XP Pro: cannot access dial-up from guest account

At some point, the XP Guest account, which was working
fine for weeks, lost its ability to access the dial-up
internet account. From the Guest account Start
menu, "Connect to" appears with the name of the dial-up
shown, however, clicking on the account does nothing.

We tried (from the Administrator account) delting and re-
doing the dial-up account, doing a system restore,
setting various options concerning sharing the
connection, etc., to no avail. Even a complete restore of
the active partition via True Image did nothing to solve
this problem.

The dial-up works fine when accessed from the Adm
account. All settings in the Adm account to allow other
users to access the dial-up connection, user name, and
password are set to allow access to other users. However,
the Guest account will not connect.

I'm stumped and going a bit batty...any help greatly
appreciated!!!

Normally, a Guest user cannot dial to internet. This is by design. However,
a limited user can dial, if you have kept a dial-up connection open.
(available for all users)

Only one workaround: Connect using admin account and do a Fast USer
Switching:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/e...2/theriot1.asp

great tip from Kelly Theriot - MVP
--
_______________________________________
Ramesh Srinivasan
MSWindows OS- Poweruser
eMail: SRamesh2k@hotmail.com
Aim: SRamesh2k
INDIA


"Mark" <spanishpause@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:9ef201c34668$6f949f20$a401280a@phx.gbl...
At some point, the XP Guest account, which was working
fine for weeks, lost its ability to access the dial-up
internet account. From the Guest account Start
menu, "Connect to" appears with the name of the dial-up
shown, however, clicking on the account does nothing.

We tried (from the Administrator account) delting and re-
doing the dial-up account, doing a system restore,
setting various options concerning sharing the
connection, etc., to no avail. Even a complete restore of
the active partition via True Image did nothing to solve
this problem.

The dial-up works fine when accessed from the Adm
account. All settings in the Adm account to allow other
users to access the dial-up connection, user name, and
password are set to allow access to other users. However,
the Guest account will not connect.

I'm stumped and going a bit batty...any help greatly
appreciated!!!

Ramesh:

Many thanks for your suggestions (below) regarding my
issue.

The funny thing is that the Guest account did have access
to the dial-up for about 6 weeks with no problems, then
it stopped functioning- not even a system restore back to
day one will allow it to work.

I'm confused about the limitations of the Guest account.
You indicate that Guests cannot normally access dial-up
Internet connections, however the XP Help &
Support "Walkthrough" on sharing your computer says:

"Guest access
The guest access feature of Windows XP allows someone who
is not a regular user of the shared computer to operate
it as if he or she holds a limited account. Guest access
is not protected by a password. Using Guest access makes
it easy for visitors to log on quickly to check e-mail,
browse the Internet, write and print documents, and
perform similar activities."

So, I'm not sure whether the Guest account can't access a
dial-up by design, or whether this is a bug or
configuration problem.

Thanks for any assistance.
Mark
(Confused XP user who has deployed 6 XP Pro computers on
2 networks without any problems until now)

>-----Original Message-----
>Normally, a Guest user cannot dial to internet. This is

by design. However,

>a limited user can dial, if you have kept a dial-up

connection open.

>(available for all users)
>
>Only one workaround: Connect using admin account and do

a Fast USer

>Switching:
>
>http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/e...ne/tips/may02/

theriot1.asp

>
>great tip from Kelly Theriot - MVP
>--
>_______________________________________
>Ramesh Srinivasan
>MSWindows OS- Poweruser
>eMail: SRamesh2k@hotmail.com
>Aim: SRamesh2k
>INDIA
>
>
>"Mark" <spanishpause@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>news:9ef201c34668$6f949f20$a401280a@phx.gbl...
>At some point, the XP Guest account, which was working
>fine for weeks, lost its ability to access the dial-up
>internet account. From the Guest account Start
>menu, "Connect to" appears with the name of the dial-up
>shown, however, clicking on the account does nothing.
>
>We tried (from the Administrator account) delting and re-
>doing the dial-up account, doing a system restore,
>setting various options concerning sharing the
>connection, etc., to no avail. Even a complete restore of
>the active partition via True Image did nothing to solve
>this problem.
>
>The dial-up works fine when accessed from the Adm
>account. All settings in the Adm account to allow other
>users to access the dial-up connection, user name, and
>password are set to allow access to other users. However,
>the Guest account will not connect.
>
>I'm stumped and going a bit batty...any help greatly
>appreciated!!!
>
>
>.
>

This will help you:
http://www.andyrathbone.com/tips/guestdial.html

===============================
It's a security measure built-in to Windows XP, unfortunately, and it works
like this: The Guest account can use an existing connection to connect to
the Internet. But Windows XP's security restrictions forbid Guest account
users from starting or disconnecting an Internet connection.
This problem doesn't affect every computer. If you access the Internet
through a cable or DSL account, for instance, your Internet connection is
always "turned on," even if it's not being currently accessed. That lets
Guest account users surf the Web without problem.
===============================

_______________________________________
Ramesh Srinivasan
MS Windows- Poweruser
eMail: SRamesh2k@hotmail.com
Aim: SRamesh2k
INDIA


"Mark" <spanishpause@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:0fd701c346e9$9dd4d040$a101280a@phx.gbl...
Ramesh:

Many thanks for your suggestions (below) regarding my
issue.

The funny thing is that the Guest account did have access
to the dial-up for about 6 weeks with no problems, then
it stopped functioning- not even a system restore back to
day one will allow it to work.

I'm confused about the limitations of the Guest account.
You indicate that Guests cannot normally access dial-up
Internet connections, however the XP Help &
Support "Walkthrough" on sharing your computer says:

"Guest access
The guest access feature of Windows XP allows someone who
is not a regular user of the shared computer to operate
it as if he or she holds a limited account. Guest access
is not protected by a password. Using Guest access makes
it easy for visitors to log on quickly to check e-mail,
browse the Internet, write and print documents, and
perform similar activities."

So, I'm not sure whether the Guest account can't access a
dial-up by design, or whether this is a bug or
configuration problem.

Thanks for any assistance.
Mark
(Confused XP user who has deployed 6 XP Pro computers on
2 networks without any problems until now)

>-----Original Message-----
>Normally, a Guest user cannot dial to internet. This is

by design. However,

>a limited user can dial, if you have kept a dial-up

connection open.

>(available for all users)
>
>Only one workaround: Connect using admin account and do

a Fast USer

>Switching:
>
>http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/e...ne/tips/may02/

theriot1.asp

>
>great tip from Kelly Theriot - MVP
>--
>_______________________________________
>Ramesh Srinivasan
>MSWindows OS- Poweruser
>eMail: SRamesh2k@hotmail.com
>Aim: SRamesh2k
>INDIA
>
>
>"Mark" <spanishpause@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>news:9ef201c34668$6f949f20$a401280a@phx.gbl...
>At some point, the XP Guest account, which was working
>fine for weeks, lost its ability to access the dial-up
>internet account. From the Guest account Start
>menu, "Connect to" appears with the name of the dial-up
>shown, however, clicking on the account does nothing.
>
>We tried (from the Administrator account) delting and re-
>doing the dial-up account, doing a system restore,
>setting various options concerning sharing the
>connection, etc., to no avail. Even a complete restore of
>the active partition via True Image did nothing to solve
>this problem.
>
>The dial-up works fine when accessed from the Adm
>account. All settings in the Adm account to allow other
>users to access the dial-up connection, user name, and
>password are set to allow access to other users. However,
>the Guest account will not connect.
>
>I'm stumped and going a bit batty...any help greatly
>appreciated!!!
>
>
>.
>