Help - Vista Networking question...

[AsSiMiLaTeD]

EDIT: Updating my first post with all pertinent information I've uncovered since day 1:

I have 3 PCs running Vista. OfficePC, MobilePC, and WifePC. They're all on the same workgroup and can all share media find with each other. They can also all 'see' each other, so in the network section I can see all PC names from each computer.

But when I click on the PC name it's asking me to log in. Once I log in I can see and access all the shares on that PC. However when copying files the transfer rate is EXTREMELY slow, less than 1 MB per second. I should mention that all PCs have an excellent connection to the internet, so the slowness appears to be a software problem.

Here's what's odd. WifePC and MobilePC can actually access each other fine without having to log in. But when OfficePC tries to access either of those PCs or when either of those PCs try to access Office PC, it wants the login.

I tried a fresh install of Vista on OfficePC (easy enough since I have an image of the normal install), set up everything from scratch and still had the same issues.

I've tried all the 'normal' stuff. Network Discovery, File Sharing, Printer Sharing, and Media Sharing are all on. Public Sharing and Password Protection are off - all PCs have this same configuration. I've tried turning Firewall off just for kicks.

I know now that I can share files between PCs without having to log in because I'm doing it on two other PCs. I don't mind just logging in to access this PC, but I'm thinking the slowness has to be tied to whatever is causing this issue, and the slowness is not something I can live with.

[AsSiMiLaTeD]

I should also mention that yes both computers are on the same workgroup, and that media sharing between the two computers is working fine. It's only when I click on the PC name to access printers and folders that it wants me to log in.

[polkatese]

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Win...e1033.mspx#ELF

PM, I have 3 XPs and 1 Vista connected to see each other HDDs and it works fine. What you have experienced could be the sharing of the folders. It has to have sufficient rights. I remembered that I ran into something similar like your issue when I first set them up, it has been a while, but I recalled in Vista, it took 3 layers depth to assign all the rights (R,W, etc.) to have it work properly. Start over?

[AsSiMiLaTeD]

Thanks for the info, and I'm aware of the folder permission issues in Vista, but that's not what I'm up against, because I'm getting the login prompt right when I click on the PC name, before I ever get to the list of shared drives.

I was able to work around the issue by just logging in, but my copy speeds are EXTREMELY slow, I'm talking less than 1 MB a sec, and both PCs have excellent connectivity. There's definitely something going on, I just can't figure it out...

[Lasareath]

Polkmaniac,

What you need is a logon batch routine.

Very simple to create, I make them all the time for my clients.

But, you will need at least one user on each PC with a password.

Usually I set the administrator user with a password.

then I create a notepad text file with a ".bat" extension.

Save this file to the root of your C drive.

make sure the txt file does not have the .txt extension, it should be "My-Logon.bat" only

You can name the file anything.

inside the file you need to put this:

net use g: /delete /Y
net use g: \\Computer-name-here\share-name your-password /USER:administrator

where computer-name is you could also put the hard coded IP of the machine that you want to map the drive letter to. I usually do this to servers that do not move (you don't want to hard code an IP to a laptop that you take to other people's networks)

I also add the following, it will set your clocks on all the PC's you run the batch routine on to microsoft's time servers

net stop "Windows Time"
net time /setsntp:time.windows.com
net start "Windows Time"

test it out and see if it maps that drive letter, you can make that drive letter anything from "F" and on. I usually start at G

The reason I put the batch routine in the root of the C drive is so that nobody deletes it and then I create a shortcut on the desktop and in the All Users start-up folder.

Then this batch routine will run every time you login and it will map your shares to drive letters.

Good Luck,

Sal

[Lasareath]

The first thing to do is to go to the PC that you want to map a drive to.

Right click my computer or computer in vista and choose "manage"

expand "local users and groups"

click on the users folder and on the right window where you see "administrator"

right click "administrator" and click "set password"



there are default shares already set in windows for the C drive and another hard drive you have, like D drive.

to map to those existing shares you would use:

net use g: /delete /Y
net use g: \\your-computer-name\C$ {your-password} /USER:administrator

the C$ will map the entire C drive, this may be useful to you if you do not want to create shares.

Sal

[Lasareath]

There's still some problems you will encounter, you cannot see the My Document folders of users on other PC's unless you set rights, and this can be too cumbersome to explain here.

The best thing to do is to set one computer as your "Server", and in that PC create a folder named "G-Drive" (again, you can name this whatever you want, like P-Drive for Polkmaniac)

Share that new folder and then create the batch routine like the following:

net use g: /delete /Y
net use g: \\Your-PC-Name\G-Drive your-password /USER:administrator
net stop "Windows Time"
net time /setsntp:time.windows.com
net start "Windows Time"

Copy this Batch routine to every PC on your network and create a shortcut to all their Start-Up folders and they will all get a G: Drive that maps to the "G-Drive" folder on your server.

This is the best way.

Then buy a couple external hard drive and back up that G-Drive folder every night.

I have a couple of backup batch routines if you are interested.

Sal

[AsSiMiLaTeD]

Thanks for the tips Las, now really what I'm looking for here but will help for something at work.

I have a little more info I can share on my issue.

I have 3 PCs running Vista. OfficePC, MobilePC, and WifePC. They're all on the same workgroup and can all share media find with each other. They can also all 'see' each other, so in the network section I can see all PC names from each computer.

But when I click on the PC name it's asking me to log in. Once I log in I can see and access all the shares on that PC. However when copying files the transfer rate is EXTREMELY slow, less than 1 MB per second. I should mention that all PCs have an excellent connection to the internet, so the slowness appears to be a software problem.

Here's what's odd. WifePC and MobilePC can actually access each other fine without having to log in. But when OfficePC tries to access either of those PCs or when either of those PCs try to access Office PC, it wants the login.

I tried a fresh install of Vista on OfficePC (easy enough since I have an image of the normal install), set up everything from scratch and still had the same issues.

I've tried all the 'normal' stuff. Network Discovery, File Sharing, Printer Sharing, and Media Sharing are all on. Public Sharing and Password Protection are off - all PCs have this same configuration. I've tried turning Firewall off just for kicks.

I know now that I can share files between PCs without having to log in because I'm doing it on two other PCs. I don't mind just logging in to access this PC, but I'm thinking the slowness has to be tied to whatever is causing this issue, and the slowness is not something I can live with.

[phuz]

Make sure the username and password that you are using on OfficePC matches ones on the other PCs. You're getting a username/password prompt because the account you are using is not set up on the other PCs, so it's asking you to authenticate.

Update/patch vista. There was a problem with it that caused very slow file copy times. Microsoft has issued some fixes for it. Google is your friend.

[AsSiMiLaTeD]

I definitely checked Google before I posted here. You first suggestion above though is actually what I was missing.

Apparently to network two PCs in Vista you have to have the same username AND password on each machine. XP wasn't that way, and that wasn't really obvious to me when looking through all the documentation on networking in Vista, but that's definitely the case.

I fixed that part and it works fine now.

As for the slowness, it's a little better, but I'm still only copying at like 3 MB a sec, and all PCs are completely updated with Service Pack 1. I'm running Wireless G over the WRT54G Linksys router that has always been rock solid for me. I'm going to do some more digging around and see if there's something else to this, because I can't imagine Vista being limited to 3 MB a sec transfer speeds...