Question

Smart Card workstation login without directory or domain?

Asked by: Sebastian_Strauss

Title says it all, how can I do a smart card windows xp workstation login without directory or domain?

I know there are 3rd party products which do that, but they require to write onto the smart card.
In my case, that won't work, because they're CAC.

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2008-08-14 at 19:01:48ID23650282
Topics

SmartCards Security

,

Microsoft Operating Systems

Participating Experts
4
Points
500
Comments
4

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. smart card
    how can i write info into smart card and retrict the info fr smart card by using VB?if anyone can help me , pls reply me as fast as possible..thanks..
  2. Smart Arrat Controller
    Hi experts.. Can anybody here give me the major funcationality difference between 1). Smart Array controllers, 2). Raid controllers, 3). SCSI controllers.. Give me some site links if u can.. regs pvraj
  3. What is a "Smart Client"
    I came accross the notion of a smart client, but can't find any details on it (IssueVision was an exactly but has almost zero documention). Is MS calling a "smart client" just a smartly written application whose backend is versitle (web service)?
  4. Smart Wizard
    After installation of my windows xp everything works ok. There is just this one annoying thing : In the system tray there is always a popup message which returns every 30 sec - 2 min. The message is : Smart Wizard : Removed : Unknown device. There are in hardware list ...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: grayePosted on 2008-08-14 at 19:54:22ID: 22235733

The certificates on the CAC are cached on the PC in case the domain is temporarily  unavailable.   So, that means if you take a PC, join it to the domain, login with your CAC card at least once, and then disconnect it from the LAN, you can still login in using your CAC card when you're no longer connected.

This is exactly how laptop computers work in a domain environment when they are not physically attached to the LAN.   Users can continue to login with their CAC just as before.

 

by: KonstantinPrinzPosted on 2008-08-15 at 02:59:28ID: 22236877

If you have no CA and no Domain this will plainly not work, as there is no way for the local machine to authenticate the certificate.

This, by the way is the reason that even when you have KB909520 installed and appropriate card and drivers there will be no PIN question once you left the domain. The whole thing is only designed to work in an enterprise environment.

What graye mentioned would work, although you'd have to set up the whole deal to get it to work initially, and the computer has to remain a domain memebr. It has the caveat that when the crl expires, you're out.

A 3rd Party product that brings its own GINA would probably be the best (and most important easiest) way to go then.

 

by: ParanormasticPosted on 2008-08-15 at 09:28:05ID: 22239560

If it wasn't CAC, I would say to look for a card that offers storing windows credentials on it - these would behave the same way as cert logon (from a user standpoint at least, we won't get into the deeper security aspects relating to kerberos), and would behave the same way for card insertion and removal events (eg lock workstation on card removal, windows logon, etc.).

As it is, it may be time to set up an el-cheapo domain controller.  There are a fair number of other questions on EE that you could search that relate to having your active directory trust another, even ones specific to CAC.

Sounds like you are probably an independant contractor, sole proprietor, or something similar - talk to your tax guy and see if you can write off the costs for adding it and paying a consultant if you need to - I'm not a tax guy so I really don't know, but its worth the ask.

 

by: tstaddonPosted on 2008-10-02 at 09:31:37ID: 22625857

If you're talking about purely for personal use then I can't offer a suggestion. If you're talking about a network with a number of users but no domain infrastructure, the problem would be how do you know whose card is whose. That means you need a directory of some kind.

There is a  product called Imprivata, which provides a "third party certificate on smart card" login AND has its own directory built in.

The Authentication Management module of OneSign happily works if you have Windows PCs booting up into generic accounts. In that situation, the appliance uses its own virtual directory to store unique user login names and passwords, associates an existing certificate on an existing card with the login details for the virtual directory, and then "hot swaps" the login identity of the user based on whose card is in the machine..

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...