Im using an old NT4 Workstation box as a file server (actually the box is brand new, but NT4 was all I had lying around and I was trying to save money)

I have the drives on it mapped as network drives on my other machines, but at the moment when I first boot up I have to access these drives manually and enter the password for the NT4 machine the first time. Consequently the drives start off as "disconnected" and nothing can use them until I access them manually in explorer.

Is there a way I can set it up so I wont have to enter the password and the other machines will be able to see the drives as soon as they boot up?

Security isnt a major concern because the server is on my own private network with no internet access.

cheers oh network guru types

Linux + samba?

if you service pack it up you shouldnt have a problem.  I had a similar setup for a customer, though they are using 2k on the client machines.  

You need to:

1) Create the same user/password accounts on the NT box as are being used by the PCs attempting to create the maps. These users then need permission to the shares on the NT box.

2) You might need to enable / setup the Guest account, especially if you have any Win98 machines creating/using the shares.

free NAS perhaps

thanks for the suggestions

I was using NASLite on my old server box but it wont run with DMA on this new machine because the chipset isnt supported properly. Dito freenas. Also I have found the Linux based solutions to be rather intolerant to power outages, they tend to loose their file systems at the first sign of trouble. Dont get me wrong, I love linux and I use it wherever its sensible and probably some places its not, but in this case it just didnt work out.

NT4 SP6 on the other hand is solid as a rock, and doesnt particularly care if it doesnt get shut down properly. It also has the added bonus that I can run software on the server, eg backup systems. Cant do that with NASLite or FreeNAS.

Nimrod: Thanks, Ill do as you suggest when I get home and well see what happens

Please, dont tar freenas with the linux brush....

well, I created a user on the NT box with the same name and password as the user on my main box (which is running XP-Pro), and the shares are set to give everyone full control, but there is no change I still have to enter the password every time before the mapped drives work.

did I miss something?

Quote from: BXGTi16VPlease, dont tar freenas with the linux brush....

OK so its FreeBSD based, it has exactly the same problems, I tried it

Quote from: BXGTi16VPlease, dont tar freenas with the linux brush....

Especially as it gets tarred enough with its own

If the NT4 box is setup as a Domain Server, you will have to get the XP Pro box to join the domain.

its NT Workstation so it cant act as a domain server, its just a member of the workgroup.

Quote from: Mongoosewell, I created a user on the NT box with the same name and password as the user on my main box (which is running XP-Pro), and the shares are set to give everyone full control, but there is no change I still have to enter the password every time before the mapped drives work.

did I miss something?

its been 6 years since I originally set something like this up so apologies if this is wrong info, but Im fairly sure that you need to establish a workgroup with these devices. then you add the remotemachine/username as a user to the share with whatever control so that you can get access.

Matt

so instead of calling the user "john" I would call it "johnsmachine/john"?

yeah that sounds right, although its got a backslash, not a forward slash...

e.g. "johnsmachine\John"

make sure all the machines are in the same workgroup if youve not got a domain server as previously mentioned,

if you had it would be as easy as adding a domain based user group to your access list and adding domain users to said group