Network Login

Pocah · Mar 31, 2024

I have a PC that I am setting up to share files from a single folder. I have been getting all the settings sorted.
The PC does not have a password configured at launch and I do not want one. The PC is started remotely so under no circumstances must it stop and ask for a password.
Right now, I have managed to get the file sharing going, but have one setting left - username or password.
I have this disabled at the moment, so anyone on the network can access the files.
Now, I am not too worried about security, but even so, I am wary of allowing access over the network without a password.
My question is, can I have a username and password for network access without altering the power up process (in other words so the PC does not stop during power up and ask for a user name and password )?
My fear is that if I create a second user, then at power-up it will stop and ask me which user I want logged in, and that's the last thing I want it to do.

pseymour · Mar 31, 2024

Windows doesn’t have to be logged on to access a share remotely.

Try3 · Mar 31, 2024

Yes.

Denis

BobOmb · Mar 31, 2024

Yea, you actually never even need to login to that extra user to use the creds either after creating it, so no profile is needed..

But if you ever lock the workstation you will see the other user on the bottom left of the lockscreen.. just a minor inconvenience, yet for some reason when I set shares up this way it bothers me to see it

Pocah · Mar 31, 2024

I am having trouble here, explaining the problem.

If I create a username and password to access the files over the network, will this adversely affect the power-up of the PC?

At the moment the PC does not have a login for a local user and it must remain that way.

Because the primary user of that PC does not have a password, windows powers up and just goes right to the desktop requiring nothing from the user.

I am terrified that if I create a special username and password for network access that it will change that local power-up.

The last thing I want is for the PC to stop when it is powering up and ask for a user login.

Or perhaps I am misunderstanding this.

Perhaps I should ask a different question?

What do I need to do to enable password protection. It asks for a username and password, but there isn't one.

pseymour · Mar 31, 2024

Are you in proximity to the PC? If so, create the other user account with a password, restart, and see what Windows does. You can always disable the new account if it doesn't behave how you want.

Pocah · Mar 31, 2024

pseymour said:
Are you in proximity to the PC? If so, create the other user account with a password, restart, and see what Windows does. You can always disable the new account if it doesn't behave how you want.

I'll try it.

Pocah · Mar 31, 2024

Erm, how do I create a user?
Win 11 is trying to push me down creating a new Microsoft Account which is not what I want at all.
Oh wait, typical Microsoft, its hidden.

Try3 · Mar 31, 2024

Pocah said:
If I create a username and password to access the files over the network, will this adversely affect the power-up of the PC?

No.
And you'll see that explained in my network checklist as well.
You use an Admin account once only to authorise access by all users.

Denis

Try3 · Mar 31, 2024

Pocah said:
Because the primary user of that PC does not have a password, windows powers up and just goes right to the desktop requiring nothing from the user.

The first thing that Windows tries is logging in using the user account that was logged in when it was last shut down.
So your intended scheme will not be affected by creating an extra Local Admin user account to authorise access - you will never need to log in to it.
What matters is that this extra Admin has the same username & the same password on every computer. If it differs then you will need to remember what it is everywhere so you can use the right username & password for each pairing [the username & password of the computer you are trying to access not the computer you are trying to access it from].

Denis

Try3 · Mar 31, 2024

Pocah said:
how do I create a user?

Add Local User Account - ElevenForumTutorials
Change Account Type (Std-Admin) - ElevenForumTutorials
Check Account is Administrator or Standard User - ElevenForumTutorials

Denis

It's really worth making time to browse through the ElevenForum Tutorial index - there's a shortcut to it at the top of every ElevenForum page [within the Tutorials dropdown list].
- At the foot of the ElevenForum Tutorial index is a shortcut to download it as a spreadsheet.
- I download a new copy each month.
- By downloading it as a spreadsheet I can benefit from Excel's excellent filtering capabilities when I search for topics of interest.
- ElevenForum tutorials are also listed at Tutorials and there's a shortcut to that at the top of every page.

You can search ElevenForum using the search box in the top-right corner of all ElevenForum webpages or using Advanced Search - ElevenForum
- You can also search ElevenForum threads in many general search engines, such as Google, by adding site:elevenforum.com after your search term. For example,
Taskbar setup site:elevenforum.com
- [This is what the search box in the top-right corner of ElevenForum webpages does automatically]

For MSOffice problems search in and, if necessary, create threads in the TenForums MSOffice section [ElevenForum does not have one].

Winuser · Mar 31, 2024

If I'm understaning your post correctly, you want to do what I'm doing with my mini-pc that I use for streaming. I have it setup with a local account and assigned it a password. Then I used NetPlWiz to set it up to boot without needing to enter the password. To access the mini-pc from my desktop I use //name of computer. The first time I accessed it I was asked to ener the username and password for the mini-pc. Because I'm the only one accessing the mini-pc I checked the box to Remember my credentials so I wouldn't have to enter the username and password every time I want to access the mini-pc.

BobOmb · Mar 31, 2024

Pocah said:
how do I create a user?

From an Admin CMD prompt type the following (changing the username and password to your preference):

Batch:

net user username password /add

hsehestedt · Mar 31, 2024

If I may just jump in here...

As was noted earlier, Windows makes file shares available whether you logon or not, so logging in or not is a moot point.

However, if your concern is whether or not a user will be prompted for credentials when trying to access a network share, there is an easy way to avoid this. Simply make the share available to the special name "everyone" and turn off "Password protected sharing". By doing this, you make the share available to every user that has access to the network whether or not they have an account on your computer or not.

My suggestion: Create a test folder, let's call it C:\Test. Share it as described above. Test it. This way you can verify that this works as expected without changing anything on your "real" share(s).

If you need detailed instructions on how to accomplish this, just give a shout and I'll provide step-by-step directions.

Put into simplified terms, the name "everyone" is a simple way of making things accessible to literally everyone whether or not they have any valid user credentials on your machine. It also will not care what you are logged in as or even whether you are logged in or not.

Try3 · Mar 31, 2024

And don't forget the information you were given in your first thread on this subject.
Microsoft Network Setup - ElevenForum

Denis

Pocah · Apr 1, 2024

BobOmb said:
From an Admin CMD prompt type the following (changing the username and password to your preference):

Batch:

net user username password /add

My confusion over this was that Microsoft buried the user creation I expected to see under the new and typical data collection user types - Microsoft Accounts etc. To just create a local account was a little obscure!

Pocah · Apr 1, 2024

hsehestedt said:
If I may just jump in here...

As was noted earlier, Windows makes file shares available whether you logon or not, so logging in or not is a moot point.

However, if your concern is whether or not a user will be prompted for credentials when trying to access a network share, there is an easy way to avoid this. Simply make the share available to the special name "everyone" and turn off "Password protected sharing". By doing this, you make the share available to every user that has access to the network whether or not they have an account on your computer or not.

My suggestion: Create a test folder, let's call it C:\Test. Share it as described above. Test it. This way you can verify that this works as expected without changing anything on your "real" share(s).

If you need detailed instructions on how to accomplish this, just give a shout and I'll provide step-by-step directions.

Put into simplified terms, the name "everyone" is a simple way of making things accessible to literally everyone whether or not they have any valid user credentials on your machine. It also will not care what you are logged in as or even whether you are logged in or not.

This is not about the file shares.

No matter what happens, the file shares will work and that's not the concern. The concern is that my changes will affect the way the PC powers-up.

When the PC powers-up it absolutely must not stop and ask for a password.

Normally I don't use passwords on my PC's you see, so this isn't a problem. I have no idea what happens when I create a user that does have a password.

At the moment, I do have it set with Password Protection to off. It all works. But I just considered this to be a tad unsafe.

I don't know. I may leave it like that. It depends how brave I feel re experimenting!

Pocah · Apr 1, 2024

Winuser said:
If I'm understaning your post correctly, you want to do what I'm doing with my mini-pc that I use for streaming. I have it setup with a local account and assigned it a password. Then I used NetPlWiz to set it up to boot without needing to enter the password. To access the mini-pc from my desktop I use //name of computer. The first time I accessed it I was asked to ener the username and password for the mini-pc. Because I'm the only one accessing the mini-pc I checked the box to Remember my credentials so I wouldn't have to enter the username and password every time I want to access the mini-pc.

This is what I want, ideally.

I am just uncertain how to achieve it, or whether to just leave password protection off.