Windows Server 2003 - Users on Network without Domain?

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evenfall928

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 3, 2006
Messages
271
Hey guys,

Just wondering if any of y'all knew how to set up users to be able to access the server without having to configure a domain? It's just a small in-home network so we just feel that having a domain would unnecessarily complicate things. But when we tried just setting up a local user and then using that login/password, it didn't work.

And also, would it be possible to set it up so that each computer on the network would only have to login once (instead of having to log in every time they wanted to access something)? Or possibly even script the computers to login automatically?

And yeah, using Windows Home Server would probably be a lot easier, but this is also a learning experience to get used to 2003 as they are implementing it at work too. ^^;;

Anyhows, thanks in advance!
 
I'm sure if you just setup simple file sharing you can do that (for sharing files). But logging in to a user account on the server means you have to setup a domain and a user base. I don't think there is a way to set it up so that the user will only have to login in once. As for automatic log on, I'm not sure about that. You might as well not set up user accounts and just put out shares on the server with restrictions on them that can be accessed without a login.
 
disable simple file sharing

set up a user name and password on the client machine
set up the same usernames and passwords on the server.

set up Shares and NTFS permissions for each user (or put the users in a group and give permissions to the group...this is how you should be doing it)
 
bedtime bump. how would i set up the users though? There's no way to add users to the server that I can see. (At least not the usual user settings etc that are in Control Panel)
 
Treat it just like any other peer to peer network, like done in the NT 4 days or Windows 2000 Pro. Add local user accounts to the server which matches the same username and passwords on the workstations. Include "local users" in the servers shares.
 
I can't see why you wouldn't just setup a domain. You don't need to do anything other than DC promo it and go through the prompts (you can make it way more complicated if you wanted, but as you say why bother on a small inhouse network). Just call the domain companyname.local.

If you don't want to use a domain, go to run and type lusrmgr.msc to setup users locally on the server. You create groups and such from here as well.
 
I dont see how creating a domain network would make things any more complicated. If anything it'll make things easier...

Everything you're trying to accomplish could be done simply with a domain/AD
 
you dont even need to create the user accounts if all your doing is accessing files, just share it to Everyone then anyone can connect to the server.

really depends what you are doing with it, a domain is a bit over kill in a house, i would just keep a workgroup, have everything shared and be done with it. but i dont need different user permisions in a in house setup.
 
learning experience to get used to 2003 as they are implementing it at work too
Click to expand...

i would just setup a domain, its alot easier than it sounds. if your doing it for learning purposes i would just go balls out and setup fully
 
BrkDncr said:
disable simple file sharing

set up a user name and password on the client machine
set up the same usernames and passwords on the server.

set up Shares and NTFS permissions for each user (or put the users in a group and give permissions to the group...this is how you should be doing it)
Click to expand...

What he said.

You can get to the users by right clicking on my computer and going to manage. Under the console that comes up you will have a users folder.

Anyway I would personally set up a windows domain and be done with it. Treat it as a learning experience. Also you don't really have to put the machines on the domain. You can do the same trick where you set a local user name and password the same as it is on the server. I would try to avoid this but it can be done.
 
do the domain man... it would take you all of a few hours, and it would work soooooooooo much better....
 
Yakyb said:
i would just setup a domain, its alot easier than it sounds. if your doing it for learning purposes i would just go balls out and setup fully
Click to expand...

I agree with this. If you don't do an Active Directory deployment with a full domain and group policies you won't get useful Windows Server knowledge.
 
When I set up my 2k domain originally, I just bought a win2k server book(it was written by Peter Norton) and it was made for beginners... I had my domain up and running in an evening... and guess what? That domain is STILL working fine 7 years later...
 
Well compared to Windows 2000, 2003 is a cake walk. Much of what you had to do manually Windows 2003 does for you during setup. You can manually go back and change whatever you need to, but overall its' pretty solid. I've been a Windows 2003 Server guy for as long as its' been out and I've always preferred working with it vs. older 2000 servers.

Though 2003 gives very little functionality over what Windows 2000 provided. It's easier to use and I've always found that it ran better. Windows Server 2008 has been pleasant to work with thus far but I've got far less experience with it than I do with Windows 2003.
 
Dan_D said:
Well compared to Windows 2000, 2003 is a cake walk. Much of what you had to do manually Windows 2003 does for you during setup. You can manually go back and change whatever you need to, but overall its' pretty solid. I've been a Windows 2003 Server guy for as long as its' been out and I've always preferred working with it vs. older 2000 servers.

Though 2003 gives very little functionality over what Windows 2000 provided. It's easier to use and I've always found that it ran better. Windows Server 2008 has been pleasant to work with thus far but I've got far less experience with it than I do with Windows 2003.
Click to expand...

08 is a good product. We have a few 08 servers deployed so far. Wasn't too happy at first with how they changed the password policies but once I got use to it I'm happy. Also love how you can have multiple password policies in a domain.
 
Yeah the password thing is crazy.... I setup my first 2k8 machine today, and without being on the domain or whatnot, it was throwing a fit and wouldn't even let me log in the first time without a capital, and a number in my password....
 
I've setup one Windows 2008 Server Domain. I haven't done anything with it since then unfortunately.
 
"And also, would it be possible to set it up so that each computer on the network would only have to login once (instead of having to log in every time they wanted to access something)?"

That would be a domain setup, logon once and you are all set.


You can use TweakUI to have the computers auto logon with the domain username/password.

Are all the computers XP Pro?
If they are XP Pro (MCE might work too) you can add the domain user/pass under the user accounts / manage my network passwords section
 
dbwillis said:
Are all the computers XP Pro?
If they are XP Pro (MCE might work too) you can add the domain user/pass under the user accounts / manage my network passwords section
Click to expand...

As far as I'm aware you can't join a domain with MCE without some serious system hacking.
 
d3c1us said:
As far as I'm aware you can't join a domain with MCE without some serious system hacking.
Click to expand...

Nah it is pretty easy. First off their are 2 versions of media center. You have media center and media center 2005. Media center 2005 was a free upgrade from media center and is just media center after sp2 has been installed. It had its own version of sp2 that did some other stuff.

Anyway if you had an original media center install or one that has been upgraded to 05 then it has native support for domains. If you have a native media center 05 install then you have 2 options. First is to put it on a domain during the windows setup. You can also reseal your windows install to rerun the setup and throw it on. The second reason takes a little bit of time but is pretty simple. You have to make a copy of the registry from the recovery console and reboot into windows and change a registry vale to 1 saying it is an upgrade from 04. You then go into the recovery console and replace the old registry file. The entire process can be done in 10 minutes easy. That makes it think it was an upgrade and you can then join it to a domain just like an xp pro box. Mind you media center is just xp pro with some addons.
 
No, I didnt say to join MCE or PRO to the domain, as far as I know, those are the versions that have 'manage my network passwords' options, I did not see it in XP Home

Using the manage....option then lets the PC use the user/pass when connecting to the server, your not prompted at all.
Plus, if your learning, you will probably f up something and want to redo the server, which will cause havoc with your user accounts since the SID wouldnt be the same from the old server, even if you use the same names, the computers will need some fixin
 
Sheesh guys....this is just for home use like he said.

I would NOT recommend AD/Domain for this environment for the simple reason that if something happens to the server your user profiles can get hosed and you'll be forced to back up all your stuff and jump through a bunch of hoops to get everything reconnected. Also it will require 100% server up time. What if the OP has a habit of turning off all the computers while at work or while sleeping? It would be quite annoying to have to wait for the server to boot up before all the computers can be turned on.

If you want to share files like everyone does in a workgroup environment all you need to do is enable the Guest account on Server 2003. Then when you make a share on the server the default is "Everyone" which includes Guest which will pass you though to the share without having to have users set up and passwords entered.
 
Where and how are you using up the user accounts? More importantly when windows was installed on the server was it setup to be the AD server, an AD member server or a standalone server?
 
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