Windows Vista Down-Level SKU and File Sharing Monday, March 30, 2009

I recently setup a machine for a family member which came preloaded with the Windows Vista Home Basic edition SKU. When I attempted to connect to a file share I had setup on the new machine, from my Windows Server 2008 box as the local Administrator, I got an error saying "the account is disabled". I then realized that the down-level Windows Vista Home Basic SKU only allows one user (created at system first run), and apparently the built-in Administrator account is indeed disabled. The real reason for my file sharing error is that Windows Vista Home Basic thought I was trying to log in as Administrator (disabled locally) since I was logged in as the local Administrator on the Windows Server 2008 box. In order to connect to the file share, I had to use the net use command from the command line, specifying the credentials of the single active user (created during system first run). Problem solved.