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Cannot access file shares from Vista #

If you are running Vista and cannot access Windows file shares on your NAS or other *nix-powered 'puter, it may be due to Vista's insistence on NTLMv2 authentication (which is not supported by older versions of Samba). To restore access you can either upgrade Samba (version 3.0.22 or higher), or force Vista to use the less secure NTLM protocol when necessary:
  1. Start > Run > secpol.msc (BTW, "Run" is missing from the Start menu in Vista by default. You can add it by right clicking on the Start button, choosing Properties, then Customize, etc, or just use Win key + R to launch it. You can also use the "Start Search" box just like "Run" if you prefer.)
  2. Local Policies > Security Options > Network Security: LAN Manager authentication level
  3. Change "Send NTLMv2 response only" to "Send LM & NTLM - use NTLMv2 session security if negotiated"
(Thanks to this post by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols.)

UPDATE: If your version of Windows does not include secpol.msc, use regedit to add or edit the DWORD LMCompatibilityLevel with a value of 1 in HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa.

/windows | Jan 01, 2007

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