Re: Vista / XP / 2000 / Linux networking

TNash

I appreciate finding these tips.

I have just purchased a laptop with Vista home premium and I am trying to
share files with my imac (OX 10.4).

I can see my mac computer from my vista computer and when I try to access
the mac I am prompted for a user name and password. I am not sure what this
is or which system password. I am wondering if I need to follow your tip
below? I do not know how to run the registry editor? Can you help?
Thanks,

Todd

"Malke" wrote:

> Dooferlad wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I have just got myself a Vista machine and I am having a lot of trouble
> > getting it to talk to some machines on my network. My other computers can see
> > each other and access files on each others shares just fine. From Vista I can
> > access a share on my 2000 box, but not the XP or Linux boxes. Neither have
> > firewalls on and I can list the shares on both machines, but can't navigate
> > into them.
> >
> > I have checked the Net BIOS settings on the 2000 and XP machines, both have
> > it enabled. Since I can see the machines and the share names I assume there
> > isn't a name lookup issue. No password is asked for unless the share is
> > protected. Under 2000 if I have the guest account the shares can be accessed
> > by Vista without a password, and if guest is disabled a username/password are
> > asked for and then it works. All other shares are not password protected with
> > the guest accounts enabled.
> >
> > Any ideas? Copying files to my 2000 machine or a USB hard disk is getting a
> > little irritating.
>
> You can network Vista with XP and with Linux. You have to do some extra
> work for Linux, but nothing big at all. Since you apparently already
> have set up Samba correctly so you can share files on the Linux box with
> XP, I won't bother adding that bit to the instructions below except to
> remind you to add your Vista users to both the general Linux users *and*
> to Samba users with smbpasswd.
>
> A. For the Windows networking part:
>
> This link will take you through Vista networking very well:
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/net.../vista_fp.mspx
>
> Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally
> caused by 1) a misconfigured firewall; or 2) inadvertently running two
> firewalls such as the built-in Windows Firewall and a third-party
> firewall; and/or 3) not having identical user accounts and passwords on
> all Workgroup machines; 4) trying to create shares where the operating
> system does not permit it.
>
> Here are some general networking tips for home/small networks:
>
> 1. Configure firewalls on all machines to allow the Local Area Network
> (LAN) traffic as trusted. With Windows Firewall, this means allowing
> File/Printer Sharing on the Exceptions tab. Normally running the Network
> Setup Wizard on XP will take care of this for those machines.The only
> "gotcha" is that this will turn on the XPSP2 Windows Firewall. If you
> aren't running a third-party firewall or have an antivirus with
> "Internet Worm Protection" (like Norton 2006/07) which acts as a
> firewall, then you're fine. With third-party firewalls, I usually
> configure the LAN allowance with an IP range. Ex. would be
> 192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you would substitute your correct
> subnet. Do not run more than one firewall.
>
> 2. With earlier Microsoft operating systems, the name of the Workgroup
> didn't matter. Apparently it does with Vista, so put all computers in
> the same Workgroup. This is done from the System applet in Control
> Panel, Computer Name tab.
>
> 3. Create identical user accounts and passwords on all machines. If you
> wish a machine to boot directly to the Desktop (into one particular
> user's account) for convenience, you can do this. The instructions at
> this link work for both XP and Vista:
>
> Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
> http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm
>
> 4. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center:
>
> a. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
> Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab) and create identical user
> accounts/passwords on all computers.
>
> b. If you don't care about using Pro's advanced features, leave the
> Simple File Sharing enabled.
>
> Simple File Sharing means that Guest (network) is enabled. This means
> that anyone without a user account on the target system can use its
> resources. This is a security hole but only you can decide if it matters
> in your situation.
>
> I think it is a good idea to create the identical user
> accounts/passwords in any case when Vista machines are involved and it
> isn't an onerous task with home/small networks.
>
> 5. Create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users'
> home directories (My Documents) or Program Files, but you can share
> folders inside those directories. A better choice is to simply use the
> Shared Documents folder. See the first link above for details about
> Vista sharing.
>
> B. For the Linux networking part:
>
> From Michael Bishop (MS) - Basically, the issue with Samba and Vista is
> that Vista no longer permits LM or NTLM authentication by default; only
> NTLMv2. Samba versions 1.x and 2.x only support LM and NTLM, so there's
> an issue there.
>
> Recommended solution: upgrade to Samba 3.x and enable NTLMv2 by adding
> "client ntlmv2 auth = yes" to your smb.conf file. Because of another
> issues with previous versions, I strongly recommend upgrading to 3.0.22
> or later regardless of your choice for this particular instance. Since
> this is an actual Linux box and you have access to smb.conf, I would do
> this first and test.
>
> Alternate solution: change Vista's security settings to permit
> lower-security authentications. (as below)
>
> To enable Windows Vista to connect to Mac OS X with Windows File Sharing
> enabled, you will need to change the following policy in Windows Vista:
>
> Start>Run>secpol.msc [enter]
>
> Click on "Local Policies" --> "Security Options"
>
> Navigate to the policy "Network Security: LAN Manager authentication
> level" and double-click it to get its Properties. By default Windows
> Vista sets the policy to "NTVLM2 responses only". Use the drop-down
> arrow to change this to "LM and NTLM – use NTLMV2 session security if
> negotiated".
>
> In Vista Home Premium, you won't have this tool so per Steve Winograd, do:
>
> 1. Run the registry editor and open this key:
>
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Lsa
>
> 1. If it doesn't already exist, create a DWORD value named
> LmCompatibilityLevel
>
> 3. Set the value to 1
>
> 4. Reboot
>
>
> Malke
> --
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> "Don't Panic!"
> MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
>

Malke

TNash wrote:
> I appreciate finding these tips.
>
> I have just purchased a laptop with Vista home premium and I am trying to
> share files with my imac (OX 10.4).
>
> I can see my mac computer from my vista computer and when I try to access
> the mac I am prompted for a user name and password. I am not sure what this
> is or which system password. I am wondering if I need to follow your tip
> below? I do not know how to run the registry editor? Can you help?
> Thanks,

Since OS X is based on Unix, yes you need to follow the tips to change
Vista's security authentication method. You also need to create the
matching user accounts/passwords on both machines. Make sure you've
allowed Windows Sharing in the Mac's firewall and if you have Leopard,
use smb sharing.

To run the Registry Editor, click on the Start Orb and in the Search box
type: regedit [enter]. When regedit appears above, right-click on it and
choose "run as Administrator". Be careful in the registry and only make
the exact changes you need:

1. Run the registry editor and open this key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Lsa

1. If it doesn't already exist, create a DWORD value named
LmCompatibilityLevel

3. Set the value to 1

4. Reboot

Note: Leopard has quite a few issues with seeing Windows boxen in the
Finder. It can connect perfectly, but the Windows machines will not pop
up in the Sharing section of the Sidebar. If you mostly transfer files
from Windows to Mac, that will work fine as long as you have everything
set up correctly on both machines. There are long threads/posts on both
the Apple forums and at the MacWindows site (http://www.macwindows.com/)
about this annoyance. If you have Leopard, have both machines set up
correctly, but the Windows machines don't appear in Finder, you can
connect by doing Go To>smb://[the Windows box IP].

If you have difficulty following what I've written above - and there is
no shame in admitting this isn't your cup of tea since we all have
different areas of expertise - have a local professional who is skilled
with both Macs and Windows come on-site and set you up. This will not be
someone from BigComputerStore/GeekSquad.


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Malke

TNash wrote:
> I appreciate finding these tips.
>
> I have just purchased a laptop with Vista home premium and I am trying to
> share files with my imac (OX 10.4).
>
> I can see my mac computer from my vista computer and when I try to access
> the mac I am prompted for a user name and password. I am not sure what this
> is or which system password. I am wondering if I need to follow your tip
> below? I do not know how to run the registry editor? Can you help?
> Thanks,

Since OS X is based on Unix, yes you need to follow the tips to change
Vista's security authentication method. You also need to create the
matching user accounts/passwords on both machines. Make sure you've
allowed Windows Sharing in the Mac's firewall and if you have Leopard,
use smb sharing.

To run the Registry Editor, click on the Start Orb and in the Search box
type: regedit [enter]. When regedit appears above, right-click on it and
choose "run as Administrator". Be careful in the registry and only make
the exact changes you need:

1. Run the registry editor and open this key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Lsa

1. If it doesn't already exist, create a DWORD value named
LmCompatibilityLevel

3. Set the value to 1

4. Reboot

Note: Leopard has quite a few issues with seeing Windows boxen in the
Finder. It can connect perfectly, but the Windows machines will not pop
up in the Sharing section of the Sidebar. If you mostly transfer files
from Windows to Mac, that will work fine as long as you have everything
set up correctly on both machines. There are long threads/posts on both
the Apple forums and at the MacWindows site (http://www.macwindows.com/)
about this annoyance. If you have Leopard, have both machines set up
correctly, but the Windows machines don't appear in Finder, you can
connect by doing Go To>smb://[the Windows box IP].

If you have difficulty following what I've written above - and there is
no shame in admitting this isn't your cup of tea since we all have
different areas of expertise - have a local professional who is skilled
with both Macs and Windows come on-site and set you up. This will not be
someone from BigComputerStore/GeekSquad.


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User