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New network in the office

Z

zagood

Diamond Member
We've got a small office, formerly 9 people but expanded out to 13. Had to get off the patchwork XP workgroup so that everyone could access the shared files at once, so had someone come in and install Small Business Server 2003 (which we had from an Action Pack). Not RS2.

I'm a little out of my element here. I'm good with desktops, but have never dealt with an onsite server before.

We've had a lot of growing pains trying to get streamlined. Main problem right now....this morning, boss came into the office, and nobody's passwords worked to log onto the server. He reset the server passwords and it's working fine for the most part, unfortunately now we have to enter un/pw every time someone pulls up the intranet.

I'd like to know a) what setting the boss may have changed so that the intranet doesn't pop right up, and b) how the passwords may have been changed in the first place.

Some things to note as far as setup...

The owner of the company didn't take networking into account when purchasing machines for the office. They're mostly XP Home, some on XP Media Center, one or two on Pro. The server is on a domain. We don't have the finances to upgrade all machines to Pro at this time, if anyone has any recommendations as far as getting about 10 licenses cheap let me know.

Machines connect to two data folders via mapped drives, the intranet and copy/printers via IP address.

Whenever someone turns off their machine or logs out, they have to reconnect to the mapped drives and enter un/pw. We're setting up a .bat file on individual machines so they won't have to do that manually.

Thanks. I'm steadily becoming the onsite IT guy, it's not my job, I'm just a web designer lol...

-z
 
Well first of all, you need to make sure employees are actually logging into the machines with a username and password. Make sure this username and password is IDENTICAL to what the server has. If it's idential, it won't ask for this after the initial login. And as long as the employee is using the same computer, when they log back in, it will remember the mapped drives. If they're different computers that each employee is logging into, then yes you'll need a batch file.
 
Sounds like a mess.

Realistically your best bet is to get a volume license of XP pro so the machines can join the domain. This will alleviate all the sharing headaches. Make sure you buy enough licenses though 😀

You can also set the SBS server to be the print server so people dont have to reconnect printers.

 
Theoretically as long as all of the files are on the Win2k3 machine all of the client should be able to access it at once with a workgroup setup.

However if you have the experience available I would recommend upgrading the clients to Windows XP Professional and creating a domain. You don't need Volume License copies to do this, just Professional.
 
kevnich2 - When you say "logging into the machines" do you mean creating usernames and passwords as user profiles to log into xp? We could do that. Most of the XP logins aren't password protected.

Genx87 - Any reseller contacts? I've been looking for the last week, so far it seems like the best bet is getting 3-packs from a place like NewEgg for around $400 (per 3 licenses).

I just took a look, and SBS is the print server. I was wrong about connecting via IP.

edit: InlineFive - the share folders are still password protected.

-z
 
That would be your problem. If the XP logins aren't password protected, that's why your being prompted for usernames/passwords. This would alleviate your current issues with shares. Yes, what your using currently can be solved by doing this and not having to go through a domain. However, if you have the SBS server, why not setup a domain? And for open volume licenses, minimum order is 5 licenses. You'll get the best discount if you do volume licensing for XP Professional. Try going through Dell, they're an open license reseller for Microsoft.
 
Nice, thanks kevnich2. Is there a seamless way to create a new profile using existing settings (email, desktop etc.)

-z
 
Found it. from http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/win_xp_logon.htm

==============
Copy a User Profile:

Open System in Control Panel. On the User Profiles tab, and under Profiles stored on this computer, click the user profile you want to copy, and then click Copy To.

In the Copy To dialog box, under Copy profile to, type the location for the new profile, or click Browse to select the path.
Click Change to open the Choose User dialog box, click a new user from the Names list, and then click Add. The new user name will appear in Add Name. Click OK to add the user as a new user profile on your computer.

Note: You must be logged on as an administrator to the local computer to copy user profiles. To open a Control Panel item, click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click the appropriate icon.

Note 2: You cannot copy the account you are currently logged in on. You must log into another account.

Note 3: If you create a new account, you must logon once before you copy another account over top of it. Windows creates the user profile at logon, not at account creation, and it will not use the copy you created before that first logon, it will create a user.COMPUTERNAME folder instead.

Note 4: To resolve this issue, verify that the user account is not logged on before you try to copy its profile. If you are currently logged on as this user, log off, log on again by using a different user account, and then copy the profile. If
you are not logged on as the user account that you are trying to copy, that account may be logged on in a different session (using Fast User Switching).

To force that account to be logged off, start Task Manager, click the Users tab, click the user account, and then click Logoff.

To work around this behavior, you can also create a user who has administrative privileges, log on as that user, and then copy the profile of the first user.
 
If you go to the Users Control Panel you can setup Network Passwords for a particular user to use when connecting to a remote machine. Does that help?
 
Originally posted by: zagood
Nice, thanks kevnich2. Is there a seamless way to create a new profile using existing settings (email, desktop etc.)

-z
Click to expand...

If the usernames themselves are the same as what the SBS server has, there's no need to create another profile, just put a password on the existing profile (control panel > users > click the user account and click to put a password on that account). The usernames and passwords have to match exactly as those on the server. If the usernames are in fact different, then yes, a new profile will need to be made (If the person's name is John Smith and the profile name is John Smith but the SBS server has there username as johns or john.smith then a new profile will need to made and the username set to whatever the SBS server is).

 
The server is on a domain.
Click to expand...
I think this throws a wrench in the whole thing. Making the usernames/passwords identical on each machine only works in a workgroup situation; even if the username and password is the same, it's a different account. So say you try to access the network resource: it will will prompt you since the credentials it's passing are JOESPC\joe instead of SBSDOMAIN\joe. So you'll have to correct that inthe dialog box each time.

Setting the server up as a domain controller in a XP Home situation was kind of meatheaded. Your best bet, as already suggested, is to upgrade all machines to XP Pro. If you're a nonprofit, MS will "donate" up to 50 XP Pro Upgrade licenses to you for $8 each. If you don't upgrade, the second best thing is to demote your SBS to a not-domain-controller. This should be done by someone who's done this before, since you don't want to break something which relies on Active Directory, like DynDNS or Exchange.

Sir - you will be the IT guy. Trust me. I've been there 🙂 Or, feel free to hire me to come out and fix everything 😀
 
The person who helped you set up SBS 2003 really should have insisted that you upgrade your PCs to XP Professional. Running XP Home on a domain is a real nuisance on a daily basis. You'll be constantly asked for your UserName/Password. Microsoft, with its new "Vista Business" product, is trying to avoid the unfortunate situation that many small businesses end up with: Purchasing XP Home or XP MCE for a business.

Microsoft will finance purchases of software and hardware. The lower limit is now $1000. Also, right now is a REALLY good time to buy Windows XP Professional. You can get totally legitimate OEM licenses for XP Professional from Newegg.com for $140, including a free upgrade to Vista Business when you are ready. Or, you can get Retail XP Professional Upgrade, with free Vista Upgrade, for $185. The Upgrade Version of XP would let you upgrade your current XP Home boxes without re-installing everything.

I don't understand why you'd use an Action Pack SBS 2003, but not use the ten XP Professional licenses that also come with the Action Pack. Additionally, you'd be getting ten Vista Business licenses this month from Microsoft.

Hopefully you aren't using an SBS License from somebody else's Action Pack. Besides being a breach of the Subscriber's contract, it's quite possible that Microsoft will start turning off licenses for Action Pack software if the licensee stops making the annual $300 subscription payment. I own several Action Pack copies of SBS 2003, but I'd never use it for a production server because it sorta' forces me to pay the Subscription fee forever.
 
I am pretty sure you cant run a SBS in stand alone mode. It requires it be in a domain and it get the master.

I have used PCConnection in the past for volume purchases. But I have only purchased office 2003 and server 2003 licenses.

 
Many agreements on upgrading to XP pro from me, trust me. We'll end up dishing out the money, just trying to get the office in a working state (which we've reached for the most part).

The Action Pack is the owner's, I'll have to check with him on the dates. I didn't know it came with 10 XP Pro licenses, I didn't see a single XP Pro disc in the binder or additional packages. Hmmm...

Thanks guys, I appreciate it. And moose...that's ominous. LOL!

EDIT: as far as the upgrade, what's scaring me are the 4 XP Media Center PCs. Everything I've read says there's no easy upgrade to XP Pro, that you pretty much have to wipe them and start from scratch. I did read somewhere that Pre-2005 versions can connect to a domain, but I tried that with one and the option was grayed out. Out of the 4 copies we have, 3 are Media Center 2002. Any insight into that?

-z
 
Originally posted by: zagood
EDIT: as far as the upgrade, what's scaring me are the 4 XP Media Center PCs. Everything I've read says there's no easy upgrade to XP Pro, that you pretty much have to wipe them and start from scratch.
Click to expand...
Yes, that's what you do.

You may find that you can join the Domain with MCE versions other than 2005, but I've never actually done it. MCE is a curse on the lives of small business Domain Administrators.

Be sure you have ALL the necessary device drivers for your MCE PCs before you reformat them. That's easy with Dells, not so easy with HP or Gateway PCs.

And there SHOULD be a single XP Professional install CD and licenses for ten installs in your Action Pack. That would pretty much solve your XP Pro problem.
 
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