When Microsoft released Windows XP’s SP2, they broke a lot of stuff. Amongst it was WebDAV Basic Authentication. They “disabled it by default” because it is a “security risk.” Well, that is true, but there is no option in menus anywhere to re-enable it. You have to do a registry edit! Well… I have just had to write the following excerpt for BrainBakery’s CMS product:

If you are using Windows XP SP2, and you cannot connect to WebDAV, then you need to enable “Basic Authentication” by running this command (all one line) from Start -> Run:\ \

REG ADD "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WebClient\Parameters" /v UseBasicAuth /t REG_DWORD /d 2{style=“font-size: 1.2em; font-weight: bold;”} \ \ And then restart your computer. More information can be found here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/841215. Now, this is not live yet, as I have not tested it. I will test it as soon as Jem stops playing The Sims 2, so I can use her Windows XP machine. Here’s hoping it doesn’t break anything.

Incidentally, if you are wondering why I used “2” and not “1”, the reason is that 2 enables Basic Authentication over plain HTTP (not HTTPS) under Windows Vista. I don’t know if the same command will work for Vista though.

This post could be useful for users of the PEAR module HTTP_WebDAV_Server, as that only currently supports Basic Authentication, I think.

If you find this useful, please leave me a comment! Thanks.