I have recently set up a Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit machine which I plan on using in preference to my old Windows XP machine to do development on. However I am having problems connecting to the file shares exposed by the Windows Server 2008 (SP2 not R2) 32-bit server on the network.
I have trawled Google but been unable to find any solutions that work so far.
The error:
Login Failure, unknown username or password". Password prompt keeps on appearing as obviously the authentication is failing between the boxes.
What works:
- Connecting to shares on the Windows Server 2008 machine from the XP box
- Connecting to shares on the XP box from the Windows 7 box
- Connecting via RDP to the XP box from the Windows 7 box
- Connecting via RDP to the Windows Server 2008 box from the Windows 7 box
- Connecting via RDP to the Windows Server 2008 box from the XP box
So I can assume that a) I'm not having any issues with incorrectly typed passwords & b) there are no network connectivity issues between the machines.
What doesn't work
- Connecting to any password protected shares on the Windows Server 2008 machine from the Windows 7 machine. I have not tried non-password protected shares.
- Connecting to the Windows 7 box from the Windows Server 2008 machine.
Additionally I have tried a few suggestions floating round on the web, such as setting LmConnectivityLevel to '1' in the registry, and setting the Network Security: LAN manager authentication level in secpol.msc.
There have also been a few comments that the timezone/datetime need to be the same on both machines, they are, however there is one difference. The Windows 7 box lists everything in "UTC" and the Windows Server 2008 box lists everything in "GMT" (I am based in London so this is expected).
Additional Info
The machines are running NOT on a domain, rather they all belong to the WORKGROUP workgroup.
I have tried both User and Administrator accounts on the Server all with the same result.
The usernames are always authenticated against users on the server, so are entered in the form SERVER\UserName in the login prompt.
There are other non-Windows 7 machines on the network so I cannot really go fiddling with the network settings too drastically on the 2k8 server, however it is essential that I can connect to the server from the Windows 7 machine.
Any help gratefully accepted.
Update 1.
I've mot fiddled with firewalls on any of the machines, my thinking behind this being that given that independently all the machines can communicate, and file sharing works between the Windows 7 <-> XP box <-> server, just not between server <-> Windows 7. I will try turning off all the firewalls to remove them from consideration though.
Best Answer
Update - Success at last - See end of post!
Well I have had some partial success. I'll detail what I have done in the hope I help someone else in future [I will keep this updated as I progress].
The problem appears to be with the Win2k8 box being too restrictive with its security policy. The server has been locked down using the Security Configuration wizard, and although Windows XP could talk to the server fine, this was obviously too restrictive for Windows7.
So far I have started the SSDP service, the Computer Browser service, added inbound and outbound rules to the firewall for the Network Discovery and additional inbound File and Print sharing.
I still cannot connect using the machine name, i.e. \\server as it still repeatedly asks for the username and password. However if I connect using the IP address i.e. \\192.168.10.50 it accepts the username and password and allows access to the shares.
I will continue fiddling until I manage to work out a combination of what services must be running and what firewall rules must be set up to allow connection using the computer name.
Things to note
Evidentially windows XP machines being able to connect to a network share is no indication that all of the plumbing required for Windows7 to connect is accessible through the firewall.
Update: The following services need to be running in order to connect using the computer name to a share.
Additionally firewall rules need to be set (inbound and outbound) for:
I hope this info helps someone.