lost computer

Hi:
Have a small lan with 3 cpu's hooked to a d-link DI-704 , which is hooked to a cable modem . Two of the cpu's are running Win 98 se and the remaining one (new one ) is running Win 2000 pro .

My problem is that one or both (one is down for service , but was on line when this problem started ) of the win 98 se computers can not see the new win 2000 pro computer on the network , But the Win 2000 can see them just fine ( transfer files ) . Win 98 se computers can ping the router switch , also open it and change setting with IE .

Could this be my lack of skill with Win 2000 (none) or a setting in win 98 . Thanks in advance for your time .

 

Several possibles.

First off, unless you have set folders on 2K to be shared, the only shares there are hidden, administrative shares of each hard drive. C$, D$, etc. and they can be used but won't show when you examine the machine from elsewhere.

Most probable is that you have run into a major difference between 9X systems (including ME) and NT systems (including 2K & XP).

98 let you set shares that could be accessed in a variety of ways (password, no password, etc.) by anyone who wanted to take a look.

NT systems require to know who wants access. Which means the other PC must be logged on and the user/password must be known to the NT system. Large networks using Domains deal with this easily since each logon is validated by a domain controller and the NT PC can look at the list to see who a user is.

Home systems - workgroup stuff - won't work that way so you have to put users on your 2K PC that match username/password (case sensitive) of any PCs that need to share. And your 98 PCs will need to have a user logging on although automatic will be fine as long as the information is there.

There is a Guest user account on your 2K PC that was loaded but set as disabled when the install was done. If you enable it, any logged on user can get to the 2K PC but will be treated as a Guest and that account is very limited in what it can do. I don't like enabling it at all.

 

UHhh Do you mean that I have to create on the win 2000 machine user accounts like admin. Only one I have, only in the names of users on my win 98se machines which have none except ( i know i know : ) default and no passwords . Lots of firewalls though . Also it is physically disconnected from the web when not used .

This may be a little deep for me do you know of step by step instructions anywhere ( small steps) and also recommend any reading I could do to improve my understanding of win 2000
Thanks for the reply

 

I think you'll find you always have at least one "user" on Windows 9x, even when you have a single-user machine and no logon, you are just using the same username all the time.

 

jsdkr - "lots of firewalls" will mean you have to have any of them set to allow connection to the other PCs on your LAN.

As for the user thing on 2K, fairly simple usually. You can have each of the 98 PCs using a different name/password if you want or if you don't have any security concerns, you can use the same username/password on all your PCs. Can't be the 2K admin account though if you only intend to use one.

Set new ones up on 2K as follows:

- right-click "My Computer" and select Manage.
- Open Local Users and Groups then open Users.
- Create new accounts just as you want them. Username and password and the password is case sensitive.
- If you want the other users to have pretty much unrestricted access, open the Groups section and add each of the user accounts to the Power User group. Otherwise add them to the Users group if they aren't already there.

Then to get a clean start on the 9X PCs, delete any .pwl files you find which will wipe out existing account passwords (you got em even if they are a blank) and will force the logon box at next reboot. When it comes up, enter the username and password to match one on the 2K system.

You should now be able to access resources on the 2K PC from your 9X PCs.

If you don't want to logon to the 9X PCs every time, there is a way to make it auto-logon with the username/password you want but I don't remember specifics at this point. Been too long since I've messed with them other than as domain members.

You can also set the 2K PC to autologon but it will involve a registry tweak. Post back if you want details.

 

TWEAK UI will allow you to auto login to Win 9x

Windows 2000 pro has the option to "always log on as this user ", no registry hacking required AFAIK

All the user stuff is valid and true but the original post was that the 98 PCs couldnt see the 2K - not that there were security problems

Assuming that TCP/IP is the protocol in use then you need to put the IP address and name of the 2K PC into both the HOSTS and LMHOSTS files in C:\WINDOWS\ on the 98 PCs

 

Thanks for the TweakUI bit AndyO. I never use it and tend to not remember it exists.

 

VICTORY
Thanks very much , set up and a small rule change to one firewall and everything is as it should be .

 

Excellent!!! And thanx for letting us know.