Find network access credentials windows 10 or 11

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Anonymous
2022-02-24T08:55:06+00:00

I've been running my local (wired) network with password protected sharing turned off.

To reduce the risk of infection I've now turned it on on all the pc's.

The result is that I am now unable to access any of the machines on the network (running windows 10 or 11)

I need to input the username and password

However using whoami locally to get the username, and entering the pin as the password I get

"the username or password is incorrect"

trying to access another machine I get "\XXXXX is not accessible. ... etc."

Is there a simple way I can turn on machine A and determine what credentials are required to access it from another PC via the network?

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Internet and connectivity

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-04-10T22:23:18+00:00

    Now for the really stupid question = how do you set up a local account vs a Microsoft account. I have a Microsoft account already but never heard of a local account?

    https://www.elevenforum.com/t/add-local-user-account-in-windows-11.590/

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-04-28T09:24:41+00:00

    I found what works for me - here: https://www.elevenforum.com/t/how-can-i-find-my-windows-credentials-password.22854/

    So... I'm trying to access a Windows-11 laptop from a Windows-10 laptop. The network is set up, but when I tried to access anything on the Windows-11 PC from the Windows-10 PC I was asked for credentials.

    As many have asked: "What are these"?

    The above link says they are (and this is unbelievable) as follows:

    "The username you enter is what you see under C:\users on the machine where the files are shared. If you use a MS account this is the first 5 letters of your account name, then use MS account password.If you use a local account on the machine where the files are shared, use that username and PW instead."

    So if your MS account is "anyoneabc@(something)" the username needed is "anyon", and the password is your MS account password.

    Unfortunately I cannot remember the exact text on the window where the "Credentials" are requested, and I don't want to turn things off to find out (in case it all goes belly-up again). But I think when you get the error ("credentials not valid" or similar) there is an option "Use another account" (or similar) and take it from there.

    It worked for me (again, after HOURS of research).

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  3. Anonymous
    2025-04-28T15:23:23+00:00

    I tried that. Created local accounts on both computers. The Windows 11 computer shows up in the file explorer window under network but when I enter the username and password it then complains that:

    \windows11computer is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource blah, blah, blah (more Microsoft nonsense). I looked at the permissions setup stuff and nothing was out of the ordinary including the Microsoft far to complex permissions procedure (too much techospeak BS).

    And even though it accepted the local user credentials it ignored my specification that it remember the credentials and I have to enter them every time.

    Adding insult to injury, I can create a mapped drive and access its contents if I use the local IP address instead of the computer name. That may be the only way to work around Microsoft's terrible sharing implementation.

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