Windows 8 keeps asking for credentials when I try to connect to my server.

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tcayer

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Jan 20, 2014
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This is my first experience with Windows 8. It was working fine. Windows automatically updated, and now I can't access my shared network drives. A "Windows Security" window pops up asking for Network Credentials. I type in user name and password, and it just keeps asking. By coincidence, I just rebooted my server the day before. Both My windows 8 machines are doing this. My Win 7 PCs still work as they always have.

I saw some threads about .Net 3.5 issues, and enabled them, browsed around in my router and didn't see anything obvious.

I also used a browser window, typed the IP address of the server, and was able to log in and view the folders. Clicking on any file acts like a download from the internet, though...

Any suggestions are appreciated!
 
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tcayer

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Jan 20, 2014
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I'm running Windows Home Server, but I don't know the version. It's an HP Media Smart server that's a few years old. It's running whatever version came with it. All machines on the network are in the same "WORKGROUP" Domain. It worked fine until the latest Windows update. That same day I rebooted the server in an unrelated matter.
 
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MC_K7

MC_K7

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On a "Workgroup" Domain? You mean on a workgroup? Because workgroup and domain are two different things.

You would need to provide more info on your server.

Also know that it's harder to share things between computers on a workgroup without having to enter credentials. And yes it can stop to work for no reason sometimes workgroup aren't really stable. Especially since you're running 3 different OS it doesn't surprise me that when there is a security update things could stop to work all of a sudden.

On a Domain since it's meant for business it's a lot more stable because all authentication is managed by the server. It's just harder to configure in the first place but once it's done it's more stable after.

 
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tcayer

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It's a shared network storage device. All the computers connected to it fine until the most recent Win 8 update. Now I get the Credentials box and it won't register the password. The Win 7 and XP machines all still connect just fine.
 
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Lee-m

Lee-m

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are the credentials your typing a user name and password that exsist on your server and not your windows 8 box? If this is the case try typing your usename in, in this format:

Servername\Username

then your password as normal.

the machines them themselves are there own domains. It sounds like auth is getting confused and not prefixing the user names correctly on windows 8.
 
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MC_K7

MC_K7

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And to confuse things even more Microsoft created Homegroup on top of Workgroup so I don't know if you used that too. Sometimes it stops working after some time for no apparent reason and you need to reconfigure it. It happened to me once, so I had to quit (disjoin) the homegroup on every machine and re-join with a new code.

 
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tcayer

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Jan 20, 2014
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I'm not a computer novice, but networking was never my strong suit. My home network is named "WORKGROUP" and contains all the devices on my network. Yes, Win 8 created a Homegroup which displays my PCs, but not my Server. This didn't stop my machines from connecting to it though. I keep my videos, documents, photos, and music on the Media Server. If you were to click on the server name in the network view, the very first time you would have to type in a user name and password. Then you click "Remember these credentials" and you never have to type it again. To make acces easier, I also Mapped network drives to each folder- Videos, documents, etc, and click "reconnect at login" so you didn't have to type a user name and password every time. When Win 8 started up after its reboot for the update, I got a message saying "Could not connect to network drives" and here I am... Let me try typing the whole name in and see if that works.

Thanks for taking the time to consider the problem!

Would you believe HP support blew me off? And the Computers aren't even a month old!
 
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tcayer

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Jan 20, 2014
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OK. So I tried typing \\Servername\User in the name field and then the password. This time I get a "server not available - you may not be authorized to access" error, so at least it's a different error!
 
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tcayer

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Jan 20, 2014
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Yes. And the error said Incorrect username, so it must not accept both together.
 
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Lee-m

Lee-m

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if they are correct and auth is working it will. Or it is not set up to accept auth via username.
Every version of windows since nt4 works this way.

Your not really using user based auth as far as I can tell. I was just hoping the using the servername + user name on the server + password would get you passed the prompt, which it should (thus avoiding your windows 8 credentials)

There must be an issue with your home group and pass key auth on windows 8. I have never used it however, I just share the directory's or drive manually. Beyond this I cant really help you.
 
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tcayer

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Jan 20, 2014
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First, the word you are looking for is "you're!"

An update: I called Microsoft, and had a tech take over my system. He worked for over an hour and couldn't fix it. He bumped me u to level two tech support, and they did the same thing with no success. I did some further investigation, and as it turns out the Windows update was just coincidental to a power interruption that reset my system. The DATE on the server reset itself to 2007. As soon as I set the correct date, everything worked fine again.

Thanks to all who offered suggestions!

 
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CROWBAR23

CROWBAR23

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Date issues have nothing to do with the original problem. The original problem started on windows 7 OS already, where now your computer name is seen as a Domain identifier, in the sense that if your server name is XXX and the user name is YYY you will have to enter credentials as follows on the access prompt: //XXX/YYY and then that usernames password as well. What a STUPID idea by MS. Complete FAIL!!! In XP you could simply connect to the other PC on the network if the files were shared. MS seems to have never heard of the KISS principle. :/

Here is the solution to your problem:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/18442846/how-to-access-shared-folder-without-giving-username-and-password

I found one way to access the shared folder without giving the username and password.
We need to change the share folder protect settings in the machine where the folder has been shared.
Go to Control Panel > Network and sharing center > Change advanced sharing settings > Enable Turn Off password protect sharing option.
By doing the above settings we can access the shared folder without any username/password.
 
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