Cannot access NAS unless I keep changing NAS Host name

bucky wrote:

I found that the newly built computer displayed only the default shares media and backup, after hours of trying different things I found if I clicked on media I got a password prompt which I never got when I simply entered \\NAS , when I entered the username and password of the NAS and went back the volumes suddenly appeared....How dumb!! Why didn't it give me a prompt when I just typed \\NAS why did I have to click one of the default share buttons in order to get the password prompt to popup?

The basic principle is that Windows presents the windows log on and password to the NAS. If the NAS rejects that log on, then windows will prompt you for another one. From your description it sounds like the NAS itself is set up to allow guest access, but that the individual shares are not. You can override the Windows behavior using the Windows credential manager (telling Windows to use admin and the associated password whenever it accesses the NAS).

The volumes are intended only for administrator use, which is why they didn't appear until you entered the NAS admin log on and password.

bucky wrote:
Anyway I'm still at a loss as to why I need to change the NAS network name each time I start the NAS before I can access from any of the 3 computers I have connected.....any more things I can try? Thanks for your responses so far.

Can you tell us more about what equipment is on your home network, and how the network is configured? Is the NAS set up to run 24x7, or does it sleep/power down on schedule? Does it use dhcp or a static address?

Also, I am wondering if you tried to access the NAS by IP address instead of by name.