Windows 7 ask's "enter network password" when accessing Window XP Machine

Oh yes oh yes, I agree with both of you really. I have been around in computing since the days we used dos commands and I had a C64 (God that used to just come on every time without fail) and an Amiga too. But now we have all this advanced computing but some of the more profoundly frustrating things are all still there in most all computers I have used. One is the simple act of trying to use a printer! After all these years it is still a real *#$&()_# problem.

Since about 15 years now I have been trying to connect some of my computers together in order to transfer and copy files and folders between them. Damn, it is still just as frustrating as when I began to try it. Microsoft is so damn concerned with security that it makes no simple way for me to have a simple network where I am the ONLY user on it where i need to have really no security at all. It has not gotten any better with newer versions of windows. I do have some computers running linux but windows is real nasty toward any other os other than windows. Linux is not much better about being able to make it simple either. The systems all seem to think we are all corporations with hundreds of users on the system and we are all involved in trying to keep some type of top secret information from getting into the hands of the enemy which will lead to the destruction of the world the next day.

This password issue has irritated me no end. ( I wish I could use some of the words here to describe how I really feel but I want this to be read by someone) I have tried most all the remedies listed in this very long post but I still find myself unable to access one or more of my computers over my own network from one of my own computers. A couple of years ago when I got a new (used ) computer laptop, it had win 7 on it and it seemed to find my network and my internet and ask for the password for my connection in minutes. I was impressed. That seems to have been some kind of fluke I guess but it is true most of the time now where I am on another win7 laptop and am looking to go on line at a wifi hotspot or a friends house through his network. BUT this idea of connecting to another computer to transfer files continues to frustrate me.

Why does microsoft not solve this for us lowly users who do not have degrees in software science and the time to attend years of microsoft classes at great expense? I know that MS is openly uncooperative with other operating systems but give us little guys a break and work harder on trying to solve the network access between friendly computers and the printing problems which have plagued us for years.

I have had the same question about that password for years now. The one that comes up asking for a password and telling me I do not have permission to access the file or disk etc. Especially irritating when it tells me to see the system administrator and I am that person....

If it were up to me, I would only have a real strong password to get access to my network and keep some sort of heavy duty wall up on my router etc and let my computers talk to each other with no restrictions. Why is this not the case with Windows Home Edition where it would make real sense. Then give us a way to keep others out which really worked. That is like trying to find a cigarette filter which was 100% effective.

I'm just trying to get into OUTLOOK on my Windows 7 machine, but the message ENTER NETWORD PASSWORD (incoming and outgoing) keeps popping up, and the password that I enter does not permit access. What do I do now, please? THANKS!

I love your post Fred.   I have contributed to this post several times in the past and I feel your frustration.  My conclusion was, and still is, that if the system is asking for a password then there ought to be a way of setting, or resetting, the damn thing.  Having said that, in view of the lack of support from Microsoft themselves, you can't blame people for trying to get round the problem.  It seemed to me that the variety of workrounds is simply due to the various operating systems around.  It seems that the professional versions have it best, leaving the poor Home Version users, like myself, to flounder around looking for something that works.   I have found the best solution that works for me and that is a USB memory stick.  I run up and down stairs with the stick in hand swapping files as and when I need to.

I have a final question.  Do Microsoft ever read these posts ?  Do they care ?  Yes, I know, that's two questions - no one will notice !

I have to say that the world of computing, but especially anything from Microsoft, has become increasingly bizzarre, as nobody really seems to know what they are talking about any more. Everyone is just 'guessing' or working from a perspective of "well I did this, and it seemed to work, I have no dea why or whether it will work for anyone else but this must be the answer" - ?????

A very good example of this is the ubiquitous "Enter Network Password" window that pops up now and then when trying to access another computer, NAS or other network device. What is a "Network Password", and why is it that there is no password that I can possibly enter that works - I installed and configured all my computers and my network. I set up all my passwords (for user accounts, router, whatever.....) but I don't have a freakin' clue what a "Network Password" is or what I need to enter to make it happy.

I've read countless posts about this issue which include all kinds of apparent solutions or work arounds from "enter your router network key" to "stand on one leg, stick your left index finger in your right ear and cough twice".......but I have not read anything that "definitively" tells me that anyone knows wtf a "Network Password" is. What the **** is going on at Microsoft any more - is everybody down to guessing what it is but nobody actually knows????

One thing I do know is that it has nothing to do with a wireless router connection or the wireless key, because it occurs even on my workstation that connects only with a hardwired network connection. I really wish that people who don't really understand the issue would stop volunteering solutions. If you don't know, don't offer your "well have you tried this or tried that". Just don't bother wasting "airwaves".

So if anyone REALLY does know wtf this "Network Password" **** is about maybe you could enlighten the rest of us idiots who don't have a freakin' clue.