Add password to existing Windows 11 user account?

Copper Contributor

When we set up Windows 11 on the initial boot after receiving our new Dell Inspiron 15 3511, building the initial user account only asked for setting up a Windows PIN, not a password. So the account up in the MS cloud apparently has a PIN but not a password. Logging into the PC is fine, and everything works great.

However, when the other 4 PCs in the home network try to access the shared folders on the new PC, the response is that the user does not have permissions to access the system. We set up windows credentials on all 5 PCs with the users and passwords, and the new PC can access the shared folders on all 4 other machines. But still, no user can access the shared files on the new PC. Insufficient permissions.

All PCs are in the same Homegroup and same private network. All PCs have Private Network File & Printer Sharing enabled. The Public folders all have sharing turned on via the Sharing tab in the Properties dialog box.

I Googled "add a password to existing Windows 11 user account". Many tech sites showed how to do that using user account settings, control panel user accounts management, and the computer management app, but the selections they showed to click on do not exist on the new PC. The "reset password", "change password", or "new password" selections are absent in those apps.

I even used line "net user" command (run as admin) to "change" the password, and it failed.

Any suggestions? 

Joe C, frustrated Old Guy (dang, Windows used to be so easy to work with)

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