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| Thread ID: 39977 | 2003-11-23 23:46:00 | I need some advice | zqwerty (97) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 194264 | 2003-11-24 05:56:00 | There is no networking consultant any more, they have been operating without one for 6 months and the boss has said to me that all that is necessary is the system to be able to be used when it is needed without all the password problems. It is a small private company almost a family business. There are no security issues all that is required is someone without an agenda to supply the correct information. This first administrator was just making sure that money was paid for every keystroke done by him but no one could do anything because they were all users. I will not be doing anything until I have amassed enough knowledge. I have installed Win 2000 Prof on my system and I have not had to type in any passwords. I am familiarising at the moment but it is difficult to fully understand the overall ramifications of the structured priorities. Thought it would be an interesting problem. I am not getting paid for this, it is purely a puzzle to solve after all the experts have given up or seem unwilling to try to solve. | zqwerty (97) | ||
| 194265 | 2003-11-25 04:00:00 | Check to see if your machines are still part of a workgroup or the old domain. You want all the machines to be in the same workgroup (Not in a domain if you no longer have a server). Start with that and see how you get on. You can disable the password expiry if you wish. (Not ideal, but you can). I find if you right click My Computer, choose Manage, expand System Tools, Users and Groups you have a bit more control over whats going on with user accounts. As far as the printing goes; as someone suggested you could just implement a server - bit of capital outlay there, either a 2k server with AD or a Linux Box with Samba and have users passwords handled through that central box. Or you could attach tcp print servers to each of the printers ($160ish depending on what you are after) and then just set up independant connections which will mean that the users will work independant of each other and talk directly to the printer. |
TerryW (2183) | ||
| 194266 | 2003-11-25 05:01:00 | Sounds similar to my setup, I have three W2k boxes, 1 W2K laptop, 1 W95 sub-notebook and 1 W98 box, all networked and sharing two printers, plus an internet connection via a Nokia ADSL router. I don't know what the answer to your problem is, but only one W2k box and the laptop are set up with administrator rights but all can share files and printers (drivers are installed on every printer). You should be able to get it up and running without passwords, although all my computers require a password to logon, everything else we do is password free. I don't have any great networking knowledge, I just bumbled through and there it was. Took about 5 minutes per box, and I just added the W95 computer in two minutes flat (took me about three hours to get the PCMCIA network card running though! Couldn't load the drivers X-(. Sounds like a "go back to first principles" job!! Cheers Billy 8-{) |
Billy T (70) | ||
| 194267 | 2003-11-25 11:47:00 | Thanks for all the help so far I do really appreciate it. How about this idea? In Tweak UI Logon tag there is an option for Win2000 users to Log on automatically at system startup. How about if I just installed Tweak UI on all computers and used this option? Would this be a simple and elegant solution or will there be unexpected problems as yet unforseen? Regards Robert. |
zqwerty (97) | ||
| 194268 | 2003-11-26 09:44:00 | What on earth is the manager of this firm thinking of letting you "have a go" at the network? As an ex network manager of a large organisation I can assure you and him/her that what they don't need is someone without even an elementary idea of how a network needs to be configured. Please do yourself and the firm a favour by telling them that you don't know how to do it and that they must ring an appropriate consultantancy up who know what they are doing. Your "free" wages could end up costing them a fortune and denting your confidence and reputation. This job is not complicated but you really should be learning in a learning environment NOT a 24/7 firm! Sorry, but it needs saying loud and clear. |
linw (53) | ||
| 194269 | 2003-11-26 10:08:00 | In a perfect world with unlimited finances available what you are saying is true. It is important to understand that the people using the system can normally find a way to muddle through the morass of Win2000 passwords to get simple things done in the middle of complex tasks that they are undertaking. This is the opposite of what was envisioned when the original start up company commenced. It was expected that the network would be transparent to the users and that it would be no more than a few mouse clicks to change to and from computer files on different machines. Also it should be realised that original staff who used the system have moved on as have two administrators. It may seem to you that I know very little, and that is true when it comes to Win2000, but I have spent most of my life fixing very complex electronic hardware problems in the usual environment of almost no documentation or information and little understanding of whatever is faulty by the people around me. I am very cautious and the situation is that at the moment I am familiarising with the set-up. I have always found in the past that faulty things do not conform to the rules assumed to to prevail and that often experts do not achieve the desired results at a reasonable price. Many people have assumed that all that is required is a few tweaks here and there and all will be well. This has not proved to be the case. | zqwerty (97) | ||
| 194270 | 2003-11-26 20:51:00 | Go for it zqwerty, they "engaged" you to do the job and they already know they are not using a high powered consultant . Reflecting on your problem from my fairly network-ignorant position but similar working background, I would set out to get just two machines talking civilly then spread the effects . This is how I started: For each computer I enabled TC\IP, setup the IP address, subnet mask and gateway, disabled WINS, used Xtra's DNS IPs, gave each computer a name, decided on a common workgroup name, enabled Client for Microsoft Networks, enabled File and Printer Sharing (most of this is in Network Properties) then set up disk sharing on each computer . I did not get fancy anywhere as all I wanted was the simple functionality that your boss wants . I did not bother with DHCP for example as that was over my head . As I said previously, once I finally got my PCMCIA ethernet card installed and working, just a few minutes work had my W95 sub-notebook playing nicely with its friends . Incidentally, two W2K boxes have user privileges only, one W2K box and the W2K laptop have administrator privileges and I have no idea how the W95 & W98 authorisations operate, I didn't set them up, they just worked as they were . The printers run off the W98 box but I had to install the drivers on every computer that wanted to use them . I can shift the printers to any other computer if I need to, but have to change the addressing if I want to print to the new location from another computer . I can open files on any computer from any other computer, drag and drop files between computers, install programs on one computer from installation files sitting on another network HDD and pretty much do anything I want on any computer from any other on the network . My only concern is that there are probably major security loopholes in this setup, but since it is in a closed and private environment similar to your situation and hides behind a router and firewall for protection from the outside world I am not really too bothered . As I said in an earlier post, I'd go back to first principles . Start afresh and get two computers talking, then add the rest following the same setup procedure . Cheers Billy 8-{) |
Billy T (70) | ||
| 194271 | 2003-11-26 21:33:00 | Netbuei could be used for internal file and printer sharing . In a small networking enviroment it does have its benefits . No need to bother about addressing at all just Workgroup, individual comp names and of shared devices etc . Use tcp/ip just for web access . For some tech guff on it- . microsoft . com/technet/treeview/default . asp?url=/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/reskit/intnetwk/part5/intch16 . asp" target="_blank">www . microsoft . com |
mark.p (383) | ||
| 194272 | 2003-11-26 22:34:00 | Receiving you loud and clear Billy T. Whenever I have had problems with passwords in Win 98SE I have just gone into the registry and got rid of the passwords by deleting them. I have also done this in Win 95. In this o/s, Win2000, I cannot find the location of the passwords to even look at them. I am familiar with Registry Crawler and have used it quite a bit to find obscure traces from previously installed and deleted programs, you may be able work out why I might want to do that, I could not possibly say. However Win2000 remains enigmatic so far about the location of those passwords in the Registry, probably because I have not typed in the correct search heading. Do you have any ideas about where the passwords may be stored? Also, what do you think about my TweakUI suggestion further back in the thread? My understanding is that it is a sophisticated power tool from MS that edits the registry without the user having to know about the arcane details. I have already installed it on my Win2000 partition and definitely it has my administrative user name and password displayed in the 'always logon as' box. From what you said I feel you have grasped the salient details of having a transparent system, self contained, protected from the evil Internet by a good firewall, and I appreciate your input and support. |
zqwerty (97) | ||
| 194273 | 2003-11-26 22:45:00 | A simple google search found thi- www.winguides.com | mark.p (383) | ||
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