access problem

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Guest

21:00 / 3 July 2006 / Songkhla, Thailand
Win XP Networking / access problem

Situation looking hopeless. Hope this is not another dead end. Can't copy
files off locked portable computer.

Friend came by with his company portable wanting me to copy tons of his old
accumulated documents & data files to my comp for temp storage, 'til he can
get
his own comp. He's got another job lined up next month and wants to get his
personal data off that company portable.

I tried to network the 2 comps together in 2 ways (1) via our small homenet
here and (2) via a short LAN cable between his and my comp. I finally managed
to get a hook up via (2) but I couldn't see his comp - though could access my
comp from his OK.

I tried another type of connection (forgot how, just now; but via some
wizzard) via which I could finally see his comp icon but to complete the
connection, had to click OK - but it was grayed out. So couldn't get anywhere.

After few more hours of monkeying about, I realized that access to his
comp had been locked by some IT man. Everything was locked. Couldn't
even change the screen on-time (cut off every 15 minutes, after which have
to put password in again); nor could I even temp shut off the Microsoft
Firewall.

Somewhere along the line I read something about 'Group Policy' in Windows
Help - but don't know much about it. Probably set up to lock everything up.

All I want to do is to somehow copy his personal files for him off that comp.
Nothing devious here. How can I do this without any other type of media
currently being useable - other that the LAN and the Telephone line jacks.

Read something about 'FTP' server, etc. - about which know nothing but
willing and able to give it a try. Is there maybe some way to do it that way?

Any help on this issue greatly appreciated. Looks hopeless right now.

Ted...

PS.

How can I find out what IP address my and the other comp downstairs on
this net are using? I don't see it in Properties. Just see the assigned
computer
name there.
 
If the drive was locked by the IT department - a common security
practice - there isn't a thing you can do to unlock it. Only the IT
department that originally locked it can do that.
 
03:41 04-Jul-06

Appreciate the reply. Wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, 'though. Sounds
too
final. I reckoned the query'd be a bit controversial. Believe I've seen more
encouraging answers to the issue browsing thru assorted forums before. Wish
I'd
saved them.

There's nothing funny going on. The guy just wants to get his personal work
off
and I'm just trying to help and save him from going to an expert and maybe
paying
thru the nose for the service.

I know there are ways and means. Read about them before. As they say, there's
not a lock made that can't be picked. There has to be a way; and if the
hackers
can do it, I'm not prepared as yet to accept that there's nothing that can be
done. So, thanks anyway, but I think I'll keep looking.

--
Ted...

PS.

By the way, already got the answer to my 2nd query via 'ipconfig/all'.
 
4-Jul-06 / 05:40 Thailand time

Hot dang! Can't believe I'm that stupid. Brain must be asleep. It's 5:40 AM
here and
I'm numb. Good thing decided to have another peek at the email - and the
rear of the Portable!. Roger that and thank God for people with common sense.
You just made my day and an old friend real happy! Thanks a bunch and then
some!

(Still, be nice to get one up on the opposition and hack into that thing.
What a
glorious feeling that would be!).

Well, enough of the dreaming. Got to go find my stick and get cracking. I
don't remember him saying anything about a defective USB jack/port. Let you
know.

Don't damage those brain cells. May need them again...
And a happy 4th of July to you too!

--
Ted...


Don Varnau said:
Hi,
Can't use a USB Thumb Drive / Flash Drive?

Don
[MS MVP- IE]

tedoniman said:
21:00 / 3 July 2006 / Songkhla, Thailand
Win XP Networking / access problem

Situation looking hopeless. Hope this is not another dead end. Can't copy
files off locked portable computer.

Friend came by with his company portable wanting me to copy tons of his old
accumulated documents & data files to my comp for temp storage, 'til he can
get
his own comp. He's got another job lined up next month and wants to get his
personal data off that company portable.

I tried to network the 2 comps together in 2 ways (1) via our small homenet
here and (2) via a short LAN cable between his and my comp. I finally managed
to get a hook up via (2) but I couldn't see his comp - though could access my
comp from his OK.

I tried another type of connection (forgot how, just now; but via some
wizzard) via which I could finally see his comp icon but to complete the
connection, had to click OK - but it was grayed out. So couldn't get anywhere.

After few more hours of monkeying about, I realized that access to his
comp had been locked by some IT man. Everything was locked. Couldn't
even change the screen on-time (cut off every 15 minutes, after which have
to put password in again); nor could I even temp shut off the Microsoft
Firewall.

Somewhere along the line I read something about 'Group Policy' in Windows
Help - but don't know much about it. Probably set up to lock everything up.

All I want to do is to somehow copy his personal files for him off that comp.
Nothing devious here. How can I do this without any other type of media
currently being useable - other that the LAN and the Telephone line jacks.

Read something about 'FTP' server, etc. - about which know nothing but
willing and able to give it a try. Is there maybe some way to do it that way?

Any help on this issue greatly appreciated. Looks hopeless right now.

Ted...

PS.

How can I find out what IP address my and the other comp downstairs on
this net are using? I don't see it in Properties. Just see the assigned
computer name there.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
16:36 06-Jul-06 / Thailand time

OK, Don. Courtesy call. USB works fine.

There's a CD Drive also but something wrong. Occasionally it works but mostly
it seems to get too hot, I think and Windows just cuts out after a few sec's
and
says something about " blah, blah, blah error and ... your CD may no longer
be useable".


However, the CD's subjected to this treatment do afterwards still check out
OK on my DeskTop computer. So nothing lost, nothing gained.

The portable was given to my friend new, some years ago by the company as p/o
his daily toolkit and he's the only one who's ever used it. As to why their
former IT
man locked it all up in chains is beyond me. What's the point of having a
computer
if you can't use all or most of it's functions? (yes, I know... but it's
irritating as
heck).

In effect, it accomplished little, if anything, in so far as data protection
is
concerned, since, as I'm now aware, all my friend's work and all documents on
there were easily copyable via USB and CD_ROM - til it crapped.

He can also go on the net with it but for some stupid reason, it is not
accessible
from my home computer via a LAN cable using the wizard to make the
connection.

At one stage I got to the point where I could access my DeskTop comp from his
Portable but not the other way round. Just couldn't be done. Access denied,
etc.

Yet I've done this several times before successfully with my other friend's
Portable,
puter, also a company type - but not tied up in knots, like this one, by some
paranoid IT guy.

Anyhow, thanks for jogging my brain. Getting worse, it seems, as time goes
by.
Maybe by this time next year I'll be asking about where the ON button is...

---------------------------------------------
Some people think that blanking's a sin
But in the Garden of Edin's where blanking begin (began?)
When Adam blanked Eve
And Eve was a mother
And ever since then
We've been blanking each other

(expletives deleted)
-------------------------------------

Odd. If I can remember that one from over 50 years ago, how
come I can't even remember USB. Even got 2 sticks lying about
here somewhere.

Cheers,

--
Ted...


Don Varnau said:
Hi,
Can't use a USB Thumb Drive / Flash Drive?

Don
[MS MVP- IE]
Click to expand...
cut the clutter...
 
Hi,
Thanks for the update. Glad I could jog your memory. We have a similar
situation at work- the network is locked down pretty tight, but you can
transfer files with a USB stick.
Maybe by this time next year I'll be asking about where the ON button
Click to expand...
is...

I've had that problem with a notebook computer or two. ;-)

Don
[MS MVP- IE]

tedoniman said:
16:36 06-Jul-06 / Thailand time

OK, Don. Courtesy call. USB works fine.

There's a CD Drive also but something wrong. Occasionally it works but mostly
it seems to get too hot, I think and Windows just cuts out after a few sec's
and
says something about " blah, blah, blah error and ... your CD may no longer
be useable".


However, the CD's subjected to this treatment do afterwards still check out
OK on my DeskTop computer. So nothing lost, nothing gained.

The portable was given to my friend new, some years ago by the company as p/o
his daily toolkit and he's the only one who's ever used it. As to why their
former IT
man locked it all up in chains is beyond me. What's the point of having a
computer
if you can't use all or most of it's functions? (yes, I know... but it's
irritating as heck).

In effect, it accomplished little, if anything, in so far as data protection
is
concerned, since, as I'm now aware, all my friend's work and all documents on
there were easily copyable via USB and CD_ROM - til it crapped.

He can also go on the net with it but for some stupid reason, it is not
accessible
from my home computer via a LAN cable using the wizard to make the
connection.

At one stage I got to the point where I could access my DeskTop comp from his
Portable but not the other way round. Just couldn't be done. Access denied,
etc.

Yet I've done this several times before successfully with my other friend's
Portable,
puter, also a company type - but not tied up in knots, like this one, by some
paranoid IT guy.

Anyhow, thanks for jogging my brain. Getting worse, it seems, as time goes
by.
Maybe by this time next year I'll be asking about where the ON button is...

---------------------------------------------
Some people think that blanking's a sin
But in the Garden of Edin's where blanking begin (began?)
When Adam blanked Eve
And Eve was a mother
And ever since then
We've been blanking each other

(expletives deleted)
-------------------------------------

Odd. If I can remember that one from over 50 years ago, how
come I can't even remember USB. Even got 2 sticks lying about
here somewhere.

Cheers,

Ted...
Click to expand...
Don Varnau said:
Hi,
Can't use a USB Thumb Drive / Flash Drive?

Don
[MS MVP- IE]
Click to expand...
cut the clutter...

Ted...
Click to expand...
 
How tight can your network be locked down if you can transfer files with
a USB stick?

---
Ted Zieglar
"Backup is a computer user's best friend."

Don said:
Hi,
Thanks for the update. Glad I could jog your memory. We have a similar
situation at work- the network is locked down pretty tight, but you can
transfer files with a USB stick.
Maybe by this time next year I'll be asking about where the ON button
Click to expand...
is...

I've had that problem with a notebook computer or two. ;-)

Don
[MS MVP- IE]

tedoniman said:
16:36 06-Jul-06 / Thailand time

OK, Don. Courtesy call. USB works fine.

There's a CD Drive also but something wrong. Occasionally it works but mostly
it seems to get too hot, I think and Windows just cuts out after a few sec's
and
says something about " blah, blah, blah error and ... your CD may no longer
be useable".


However, the CD's subjected to this treatment do afterwards still check out
OK on my DeskTop computer. So nothing lost, nothing gained.

The portable was given to my friend new, some years ago by the company as p/o
his daily toolkit and he's the only one who's ever used it. As to why their
former IT
man locked it all up in chains is beyond me. What's the point of having a
computer
if you can't use all or most of it's functions? (yes, I know... but it's
irritating as heck).

In effect, it accomplished little, if anything, in so far as data protection
is
concerned, since, as I'm now aware, all my friend's work and all documents on
there were easily copyable via USB and CD_ROM - til it crapped.

He can also go on the net with it but for some stupid reason, it is not
accessible
from my home computer via a LAN cable using the wizard to make the
connection.

At one stage I got to the point where I could access my DeskTop comp from his
Portable but not the other way round. Just couldn't be done. Access denied,
etc.

Yet I've done this several times before successfully with my other friend's
Portable,
puter, also a company type - but not tied up in knots, like this one, by some
paranoid IT guy.

Anyhow, thanks for jogging my brain. Getting worse, it seems, as time goes
by.
Maybe by this time next year I'll be asking about where the ON button is...
---------------------------------------------
Some people think that blanking's a sin
But in the Garden of Edin's where blanking begin (began?)
When Adam blanked Eve
And Eve was a mother
And ever since then
We've been blanking each other

(expletives deleted)
-------------------------------------

Odd. If I can remember that one from over 50 years ago, how
come I can't even remember USB. Even got 2 sticks lying about
here somewhere.

Cheers,

Ted...
Click to expand...
Don Varnau said:
Hi,
Can't use a USB Thumb Drive / Flash Drive?

Don
[MS MVP- IE]
Click to expand...
cut the clutter...

Ted...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Good point, Ted. Double-edged sword. Shows how numb I'm on the issue - and
also a somewhat ambiguous/unclear company policy (IMHO, that is).

--
Ted...


Ted Zieglar said:
How tight can your network be locked down if you can transfer files with
a USB stick?
Click to expand...

snipped...
 
Me and my big mouth. At work I also use a USB drive to transfer files.
So do others. And I work for a hospital, which operates under strict
privacy rules (HIPAA). We should all be using the hospital's kerberos
setup, which is well implemented.

It may be just a matter of time before we and other organzations place
strict limits on the use of USB drives on company equipment. Heck, I can
even boot my computer from a USB drive.
 
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