Windows users requires username/password to access my shared folder?

[Gary King]

When a networked Windows user tries to access my shared folder, they require my username and password to access it. Why is this? How do I allow anonymous users to access my shared folder on my Mac, so that I do not need to tell everyone my username and password?

Thanks

 

[blodwyn]

When a networked Windows user tries to access my shared folder, they require my username and password to access it. Why is this? How do I allow anonymous users to access my shared folder on my Mac, so that I do not need to tell everyone my username and password?

Thanks

I never had to do this, but would it work if you created a guest user account on your Mac and gave that account and password to others to use for access?

 

[mkrishnan]

I haven't done this in Windows in a while, but there should be a "connect as a guest" option in the connection to server dialog in Windows. If you connect in this fashion, then the person will:

- See and be able to read the contents of the Public folder (except the Drop Box subfolder)
- Write to, but not be able to see the contents or read from, the Drop Box subfolder.

When you browse the computer, you have to select the volume that appears with the user's name, on the Mac that is, I think.

 

[Gary King]

I haven't done this in Windows in a while, but there should be a "connect as a guest" option in the connection to server dialog in Windows. If you connect in this fashion, then the person will:

- See and be able to read the contents of the Public folder (except the Drop Box subfolder)
- Write to, but not be able to see the contents or read from, the Drop Box subfolder.

When you browse the computer, you have to select the volume that appears with the user's name, on the Mac that is, I think.

Doesn't seem to work.

Anyways, I don't want a login dialog at all, because it works fine with Windows but not with my Mac. I'd have to login before printing to my networked printer, everytime.

 

[thewhitehart]

You can't set up Windows to access just your public folder without installing special sharing software on the mac. If you enable windows sharing, you're enabling it for specific accounts on your mac. This is due to the nature of UNIX.

Your best bet, like the other poster reccommended, is to set up another account just for windows users to log on to. Remember, once the Windows user authenticates, he will have read and write access to the home folder of the shared mac user.

The Windows user cannot access your 'Shared' folder that is in the 'User' folder off of the Mac's hard drive. That folder can only be accessed by the joint users of your Mac. It cannot be accessed by users of other network computers.

 

[jeremy.king]

Just use Sharepoints to manage your sharing. This program allows you to create non-OS users to have access as well as anonymous (i.e. no login required, I think - not at my mac right now).

 

[gauchogolfer]

You can't set up Windows to access just your public folder without installing special sharing software on the mac. If you enable windows sharing, you're enabling it for specific accounts on your mac. This is due to the nature of UNIX.

<snip>

The Windows user cannot access your 'Shared' folder that is in the 'User' folder off of the Mac's hard drive. That folder can only be accessed by the joint users of your Mac. It cannot be accessed by users of other network computers.

I thought that the Windows Sharing option in Sys Prefs allowed for this exact thing:

What part of this am I not understanding? If I allow access to a Windows user at \\192.168.200.11\username , won't that just let them see the shared folder?

 

[crees!]

I thought that the Windows Sharing option in Sys Prefs allowed for this exact thing:

What part of this am I not understanding? If I allow access to a Windows user at \\192.168.200.11\username , won't that just let them see the shared folder?

As far as I know that's all you should have to do, right? Being you're on a home network.

 

[gauchogolfer]

As far as I know that's all you should have to do, right? Being you're on a home network.

It's actually a bit more complicated than that in my case. I'm at work, accessing the Internet via VPN, but not actually connected to my work domain (for security reasons). The other mac user in my office (who also connects via VPN) and I can see each other's computer, but not the Windows boxes. Bit of a pain.

 

[Gary King]

Just use Sharepoints to manage your sharing. This program allows you to create non-OS users to have access as well as anonymous (i.e. no login required, I think - not at my mac right now).

I'm using that, but having no luck.

 

[thewhitehart]

What part of this am I not understanding? If I allow access to a Windows user at \\192.168.200.11\username , won't that just let them see the shared folder?

I definitely see your confusion, as I had the same question. When they say select windows users, they mean users on your Mac that also use windows. There is no 'guest' access from windows, as there is guest access to public folders when sharing Mac to Mac. If you are on Windows, you must authenticate using a username on your mac, and you will gain access to that user's entire home folder.

When sharing with Windows via the SMB protocol, your mac must store your password in a more unsecure manner than it does under the AFP protocol. This is why you must be careful when viewing your mac through windows, as you will easily be able to delete anything you want in your home folder without having to authenticate and without having the chance to pull it back out of the trash. That's why it's best to create a seperate user on your mac that you're comfortable accessing from Windows.

This link gives a general explanation.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107083