Windows 10 Network Credentials oddity

[DCE1511]

Hi,

The weirdest thing I have seen......

I have several win 10 machines on a home network. No domain, but same workgroup name. All can access each other with
credentials, however Machine A is hit or miss with connecting to Machine B (Machine B can always connect to A without issue). In the past I have randomly had to enable SMB1 on B for A to log into B.

None of the machines has "remember my credentials" enabled so I always login manually.

Yesterday I spent hours trying to get A to talk to B. Enabling SMB1 no longer worked. When I enter the usual credentials I always get the dreaded "\\B is not accessible. you might not have permissions to use network resource... Multiple connection to a server or shared resources by the same user using more than one name are not allowed..." all other machines can log in without issue.

When I try to log into A, I get the usual login screen, however I noticed this time in red it said that "login or password were incorrect...", but I had not entered anything yet. I checked, and Credential Manager had no listing of saved credentials, so that message was odd.

After several failed attempts, on a whim, I checked the box that said "Remember my credentials" and tried again with the same credentials. At first I got the usual "...not accessible" message, however the next time I clicked B from A's Network list, it accessed B instantly, without a prompt, and no errors.. Also Odd.

For security, I then disable the acct on B, and was surprised that A still logged into B instantly. I refreshed both systems, no change. So I used credential manager to delete the newly saved credentials from A. This forced A back to the original state of requesting credentials again, unfortunately (after re enabling the acct on B), I again could not log in from A.... unless I clicked the Remember Credentials box, close the ensuing error message and try to reconnect..

Again for Security, I removed the newly saved credentials on A using Credential manager, only this time, A still automatically logged into B...Very Odd!

So, I disabled the user acct on B, but that did nothing to block A. So I disabled ALL user accts on B. that also did nothing. A still logged into B instantly, without saved credentials on A and with no user accts enabled on B.

As a last resort, , I disabled "File and Print Sharing for MS Networks" on B to block all traffic to B, but this obviously is not the solution I need. I went from trying to get one odd system to access another, and now I cant stop it from accessing the other.

Machine A is an older I5 machine with Mcafee and Malware Bytes (Mcafee controls the firewall). it has IPVanish installed, but the connection issue appears to not be affected by it bein active or not.

Machine B is a newer I5 machine with just Malware Bytes (Mcafee is resident, but I need to renew the lic)


Anyone have any insight on what might be going on here?

Thanx in advance,

 

[Neemobeer]

I'm assuming you're trying to connect to shared drives and not actually logging into the computer? The first place I'd look at is the firewall.

 

[DCE1511]

Yes, sorry I didnt specify that I was trying to connect A to B in order to access shared resource on B.

In fact I was originally trying to connect A to B in order to access several shared resources (printers and drives), all of which required the same credentials to log A (or any other computer) into B.

When I could not connect A to B, I tried turning off both firewalls (A and B) with no luck.

That said, my issue now is no longer that I cant connect A to B, it is that I can no longer prevent that connection, unless I disable all connections to B completely.

Furthermore I cant see why Saving my credentials was required before B would grant access, Why the login screen opens with an error that I did my credentials were entered incorrectly, when I did not enter any, nor can I understand how removing those saved credentials from A, and even disabling that user account on B does not prevents access now.

Any help in understanding that part would be appreciated.
DCE

 

[Neemobeer]

A one-time connection doesn't require saving any credentials. If you map the drive and make it persistent then yes the credentials need to be saved.

 

[djchapple]

How do I establish or find these credentials?

 

[DCE1511]

Nemobeer: Nothing is Mapped. Agree that a one-time connect Should Not require saving credentials. The fact that it does, is why I found this odd, and am asking the community what the cause could be. Especially when the behavior seem to keep changing, the more I investigate.

djchapple: hit start and type Credential Manager. Double click Credential Manager. Click Windows Credentials. you should see a list of all saved credentials for logging into Windows based assets.

 

[DCE1511]

Just noticed a typo in my original post:
"When I try to log into A, I get the usual login screen, however I... "
should be
"When I try to log A into B, I get the usual login screen, however I "