Solved [W8.1] Share for Everyone still asks for network password?

[NessPJ]

Hi there,

I just bought a new Intel NUC which i installed a clean and fully updated Windows 8.1 Pro on.
I want to create a networkshare on this machine, which everyone can just access (read permissions) to view the content of a folder or drive.

I am trying to access the drive on another (my own) installed Windows 8.1 Pro (also fully updated).
Everytime i try to access the machine through the Network explorer in Windows i will be prompted to enter credentials.

I have checked the network settings following this article (amongst others): http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/9837-network-location-set-private-public-windows-8-a.html on both machines.
I also checked all the sharing settings on both machines (private/home network, allow external connections, allow all types of connections, allow sharing without password etc. etc.).

I am a bit dazzled as to why the machine keeps asking me to enter credentials.

Am i doing something wrong, or can someone show me this is standard protocol nowadays?
(i wonder how that would work on a machine that has a local user without a password).

 

[broe23]

It depends if the credentials are being saved for the user. Also if you have any third party Internet security software on the computers. It can also cause this behavior.

 

[NessPJ]

Is this a specific setting for saving the credentials in this case? I would just like to make an 'open' share in the network which everyone can just access without being bothered to enter any credentials. This should work if i share a drive or folder with Reading permissions to "Everyone" right?

There is no other Internet security software installed apart from the system default (Windows Defender).

 

[NessPJ]

I just noticed a difference...

I made a share on both machines (accessible to 'Everyone').
As mentioned in my first post... Machine B can flawessly access the share on Machine A.
The other way around, i keep getting asked to put in credentials.

The share on Machine B, does concern a shared drive (an external drive) instead of a shared folder.
Could it be that i had to take ownership of the external drive on that PC first, before i shared it?


PS.

This does not explain however, i can just go into "Network" on both machines.
I can double click Machine A when i am on Machine B and it will open and show me all the shares.
When i double click on Machine A whilst i am on Machine B, it will prompt me for credentials however.

Hope anyone can help me!

 

[NessPJ]

Could anyone help me with this, please?

I am dying to finish the setup and start using my new mediacenter/homeserver but this is keeping me from it.

 

[play2mefish]

Well, first thing I have to ask, are the two computers on the same network? If so, are they in the same workgroup? If not, then they both need to be in the same workgroup or you will be asked for credentials. Let me know what you find.

 

[NessPJ]

Hi, thanks for your response.
Both machines are in the exact same network.
Same gateway, same subnet, same workgroup (Workgroup).

Any other suggestions?

 

[play2mefish]

You mention that one of the shares are an external harddrive, have you tried moving that share to internal harddrive to see if it will make a difference. Also, do the computers use the same user account on both machines or do you have user accounts with a different name? I would make sure that computer A and Computer B both login with the exact user name/password. And if I remember correctly I believe to do the sharing that a user name must have a password...don't quote me on that one though. Let us know what you find.

 

[NessPJ]

1. I tried sharing a folder on Machine B, instead of an external harddrive.. no difference (Windows still asks me to enter credentials).
2. Both machines have different user accounts with different passwords. This is however, plain logic if you ask me. I would like to create an 'open' share on the machine which every user can just have access to (hence why i put Read permissions on the share for 'Everyone'). Say if a friend with a laptop comes over, i want him to be able to access the 'open' share without having to enter credentials as well.
This is possible in Windows 8 right? I had no problems doing this on a Windows 7 machine.

 

[play2mefish]

Aha! You're thinking logically...that is the problem...LOL! Just for giggles, create the same user name/password on both computers, and then check the to see if you can see/access the shared folder as you think you should. If you can, then the share is not setup for everyone correctly and or its being denied from somewhere. Later this evening I can walk through the steps of creating a share and being able to access from it anywhere.

Now on another note, if you are just trying to use Computer A as a media server, why not install Serviio on this computer? I run Serviio and use it as my media server. There is a free version and the pro version. I liked the free version so well I paid for the pro version. Just thinking out of the box...

 

[NessPJ]

Thanks for all your input.
Thing is.. all i really want is a normal Windows share, which any other Windows 7/Windows 8 machine can just open without having to enter credentials. I re-checked all network and share settings several times now its mind boggling to me why i can't get this to work.

Network:
Both machines are in the same LAN network with all the same settings and everything else works fine.

Windows network type:
Both machines are set to "Home network" (also known as "Private Network").

Windows sharing options:
All sharing options are set the same on both machines
-Allow file and printer sharing
-Use a homegroup or let Windows manage any network shares (if thats translated correctly) is selected
-Allow network sharing to machines using 40-bit or 56-bit secure connections
-Allow sharing without the use of passwords

For testing purposes i shared a 'folder' on both machines (not a folder and an entire drive as mentioned in my first post).
-The share has permissions for "Everyone" to be able to Read this folder. There are permissions in place for "administrators", "verified users" and "users" as well which all have access to said folder.
-The NTFS rights are the same (tab called security) and the user(s)/group(s) called System as well as the personal account i am working on, on that machine have full rights as well.



I really dont know what else i could check. If anyone still has any ideas i would love to hear them!

Like i said... Machine B can just enter Machine A no questions asked. Machine A can not access the share on Machine B which should be available to everyone without getting prompted to enter credentials (Machine B is the one with the completely fresh installation).

 

[play2mefish]

Well, I'm afraid I'm not going to be much help either. I have been able to duplicate your problem using my systems here, let me explain.

ComputerB is my primary workstation running Windows 8.1 Pro
ComputerA is my Windows 10 workstation running in VMPlayer

ComputerB can access the share on the ComputerA just by running explorer and typing in the UNC share name i.e. \\ComputerA\sharename...works as advertised. Both computers are using the same login account.

ComputerA is unable to access the share on ComputerB (And it is setup exactly like ComputerA, with one exception, ComputerA is on a different subnet due to the VMPlayer NIC settings. It prompts for credentials just as you have stated in your previous posts.

I then introduced a third computer via VMPLAYER, and it will not access either Computer via the share without prompting for credentials.

I then put a share on computer and tried to access it from ComputerB/A and it prompted for credentials. Then I decided I would go another route and enable the guest account on ComputerC. Once it was enabled I could then access computer by waiting for the prompt, entering GUEST in the login name and hitting enter. I was then able to access the share without a problem.

In conclusion, I just wanted you to know that it appears you have tried everything and I will leave you with this thought. Since you can Access ComputerA without the prompts, just use it as sharing in one direction. That way when you introduce ComputerC, you can access the share from ComputerC, copy a file to ComputerA, and then from ComputerB you could pick up the file from ComputerA.

Best of luck!

 

[NessPJ]

@ play2mefish:
Thanks alot for the testing!
I'm clueless as to why it _would_ work for 1 of the 2 directions/shares and not for the other (funny you seem to have the exact same finding when it comes to that).
I guess i am just going to conclude this is a 'security restriction' (or a feature if you want to call it that, haha).
I will just stick to the fact that this was probably intended so any user in the home (private) network that wants to access the share will just be obligated to contact the owner of the share so he is aware of giving access to said user and will have to enter (or give) the credentials to enter this share.

Because this is my conclusion and because of your effort i will mark this topic as solved.

 

[flhthemi]

It has to do with logging into outlook.com at startup. If you use a Local Login on Win 8.1 this doesn't happen. So there has to be some way to circumvent this security/credentials issue....