Solution: Why can't Bob access his Windows 2000 shares?

by Ed Engelking II A+ | Dec 15, 2000 8:00:00 AM

Tags: Ed Engelking II A+

Takeaway: In a previous Pop Quiz, Bob was having problems accessing a shared folder on his Windows 2000 laptop. This week, we find out what was causing his problem and award T-shirts to two lucky TechRepublic members!

When we last left Bob, he was struggling with a problem he was having with his laptop and desktop computers. A longtime user of Microsoft Windows products, Bob had decided to install Windows 2000 and Windows Me on his home network, which consists of two desktop computers. After he installed Windows 2000 on his laptop and Windows Me on his desktop computers, he noticed that he couldn’t access a shared folder on his laptop from his desktop. Every time he tried to access this folder, a password box appeared, and when he typed in the administrator password, the machine told him that he was denied access to the laptop. For a complete rundown of Bob’s dilemma, check out last week’s Pop Quiz. Now, on to the solution.

It’s all in the permissions
After trying to access the shared folder on the laptop from the desktop a few more times, Bob was ready to pull his hair out. Frustrated, he called his friend Kristy, a network administrator for a local bank. He explained his problem to her and asked if she might know a solution.

Bob answered some questions Kristy asked about the installation. When she asked him about the user logon for either machine, Kristy knew she had hit the jackpot. Apparently, Bob had logged on to the laptop as “administrator” so that he could make changes within the OS. On the desktop, he had logged on as “Bob.” Because of this, when he tried to access the shares on the laptop, he was denied permission.

Kristy told Bob to create a new user account on the desktop called “administrator.” She instructed him to use the same password that he had used on the laptop as well. After Bob did this, Kristy told him to try to access the shared folder on the laptop again. To Bob’s surprise, he was able to access the folder without being asked for a password. Kristy explained to Bob that the problem was the result of a security issue. His laptop wasn’t able to confirm the user “Bob.” When he logged on as “administrator” on the desktop using the same password, however, Bob was able to gain permission to the folder. If he wanted to access the folder as “Bob,” he would need to have a specific user account on the laptop.

And the winners are…
Congratulations go out to Trent Martin and Christopher Crank, whose winning entries were randomly selected out of all correct entries received. Both winners will receive a TechRepublic T-shirt.

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