[Christafelu]

My mother has a Surface Tablet and she also uses a desktop to work on business matters. She wants to be able to access and change the same files from both devices, but if we use homegroup, the desktop has to be on in order for homegroup to work. I have a Linksys e3000 router that has the ability of plugging in storage devices to it to work as a network drive. we bought a 64GB flash drive to work as a network drive and plugged it into the USB port on the back of the router. I went into the router settings by inputting the IP in Google Chrome and made a shared folder of the drive through the router. In order for the network drive to work, it needs to be mapped on the desktop. In trying to map the drive however I encounter a window that asks for a username and password, and I don't know what it wants me to input. The "folder" I browse to map is the IP address of the router but after typing in "\\192.168.1.1\", hitting browse and selecting the IP, a prompt by "Windows Security" comes up asking me to put in the username and password for the IP address. The default "domain" is the name of the desktop. But no matter what I try, different domains (IP, router name, computer name), different usernames (admin, computer user name), and different passwords (user password, router password) it continues to show a logon error. I tried contacting microsoft about it and I tried a few things, and in order for them to basically do anything (like override the error), I'd have to pay because I already tried everything they told me to try. The reason I input the IP in the browse search is because that was under the instructions of the router website tutorial and the router or drive do not show up if I simply hit browse without inputting anything. But the router website is very vague of the username and password, saying "If you have set up specific shares to users, you will be asked to log in using your Username and Password." I have windows 7 Ultimate, if you guys can help me that'd be awesome, I don't want to have bought the drive for nothing, and if more clarification is needed, I can answer.

Thanks!

~Chris

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Hello Chris and welcome to GeeksToGo

While you wait for an official helper to assist you with your issue, may I ask you to try something for me ?

When it asks you to enter a username and a password, in the username input, type the computer name from where the folder is shared as well as the username of the admin account of that computer. And in the password box, enter the admin password of that account.

Here's an example :

Username : MyComputer\myAdmin
Password : my password

Be sure to separate the computer name and the username with a backslash ( \ ) !

[Aura]

Hello Chris and welcome to GeeksToGo

While you wait for an official helper to assist you with your issue, may I ask you to try something for me ?

When it asks you to enter a username and a password, in the username input, type the computer name from where the folder is shared as well as the username of the admin account of that computer. And in the password box, enter the admin password of that account.

Here's an example :

Username : MyComputer\myAdmin
Password : my password

Be sure to separate the computer name and the username with a backslash ( \ ) !

[dbreeze]

How did you set up the drive and Share Name of the drive / shares?  Did you follow the instructions here ( http://kb.linksys.co...articleid=21517 )  The E3000 router has User Groups built into it; the login is asking for what Group and Password for that group.  An example is the admin group (in the Router) has Read / Write access to the Shares on the networked drive and would attach the drive via their admin user name and password.  You would also have to set up a file / folder name that is shared (even if you are "sharing" the entire drive partition); in the example, they used Everyone. 

 

The "Map a network drive" wizard in windows then would want 1) the local drive letter you want assigned to the network share folder (this is the drive letter that your local system uses in Windows explorer to let a user work with the share as if it was a physical part of their system) and 2) the network mapping to the shared folder (where is the shared folder located).  So you would use whatever letter from the drop down box you want for the 'attached' drive (in the article, they use "x") and the location of the share folder is "\\192.168.1.1\Everyone" (where 192.168.1.1 is the network address of the router and Everyone is the name of the shared folder that you want to connect to).  Windows will be asked to identify the user that is trying to access the share and this is where you should enter the name of someone in the router's groups that have access to the share in the way you want; in the article example, the User name: is admin and the password is ****** (whatever the admin password is for the router).

 

The default groups are admin, Children and guests; if allowed to the shared folder (this is done in the the set up in the router) then admin can Read and Write to the files inside the shared folder while Children and guests can only Read the files but can not write any files to the shared folder.  Shares are actually done by Folders not by drives (although you can set up an entire drive / partition to be one share; the OS just makes the entire drive / partition a folder the size of the drive).

[Christafelu]

Thank you guys for insight, but the problem is that I followed those steps and I still don't know what username and password to input because anything I try displays a log on error. The Domain defaults to the PC I'm on so to change it I have to put the router name "\" user. But even when I input the Router name "\" admin and the password, it still doesn't work. When I hit browse on drive mapping, my router name shows up, so I click on it and try but nothing. The router automatically creates a \public folder that is not deletable. I deleted a "shared" partition that shared the entire drive and tried to create a new folder but everytime I click create share and try to input a name or such, the software boots me to login. I'm coming to you guys because I've tried to do all that I could.

[Christafelu]

I made another folder, but I cannot for the life of me find out what username and password it wants me to input. I made a "Shared" folder.

[Aura]

I made another folder, but I cannot for the life of me find out what username and password it wants me to input. I made a "Shared" folder.

Can you try something for me ?
Create a folder called "Share" (or any other name) directly on the C: drive of the computer you want to share the folder from. Then, from another computer, in Windows explorer, insert this in the navigation bar :

\\IP_OF_THE_COMPUTER\c$

The IP address I want you to insert is the IP address of the computer where the Shared folder is being hosted. You can easily get it by going in the command prompt of that computer and entering the "ipconfig" command and grab the address on "IPv4 Address" line. Once you try to access that location, the Windows authenfication pop-up will appear. Enter the username and password like I described below. The computer name followed by \ and the user account of that computer in the username and the password of that user. Tell me what happens.

[dbreeze]

Couple of questions and then I will bow out of this one (as too many cooks spoil the soup):

 

What is the Network type setting on the computers?  (Public, Private, ??)

 

Any firewalls running on the computers?  If so, what ones?

 

Is the firmware current on the router?

 

When you set up the share on (in) the router, did you assign any groups to have access to it?  What groups do you have in the router?

[Christafelu]

dbreeze, the firmware is 1.0.06 I believe, it is a private home network. I would assume there are firewalls running. On the desktop, a Norton Firewall is running through Norton provided by Comcast. The groups assigned were only what is default, we don't have a guest network so admins and such can use the folder. Only group who does not have access is guest. should I try and add guests? I understand what you mean about the post getting too popular but it seems like you're the only one actually helping me. Everyone else fails to understand that the location of the folder I'm trying to share is on the router itself, not some other computer.

Thanks!

[dbreeze]

Norton by Comcast (which is the same as N360 but branded for Comcast [you're in luck as I am a Guru on the Norton forums and am somewhat familiar with this software]).  Anyway, please check in the Settings> Firewall and make sure that the settings are Automatic Program Control, Automatic File / Printer Sharing Control and IPv6 NAT Traversal are all set to ON.  If any are OFF, change them and then reboot your system.  I will return this evening and check on your progress.

 

Can you tell me what KB article you used to guide your set up of the share / drive?

[Ztruker]

According to the Users Manual pages 45 and 46, admin should be used for both username and password unless you changed them. If you have then use that instead.

 

This is the userid and password needed to access the router.

[Christafelu]

dbreeze, it appears that all the settings you said are on. But there is one thing that maybe you could help me do to make it work. When I go to the traffic rules tab, there are a number of different connection descriptions, some of which have "(Shared Networks)" displayed next to the title. There is a while list of these connections. Many of the "Block" variations of these connections are checked while many of the "Allow" variations are checked but faded and a few "Allows" are unchecked and faded. I was out of town for a couple of days so that's why I didn't respond. If you'd like me to read off to you some of the types of connections and maybe help me configure the firewal so that I could map the router network drive, that would be really appreciated. As for configuration articles, I tried using Linksys' guide and when I started having problems, I looked all over but it was to no avail. Do you think maybe if I uninstalled Norton, mapped the drive and then reinstalled it that would work? I would have to make sure I could redownload it first but I guess if you can help me fix the problem without uninstalling it that would be preferred so I don't run into more problems along the way.

Thanks!

[dbreeze]

Before you uninstall Norton, you could try just turning the Firewall component off and seeing if that allows you map the router drive share.  The grayed out options of the firewall rules are (detailed rules, that is) handled based on what type of network you are connected to ( Public, Private, Domain, Personal, etc.).  You can change these rules (enabling, disabling and / or adding one to over-rule a pre-configured rule) IF one turns the Automatic Program Control off.  But I would recommend "testing the waters" by just turning the firewall part of the Norton off and seeing that is enough to connect the share.

[Christafelu]

dbreeze, I tried turning off the firewall and mapping via the name of my network on the computer but it asked me for the password again. I tried to use the router's IP address like the guide online said and the domain was the router's IP\admin, I tried a few passwords and after inputting "admin" as the password, it worked! How weird... Well my only concern is that I hope only the people on my network can use the drive so that the files are secure. 

[dbreeze]

Only the people on your network WITH access to the router AND who have mapped the network drive share (same as you did) will be able to use the share and access the files on it.

 

Glad to here that it worked for you.  Are you still able to access the share with the Norton Firewall on?