Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

I NEED HELP QUICK!

by tnlegendracer Jul 19, 2007 2:09PM PDT

I'm about to throw up!

I've changed the setting on my work PC from domain (work) to workgroup (home) in an attempt to share files from laptop to home desktop. It's rebooted and now my login doesn't work. I notice it no longer shows the domain at the bottom of the "log on to windows" screen. How's a person to get back in?

Is this bad?

It's a Dell Inspiron 8500 running XP PRO.

Discussion is locked

8 Posts
- Collapse + Expand Details
- Collapse -
Well
by Sovereign Former Forum moderator Jul 19, 2007 2:32PM PDT

What probably happened is that you had an account on the domain, but when you changed to a workgroup, this account won't work anymore... so you need to login with your local credentials... Username: Administrator and the password you chose.

~Sovereign

- Collapse -
Domain @ Work vs. Workgroup at home
by tnlegendracer Jul 19, 2007 2:36PM PDT

Okay, I got back in. Thanks. Probably should make those two things the same maybe. Now I want to change it back, but not sure what my domain was. Tried what I thought and it gave me an error. So, I'll let the IT guy do it tomorrow.

Still don't know how to get my files to my desktop at home though...

Domain & workgroup names are different. No duplicated PC names. Any suggestions?

- Collapse -
Accessing files
by jpvlovesyou Jul 19, 2007 2:41PM PDT

If I understand correctly, you are trying to access files at work (or point "A") from home (or point "B"). I did this one time by setting up a VPN. It's a bit tricky and speed isn't all too good. Let me know if you'd like more details.

- Collapse -
Trusted?
by Sovereign Former Forum moderator Jul 19, 2007 2:42PM PDT

Even though your work PC is on a domain, you still should be able to view all the computers that are in your home when you're plugged into the network at your house. Just make sure that if you're running a firewall like ZoneAlarm etc, that it's set to trusted on your work PC and home PC.

~Sovereign

- Collapse -
File sharing?
by tnlegendracer Jul 19, 2007 2:45PM PDT

I've got both machines right here. I'm able to see the laptops print and fax and shared documents when I go to network places on my desktop, but not the shared C drive I want to grab from. I have both firewalls turned off.

- Collapse -
Are they both XP?
by Sovereign Former Forum moderator Jul 19, 2007 2:49PM PDT

I don't know if you can just share your entire C: drive with the OS and everything. Try just sharing a folder, pick a simple sharing name, then go to your home computer, click START click RUN type in: "\\COMPUTERNAME\SHAREDNAME" it should pop right up.

~Sovereign

- Collapse -
Sovereign You're the Mack Daddy (or Mom)
by tnlegendracer Jul 19, 2007 3:00PM PDT

Choosing just "My Documents" did the trick.
One last question: If nothing else changed (and it didn't as far as I know), I've looked at system restore to set the domain back. It sees that as the only change. Safe or not?

- Collapse -
Safe
by Sovereign Former Forum moderator Jul 19, 2007 3:19PM PDT

Any created files like documents, etc will still remain on the PC even after a restore. System restore is essentially for uninstalling programs that have caused damaged that remained even after uninstalling... it could change your domain back, but it's definitely worth a try.

~Sovereign

Back to Windows Legacy OS forum

CNET Forums

Operating Systems
Software
Electronics & Gadgets
Hardware
Tablets & Mobile Devices
General Help
Brand Forums
Roadshow Autos
Off Topic

Other Forums

Forum Info