Dooferlad wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have just got myself a Vista machine and I am having a lot of trouble
> getting it to talk to some machines on my network. My other computers can see
> each other and access files on each others shares just fine. From Vista I can
> access a share on my 2000 box, but not the XP or Linux boxes. Neither have
> firewalls on and I can list the shares on both machines, but can't navigate
> into them.
>
> I have checked the Net BIOS settings on the 2000 and XP machines, both have
> it enabled. Since I can see the machines and the share names I assume there
> isn't a name lookup issue. No password is asked for unless the share is
> protected. Under 2000 if I have the guest account the shares can be accessed
> by Vista without a password, and if guest is disabled a username/password are
> asked for and then it works. All other shares are not password protected with
> the guest accounts enabled.
>
> Any ideas? Copying files to my 2000 machine or a USB hard disk is getting a
> little irritating.
You can network Vista with XP and with Linux. You have to do some extra
work for Linux, but nothing big at all. Since you apparently already
have set up Samba correctly so you can share files on the Linux box with
XP, I won't bother adding that bit to the instructions below except to
remind you to add your Vista users to both the general Linux users *and*
to Samba users with smbpasswd.
A. For the Windows networking part:
This link will take you through Vista networking very well:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/network/evaluate/vista_fp.mspx
Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally
caused by 1) a misconfigured firewall; or 2) inadvertently running two
firewalls such as the built-in Windows Firewall and a third-party
firewall; and/or 3) not having identical user accounts and passwords on
all Workgroup machines; 4) trying to create shares where the operating
system does not permit it.
Here are some general networking tips for home/small networks:
1. Configure firewalls on all machines to allow the Local Area Network
(LAN) traffic as trusted. With Windows Firewall, this means allowing
File/Printer Sharing on the Exceptions tab. Normally running the Network
Setup Wizard on XP will take care of this for those machines.The only
"gotcha" is that this will turn on the XPSP2 Windows Firewall. If you
aren't running a third-party firewall or have an antivirus with
"Internet Worm Protection" (like Norton 2006/07) which acts as a
firewall, then you're fine. With third-party firewalls, I usually
configure the LAN allowance with an IP range. Ex. would be
192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you would substitute your correct
subnet. Do not run more than one firewall.
2. With earlier Microsoft operating systems, the name of the Workgroup
didn't matter. Apparently it does with Vista, so put all computers in
the same Workgroup. This is done from the System applet in Control
Panel, Computer Name tab.
3. Create identical user accounts and passwords on all machines. If you
wish a machine to boot directly to the Desktop (into one particular
user's account) for convenience, you can do this. The instructions at
this link work for both XP and Vista:
Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm
4. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center:
a. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab) and create identical user
accounts/passwords on all computers.
b. If you don't care about using Pro's advanced features, leave the
Simple File Sharing enabled.
Simple File Sharing means that Guest (network) is enabled. This means
that anyone without a user account on the target system can use its
resources. This is a security hole but only you can decide if it matters
in your situation.
I think it is a good idea to create the identical user
accounts/passwords in any case when Vista machines are involved and it
isn't an onerous task with home/small networks.
5. Create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users'
home directories (My Documents) or Program Files, but you can share
folders inside those directories. A better choice is to simply use the
Shared Documents folder. See the first link above for details about
Vista sharing.
B. For the Linux networking part:
From Michael Bishop (MS) - Basically, the issue with Samba and Vista is
that Vista no longer permits LM or NTLM authentication by default; only
NTLMv2. Samba versions 1.x and 2.x only support LM and NTLM, so there's
an issue there.
Recommended solution: upgrade to Samba 3.x and enable NTLMv2 by adding
"client ntlmv2 auth = yes" to your smb.conf file. Because of another
issues with previous versions, I strongly recommend upgrading to 3.0.22
or later regardless of your choice for this particular instance. Since
this is an actual Linux box and you have access to smb.conf, I would do
this first and test.
Alternate solution: change Vista's security settings to permit
lower-security authentications. (as below)
To enable Windows Vista to connect to Mac OS X with Windows File Sharing
enabled, you will need to change the following policy in Windows Vista:
Start>Run>secpol.msc [enter]
Click on "Local Policies" --> "Security Options"
Navigate to the policy "Network Security: LAN Manager authentication
level" and double-click it to get its Properties. By default Windows
Vista sets the policy to "NTVLM2 responses only". Use the drop-down
arrow to change this to "LM and NTLM – use NTLMV2 session security if
negotiated".
In Vista Home Premium, you won't have this tool so per Steve Winograd, do:
1. Run the registry editor and open this key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa
1. If it doesn't already exist, create a DWORD value named
LmCompatibilityLevel
3. Set the value to 1
4. Reboot
Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
Home
FAQ
Search
Profile
Private Messages
Log in/Register/Password
Microsoft Windows Vista