Anonymous file sharing on a multiple OS LAN

Hi there. I recently built a new computer to act as a server on my network, it is running Windows 2000 Advanced Server. I'm having a problem with file sharing which I understand to be due to the nature of Win 2K. Like a good forumer I searched the forums here for an answer before posting. I found many close to my problem, but nothing right on the money.

My main problem right now is with the Win 2K server. When I try to access my Win XP Pro box on the network to browse shared folders, I get prompted for user name and password. If I login with my XP login and pass, I go right through just fine. I shouldn't have to do this though, this would be a bear at LAN parties. I don't have any special authentication on my XP machine because my 98 box views everything fine with no authentication necessary. How can I get around this delema? Thanks in advance.

 

The NT systems (NT4/2K/XP) are set up to demand to know "who" wants to connect. Very different than 9X systems and to several of the non-M$ operating systems.

They are really designed to play in a Domain environment where this whole thing is a non-issue since the domain logon validation takes care of all the housekeeping.

Peer networks do require a couple of approaches.

If security within your LAN isn't a major concern, you can enable the Guest account on the 2K server. It is built but disabled by default at install time. Then any M$ PC (or Linux/samba and maybe Mac??) will be allowed to connect as long as it has a user signed on.

Otherwise on the 2K server, you can add a username/password for each user who will be connecting. I personally prefer this approach. Little more effort to set up but gives lots more control over the network. And even with this, if you have the occasional other person who will need some access, you can always add the 2K server Guest account to whatever shares you want with the amount of access you feel is appropriate.

Hard to get any more specific without more information. For one thing, NTFS on the server will give you many security options that aren't there if you have FAT32 on the server.

 

Yes, that was another problem I was having and able to get around using the guest acount. I want to go the other way however. If I go to a fair size LAN party, there will be tons of people using XP. I can use my own XP machine and browse around connecting to them with no passwords or anything. And they can connect to my shares in the same manner. However, when using the 2K machine to connect to my shares, it requires a user name and pass. I suppose I could enable guest on the XP machine as well but I was told that isn't a good idea and makes for headaches, plus, I shouldn't have to. Anyone else can connect to my machine fine except my 2K server. And it's not just my system I want it to connect to, I want to be able to reach anyone else using XP just as if I were running a 98 or XP machine.