Deleting Temp Credentials

asdrew · 24 Aug 2012

Here's my setup:
At my church I have multiple computers (all Win7 Ultimate) networked to a server (2008 R2), some of which are personal ones with specific passwords and others that are shared ones with just one generic user and the same generic password so (non-technical) members can easily access needed files. Each user or PC has specific permissions assigned to it.

I also have a personal (password-protected) server (2008 R2) on the network where I store my own files synced with various PC's, phones, and tablets so I can get at any file on any device from anywhere I happen to be (like a personal cloud

).

On occasion I have need to get to one of my own files from a shared PC and I can get to them easily by inputting my "cloud" username and password and not checking the box to remember me (so it is not added to the credential manager).

So here's the issue:
If I close out the personal server files window after doing what I need on a shared PC, anyone else who uses the PC after me can access it unless I log off and back on with the generic info (which I'd rather not have to do).

Is there a simpler way to delete my temporary credentials when I close out the window? They are not included in the credential manger because they are not set to be remembered, but appear to be held in one of the temp folders or something until I log off.

UsernameIssues · 26 Aug 2012

Welcome to the Seven Forums!

The short answer is:
net use * /d /y

The slightly longer answer is:
The short answer does not warn you that it deletes all mapped drives :-(

After you are finished access your file(s), close any app that has them open - including any Windows (file) Explorer windows. Open a cmd prompt windows and use the " net use * /d /y " command line to delete all mapped drives [even if you did not map a drive letter to get to your file(s)].

The even longer answer is:
You will find people asking the same question that you did. Some were given the short answer and some replied back that it did not work for them. The reason for this apparent (and sometimes real) failure is a bit complex. After the "net use delete" command line is issued, a certain period of inactivity must occur before the password will be forgotten. People tend to be impatient, they tend to reopen the Windows (file) Explorer to check if the password has been forgotten - doing that resets the inactivity timer.

And then there are apps like iTunes that might keep the connection alive while it indexes stuff on your share - hence a total "failure" to delete the cached password.

I made a video that shows this timeout and I intentionally reopen the Windows (file) Explorer to show that you can still connect to the share for a while after the "net use delete" command line has been issued:

If you connect to your files a lot - consider putting a batch file on each computer:

Code:

net use * \\W7PRO32BIT\users /user:username * /persistent:no
explorer \\W7PRO32BIT\users
pause
net use * /d /y
pause

You can access your files during the first pause.

Edit: you could of course replace the "*" in "net use * /d /y" with the actual drive letter that you mapped and the other drive letters should remain intact, I just cannot test that right now. Also, the video shows a connection to the server/share using with this info "W7pro32bit:microsoft-ds" on the netstat return info. sometimes the computer name will be an IPv6 address instead.

Edit2: To quote Microsoft: "Multiple connections to a server or shared resource by the same user, using more than one user name, are not allowed. Disconnect all previous connections to the server or shared resource and try again." So, if your users have drive letters already mapped to the same server that you are wanting to connect to, then have the batch file disconnect everything, connect you, pause, disconnect you and then reconnect them. There; wasn't that easy

asdrew · 27 Aug 2012

Thanks for the multiple ideas.
So far it seams the easiest thing to do is log off the PC and back on if I happen to use it to access my personal server.