Windows xp home administrative share

No choice. So step 1 to getting the admin share working properly under XP SP2, is to disable simple file sharing. I have an article on the subject if you are interested.

An additional roadblock is the firewall built into XP. By default it disables all access to file and printer sharing. This needs to be turned back on if you want to access the admin share. The article I linked above shows you how to do that too.

Still, I can feel your concern. Why turn all this stuff back on when MS thinks it is a big security hole? To give you a choice. If you are not aware of it, then the default is to lock down. This is a good thing.

The risks are: 1. Blank passwords, or simple passwords. Any password that could be easily guessed by a virus roaming your network would be bad. Pick hard to guess passwords for your administrator accounts. I have seen viruses that have 10, of the most common passwords built into them so they can try to get in that way. Direct internet access. If your computers are safe behind a firewall, then you can feel safe in the fact that only other local computers can access your share.

Or the FTP root on a Web server may be filled with unknown files. The following list is a comprehensive list of the problematic behavior that may be associated with this issue. If the affected computer is a domain controller, you may receive error messages on client computers during network logon or during the times when they try to join the domain. Sometimes, you can log on with client computers, but you may receive an error message that is similar to either of the following ones:.

The logon server did not recognize your domain password, or access to the server has been denied. When you try to access or view the affected computer remotely by using a UNC path, a mapped drive, the net use command, the net view command, or by browsing the network in Network Neighborhood or My Network Places, you may receive an error message that is similar to one of the followings:.

You may receive errors when you try to perform administrative tasks on a domain controller. When you try to add a user to a security group, you may receive an error message that is similar to:. When you try to run Netdom. When you try to run Dcdiag. The results from Dcdiag. DC list test.

If you run a network trace when you try to connect to the affected computer, you may see results that are similar to the following one:. The Terminal Services Licensing console may not start, and you may receive an error message that is similar to:.

No Terminal Services license server is available in the current domain or workgroup. To connect to another license server, click license, click connect and click the server name.

These issues may occur after a malicious program removes the administrative shares on a computer that is running Windows Server. Frequently, malicious users connect to these administrative shares by taking advantage of weak passwords, missing security updates, direct exposure of the computer to the Internet, or a combination of these factors.

The malicious users then install malicious programs to expand their influence over the computer and over the rest of the computer network. In many cases, these malicious programs remove the administrative shares as a defensive move to prevent other competing malicious users from taking control of the infected systems.

Infection by one of these malicious programs can come directly from the Internet or from another computer on the local network that is infected. It generally indicates that security on the network is weak.

Therefore, if you see these symptoms, we recommend that you examine all other computers on the network for malicious programs by using antivirus software and spyware detection tools. We also recommend that you perform a security analysis to identify vulnerabilities on the network. See the "Resolution" section for information about how to detect malicious programs and how to analyze network security.

An example of a malicious program that targets administrative shares is the Win Agobot program. Microsoft provides third-party contact information to help you find technical support. This contact information may change without notice. If you have password protected sharing disabled, select the Guest account or the Everyone account. This is the same as simple sharing in Windows XP. This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry.

However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:. Click Start , type regedit in the Start Search box, and then press Enter.

If you're prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. These values set the behavior of the entry as follows:. This is the default value. The administrator credentials are removed. These credentials are required for remote administration of the print drivers. This value enables the remote administration of the print drivers on a server within a workgroup.

Check whether the problem is fixed.