I have had some luck connecting Win9x and WinNT/2K workstations that have not joined a domain allowing users to access domain resources like shared drives and printers.
First each user must have a domain account with a unique user name, password and permissions appropriate to their needs and the security of the network.
Now similar to as I said before in an earlier post, but a must this way is to create a local user account on the local machine for the specific user(s) that exactly matches the user name and password of the domain account. (Password synchronization is a must, so when they expire it gets tricky.)
Two separate things, the domain account and the local user account. Now with the client PCs running Windows Networking, TCP/IP and/or NetBeuI, log on as a local user and map a drive into a resource on the domain. Remember, we have not joined a domain on the local PC. Use the
net.exe use [x]: \\servername\sharename
command I gave before, but you do not have to include the /USER:domainname\username switch.
That could be taken as a slight security hole, but remember, the user must ALSO have a valid account on the domain, so the domain security is still in good shape - not compromised by anyone who does not belong.
Still, I have no experience w/ XP, but I hate to have to give up on something. I have seen only one isolated case where this did not work on NT, 2K or 9X.
Thanks for the wx report.