Sunday, August 26, 2007

File Sharing in Windows Vista

I have been having a problem with sharing files from Windows Vista. The problem occurs when I try to access the shared folder form other PCs running earlier versions of Windows with the default Guest account. After searching around I found out that Guest accounts in Windows Vista are denied by default from accessing Network shares. There are two ways to fix this thing:
  • Don't use the Guest account for sharing. Make another user account with no password and use that for public file sharing. More secure but you'll need to distribute the new username.
  • Change the Local Security Policy settings to enable Guest to access network shares as follows:
    1. Go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy.
    2. Expand Local Policies > User Rights Assignments.
    3. Double click on Deny access to this computer from the network.
    4. Select Guest and click Remove. (See pictures below)

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