Fix IPC$ error - Windows 98 to Windows 2000 / XP security
When trying to access a network drive or printers share on a Windows 2000/XP computer from a Windows 95/98/ME computer, you may receive an IPC$ dialog box like the one above. If you do, then you need to configure security on your Windows 2000/XP computer.
When Windows 95/98/ME tries browsing the Windows 2000/XP computer, it first must log in. The username Windows tries is the name that you logged into Microsoft networking with. When your Windows 98/95/ME computer booted up, you saw a screen like this:
You must create that name in Windows 2000/XP security to allow that user access to the Windows 2000/XP shares.
Creating a Windows 2000
From the control panel, double click the admin tools icon. Next, click the Computer management icon. This will bring up a screen like the one below. From here, open the Local Users and Groups tree and add a new user by right clicking on the 'Users folder' and select 'Add new user'.
Create a user name that MATCHES the user name used to lon into your Windows 98/98/ME computer. I would sugges assigning a password to this ID. I have sometimes had trouble in the past using blank passwords. You should also UNCHECK the 'User must change password' line and CHECK 'password never expires'.
This ID will default into the USERS group. This should be enough security to access files and print shares.
Now, the next time you see that IPC$ / Enter network password thing, you can use the password speficied in the user profile you just created!
