How to enable basic authentication for WebDAV in Windows 8

Question

Previously, I used to have access to external data with the URL http:// , using only basic authentication (Username / Password) as a text file from Excel (version 2003) on a Windows XP Professional laptop.

I recently bought a new laptop for Windows 8 running Excel 2010, and now I can’t access the same external data. Obviously, basic authentication for WebDAV on Windows 8 is not enabled by default.

Searching the Internet I am only finding solutions to enable basic authentication for WebDAV for versions of Windows older than Windows 8.

Who has a “simple” solution to solve this problem? Please note: I am not a developer, but just a user.

Answer 1

Go to the same problem. Found a solution here, although the article is for Windows 7. It works the same.

http://www.scotttyee.com/blog/2011/07/24/mapping-a-network-drive-to-webdav-share-in-windows-7/

The relevant information from the blog post (which I am shocking, still exists after four years) is to install the DWORD registry

 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WebClient\ Parameters\BasicAuthLevel 

up to 2.

Answer 2

Here is the Microsoft documentation for the WebDav redirector , including registry keys. Basically 2 allows you to force Basic Auth without HTTPS (this is a bad choice, do not do this).