission to use it -- someone hired to water my plants
while I'm away, for example. They should not have access, period.
Thus SFS is perfectly adequate.

The "natural" way to deny access would be to delete the Guest account,
but apparently it has special functions which make that impossible.
Putting a strong password on it would be less direct but equally
effective.

If you had a non-blank
password set on either computer, but not the other, you'll have a problem there.

I checked, and found that Guest is unprotected on the desktop system.
On the portable computer is turned off. This adds to my puzzlement,
because as I understand the function of Guest, turning it off on the
portable computer should prevent sharing of files ON the portable
computer by others, but should not affect sharing of files BY the
portable computer on others. Yet I observe that the reverse is true.

If you have SFS, Guest is it. Is Guest a member of "Everyone"?

Apparently not. Until you asked the question, I assumed that groups
were predefined and immutable, since there is no Control Panel applet
for managing them. Once I realized that was not true, I found the
Local Users and Groups entry in Computer Management (Local), but its
list of groups does not even include Everyone. Yet Everyone is listed
in the security setting for "Access this computer from the network."

Might the absence of a definition for Everyone (and possibly other
missing or incorrect group definitions) be at the root of my problem?
If so, how can I tell what should be defined?

(I may never know, but I also wonder how the definitions got mangled.
I did not do it, since I didn't even know one could control group
definitions until now; nor did another user, because this computer has
never had another user.)

Here are my group definitions at present:

Administrators: Administrator, and the account I normally use.
Backup Operators: none.
Guests: Guest.
Network Configuration Operators: none.
Power Users: none.
Remote Desktop Users: none.
Replicator: none.
Users: NT AUTHORITY\Authenticated Users (S-1-5-11); NT
AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE (S-1-5-4).
HelpServicesGroup: SUPPORT_388945a0.

If Everyone is the group (the only group??) listed for "Access this computer
from the network.", and if Guest isn't a member of Everyone, then Guest won't be
able to access the computer from the network. That's one problem. Make Guest a
member of "Everyone".

Now, instead of playing with User Accounts, which is used to setup Local access,
go to Administrative Tools, then Computer Management. Or, from a command
window, enter "control userpasswords2". You can password protect Guest with no
problem.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Activate>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Activate
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Synchronise>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Synchronise

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.
.

Relevant Pages

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