Map Network Drive to Time Capsule from WinXP Home with reconnect at logon

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Map Network Drive to Time Capsule from WinXP Home with reconnect at logon

I bridged my TimeCapsule on a wired home network. TC provides wireless(n/g) for a Macbook & Dell Laptop, print server, and storage. MAC & PC's all access internet; The Mac & PC's were able to find a reasonable driver for the printer (not a generic); and visibility to the TC and even Mac<-->PC (all on the same WINS Workgroup; file sharing/AFP/SMB turned on) working OK.

I want to have a single drive letter mapped to a TC folder during a PC login. Using Windows Map Network Drive... I can supply \\server\share as my \\[mytimecapsulename]\[path to folder] and then I use "connect as different user" and supply the username/password as specified in the AirPort Utility setup for TC. Then I click Reconnect at Logon, and Finish. Windows is "happy" and the connection is made, applications on the PC that need the folder have access to the folder according the permissions on the TC. Sweet.

Until, logoff and logon, and XP burps "not able to establish all network connections". Exploring MyComputer shows the Mapped Drive (but disconnected), double-click I'm prompted for username/password; enter it and I'm runnning.

This seems to be a workaround, and I'd like to have the reconnect work seamlessly.

Macbook, Mac OS X (10.5.4), My other PC is AMD Athlon with XP Home

Posted on Aug 18, 2008 1:17 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 18, 2008 2:41 PM in response to sherrydan

I can do it. I think the key is that the passwords are the same on the Windows machines and the TC. I seem to recall that is the key. The username doesn't matter I can re-connect automatically at logon from 2 different Windows machines with different user names but the same password.

I wonder if you select "Connect using different User name" option as well as the "reconnect at logon" option if that would work if the password was the same as the TC??

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Answer 2

sherrydan Author

Level 1

5 points

Aug 18, 2008 2:56 PM in response to Steve Holton

Thank you Steve.

I want to test my understanding. The TC password and the Windows login passwords should be the same. If there are more than one Windows users, then both of their passwords should be the same as the TC password?

My understanding of "connect using different user name" is that I supply a username that the TC understands, i.e. the username/password set up in AirPort utility, and I would not supply any of the Windows accounts/passwords. This has worked for me. I supply the time-capsule-username/password not my Windows username and the Map Network Drive makes the connection. But it doesn't make the Reconnet at logon.

So it sounds like what I should try is to change the timecapsule password to match the Windows account password of the windows user attempting to connect to the TC. Which means I'm limited to one password even if there are more than one Windows users attempting to connect.

Sound about right? I'll try it out and let you know 6-12 hrs.

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Answer 3

Aug 18, 2008 3:18 PM in response to sherrydan

sherrydan wrote:
.....
So it sounds like what I should try is to change the timecapsule password to match the Windows account password of the windows user attempting to connect to the TC. Which means I'm limited to one password even if there are more than one Windows users attempting to connect.

Sound about right? I'll try it out and let you know 6-12 hrs.

Yes it is. For some people this isn't workable, but in this house we have a shared, non-trivial, non-dictionary word, mix of letters and numbers for all the passwords for devices/users inside our HW firewall. One of the principle reasons is to make sharing easy as I'm the system programmer for the family (and a lot of other 'friends'.)

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