Windows 98 Authentication Error

Windows 98 users will experience an authentication error if they attempt to browse a TAS server for shared volumes, or attempt to connect to a TAS volume. This error is caused by differing approaches to security in Windows 98 and in TAS.

By default, Windows 98 uses secure authentication and encrypted passwords. By default TAS uses unencrypted, plain-text, passwords.

There are two ways to resolve this authentication problem: Change Windows 98 default authentication to accept plain-text passwords, or enable TAS secure authentication. Follow the procedure below to enable plain-text Windows 98 passwords. Refer to the TAS Administration Guide, Troubleshooting chapter, Error Conditions and Solutions section, to enable secure authentication within TAS.

A plain-text password provides significantly less security than an encrypted password. As it travels between client and server, a plain-text password can be viewed by anyone using a network monitoring program. If you require a high degree of security, consider enabling TAS secure authentication.

To change default Windows 98 authentication to Password Authentication Protocol (PAP) using plain-text passwords:

1. Insert the Windows 98 CD into the PC's CD-ROM drive.

2. Open the Start menu and click Run.

3. Enter the following in the Run dialog: drive:\tools\mtsutil. Where drive is the drive letter of the CD-ROM drive.

4. Click OK.

5. In the list of items that appears, right-click the Ptxt_on.inf file, and click Install.

6. Once installation is complete, restart the PC. Plain-text passwords are now enabled in Windows 98.