Unknown username or password when connecting via SMB to Windows 7

This error message usually means that the user name and password don't match with one on your Windows 7 computer.

Home Environment

To check your user name in Windows 7, use the following steps:

  1. Launch "Control Panel" via the Windows Start menu.
  2. Click "User Accounts" (if the item is called "User Accounts and Family Safety", click that and then click "User Accounts").
  3. The window that appeared should have a title of "Make changes to your user account". The user account you are currently accessing is shown on the right. The first line is the username. If this is not the one you want to log in as, click "Manage another account" and select another. We recommend choosing one that has "Administrator" written under it. Enter this first line into FileBrowser's "Username" field.
  4. If the account you have chosen does not say "Password protected" under it, then it has no password. You need to click the "Create a password" option. Having a password will mean that you will need to enter it each time you boot your Windows PC.
  5. Enter this password into FileBrowser (but be careful when typing it because it is case-sensitive).

Work Environment

At work, you will probably connect to a machine in a Windows Domain. You will need to prepend the user name with a domain name like this:

    domain\username

Note that you need to use a single back-slash character between the domain and user names.

Windows 10

Windows 10 sometimes changes the local login password but not the network access password when a user modifies their password. The following Windows 10 steps should get you back in sync again:

  • Launch the Settings app and click on Accounts.
  • In the "Your Info" section click "Sign in with a local account instead" and create a new local account. This will log you out when complete.
  • Log back in using the new local account and repeat the steps but click "Sign in with a Microsoft account instead".
  • Enter your Microsoft email address & password.

Options

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