If Windows keeps asking for credentials when you open a network share, even though you turned off password-protected sharing, a few things might be causing it:
Permissions on the folder Turning off password protection doesn’t automatically give everyone access. Check both the share permissions and the NTFS permissions. If “Everyone” or “Authenticated Users” isn’t there, Windows will still ask for a login.
Old or wrong credentials saved Windows may be using bad cached credentials. Go to Control Panel → Credential Manager → Windows Credentials, remove any entries for that server, then try again.
Guest access blocked Newer Windows versions block guest access to SMB shares by default, even if password sharing is off. To fix this, enable “insecure guest logons” in Group Policy (gpedit.msc → Computer Config → Admin Templates → Network → Lanman Workstation) or in the registry.
Different usernames If the client and server aren’t in the same workgroup or domain, Windows often asks for a username/password. In that case, you can map the share with:
net use \\Server\Share /user:ServerName\Username