Authenticate as a local admin on XP [as server]

Friends most of the tutorials & helps I see for "sharing" between 7 and XP are just that: setting up a simple share on xp that can be used by other LAN users. That's not what I need or want.
I'm setting up an XP Pro SP3 system as a server, and I want to be able to access virtually everything on that XP system - old files/folders as well as new ones I am creating Simple sharing of "Share" is working fine but that's just the start.

I think this is the right question but I may be mistaken: I want to authenticate across the LAN, to the XP server as a local user with administrative rights: in other words, pass the credentials over so I am logged into that system as a local user. I do not care about remote-desktop per se [that is, passing the bit maps across the wire, taking control of the functions] - just simply having the permissions of the local.

I have tried going folder-by-folder on the xp system and setting each one I will need access to as shared but that approach seems to be the very thing that entangles so many users, resulting in a million threads being posted on the subject. When I follow the myriad "fixes" that are out there, what I get is the ability to see the folders, readily shown on the 'other end' when browsing the LAN, but trying to access those folders and use them is denied.

help pls

Have you solved this yet.

Have you tried connecting to the admin share?
\\XPcomputername\c$

I went a diff direction making it less secure usin Simple File Sharing and no password protected sharing. It's snappy and stable. iOS devices working, win 8.1, win 7,droids, XP
Of course now I'm wondering how to improve security sice the ap is my only line of defense

I turn off Simple File Sharing and setup share the old fashion way. Apple devices connect okay. I've not tested with anything else.

UsernameIssues said:

I turn off Simple File Sharing and setup share the old fashion way. Apple devices connect okay. I've not tested with anything else.

The issue I was having was the only thing I could "see" from my main win7 client was the default " share" on the zero volume. Even after marking folders on either volume to be shared

I've not had any problems using an "XP file server" with W7 and Apple clients. Multiple shares with various permission restrictions. Full control for any admin connection. But I turned off simple sharing. Never try to share the whole system drive... it is already shared via c$.

Each user account exists on the "XP file server" as a local account - some of which are members of a group for use with the share permission settings as well as NTFS permissions. Each user must log on to their computer using those same credentials.

USB drives hanging off of this "XP file server" are shared as well. All transparent to the users.

so, on the win7 and win8 clients, you 'ENABLE' password-protected sharing? or does it matter?
also, as-is at the moment I can admin remotely via remote desktop, so run the 'server' headless.
with the route you're describing does that enablement remain intact?
other than establishing the admin accounts on the xp side with identical credentials, is anything else changed other than the reversion of Simple File Sharing? and when SFS is reverted, do all deliberately shared folders [which are mapped at present] undergo a reset or do those remain as-is?

one more question to help my understanding: in the Simple File Sharing model, what is it that 'authenticates' an incoming request to xp &/or its firewall?

Are you using yours as a streaming media server? and have you found any value in any of the various media server apps/packages that one can install? I haven't found anything lacking in the throughput at the moment but curious as to whether one of the other apps might do a better job of setting priorities and buffering?

UsernameIssues said:

I've not had any problems using an "XP file server" with W7 and Apple clients. Multiple shares with various permission restrictions. Full control for any admin connection. But I turned off simple sharing. Never try to share the whole system drive... it is already shared via c$.

Each user account exists on the "XP file server" as a local account - some of which are members of a group for use with the share permission settings as well as NTFS permissions. Each user must log on to their computer using those same credentials.

USB drives hanging off of this "XP file server" are shared as well. All transparent to the users.

zapp22 said:

so, on the win7 and win8 clients, you 'ENABLE' password-protected sharing? or does it matter?....

The clients are left as the default settings. They are not sharing their files with other computers on the network.

zapp22 said:

...also, as-is at the moment I can admin remotely via remote desktop, so run the 'server' headless. with the route you're describing does that enablement remain intact?...

The "XP file server" setup that I'm talking about is also headless. Remote Desktop Connection (RDC/RDP) works. As far as I know, connecting via RDC/RDP only requires that the remote computer has RDC/RDP enabled and an admin account with a password. Since RDC/RDP can get into as state where is does not respond, I have UltraVNC running as well.

zapp22 said:

...other than establishing the admin accounts on the xp side with identical credentials, is anything else changed other than the reversion of Simple File Sharing?...

I do not think so. It has been almost a decade since I set this up. It still is up and running, but the details of what I did to get it there are not perfectly clear. Simple File Sharing was turned off on the XP computer long before it became a file server.

zapp22 said:

...and when SFS is reverted, do all deliberately shared folders [which are mapped at present] undergo a reset or do those remain as-is?...

I'm not sure, but I would plan on everything breaking until you restart and reconnect each client computer.

zapp22 said:

...one more question to help my understanding: in the Simple File Sharing model, what is it that 'authenticates' an incoming request to xp &/or its firewall?...

It is not the firewall. It is the same XP subsystem that authenticates you when you RDC/RDP in or (if it were not headless) when you log in normally.

zapp22 said:

...Are you using yours as a streaming media server?...

No. The setup that I'm describing is in a office environment. They don't have need of a streaming media server and I have never set one up.


I'm probably missing something, but I see no need for each client to have admin level access to this file server of yours. What is it that they need to access/change?