Can't access workgroup computers

G

Guest

I hope someone out there can help me as my frustration level is rising....

I have a Gateway PC running XP Media Center and a Compaq Presario R3000
Notebook running XP Professional. Up until last week I had a small home
network set up using a Microsoft router. The PC is hard wired and the
Notebook is running wirelessly. Last week I changed to a linksys Wireless G
router (WRTS54Gv2) with a high gain antenna to get better wireless coverage
in the house. Now my little network is worthless. Both PCs can access the
internet but they can't see each other. I have set up a totally new home
network with a new workgroup name. Sometimes the workgroup appears and
sometimes it doesn't. I have pinged the computers from each other and they
both respond. I have McAfee Personal Firewall on the Desktop and Norton on
the Notebook. I would think this might be the problem but the same thing
happens when the firewalls are disabled on both computers. The kicker is that
every now and then you can see the workgroup and it works fine and then with
no warning you start getting the can't access workgroup message.

Please help me before I throw one of these things out of the window.
 
C

Chuck

I hope someone out there can help me as my frustration level is rising....

I have a Gateway PC running XP Media Center and a Compaq Presario R3000
Notebook running XP Professional. Up until last week I had a small home
network set up using a Microsoft router. The PC is hard wired and the
Notebook is running wirelessly. Last week I changed to a linksys Wireless G
router (WRTS54Gv2) with a high gain antenna to get better wireless coverage
in the house. Now my little network is worthless. Both PCs can access the
internet but they can't see each other. I have set up a totally new home
network with a new workgroup name. Sometimes the workgroup appears and
sometimes it doesn't. I have pinged the computers from each other and they
both respond. I have McAfee Personal Firewall on the Desktop and Norton on
the Notebook. I would think this might be the problem but the same thing
happens when the firewalls are disabled on both computers. The kicker is that
every now and then you can see the workgroup and it works fine and then with
no warning you start getting the can't access workgroup message.

Please help me before I throw one of these things out of the window.
Click to expand...

Jackie,

Besides a misconfigured or overlooked personal firewall, or other security
component, there are several other possibilities, and any might be the cause of
your problem. Read this article with an open mind.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html

We could look at "browstat status", "ipconfig /all", "net config server", and
"net config workstation", from each computer, and diagnose the problem. Read
this article, and linked articles, and follow instructions precisely (download
browstat!):
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#AskingForHelp>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#AskingForHelp

Whenever you have a pair of computers, and one is WiFi, you have a possible
browser conflict (I'm not discussing Internet Explorer either).
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/09/nt-browser-and-windows-networking.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/09/nt-browser-and-windows-networking.html
 
G

Guest

Chuck,
I read the articles (thanks) and still no luck. Here is the information from
ipconfig and browstat on the two computers. Please help!!! Jackie

COMPUTER 1 - Desktop connected using ethernet cable
From IPCONFIG...
Server Name \\DESKTOP
Server Comment Main Desktop

Software version Windows 2002
Server is active on
NetbiosSmb (000000000000)
NetBT_Tcpip_{2BA0CC16-53B1-495B-9818-A69CEB9F54C3} (00016cf821da)


Server hidden No
Maximum Logged On Users 10
Maximum open files per session 16384

Idle session time (min) 15
The command completed successfully.

Computer name \\DESKTOP
Full Computer name DESKTOP
User name Jackie

Workstation active on
NetbiosSmb (000000000000)
NetBT_Tcpip_{2BA0CC16-53B1-495B-9818-A69CEB9F54C3} (00016CF821DA)

Software version Windows 2002

Workstation domain JOHNSON HOME
Workstation Domain DNS Name (null)
Logon domain DESKTOP

COM Open Timeout (sec) 0
COM Send Count (byte) 16
COM Send Timeout (msec) 250
The command completed successfully.

From Browstat...

Status for domain JOHNSON HOME on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{2BA0CC16-53B1-495B-9818-A69CEB9F54C3}
Browsing is NOT active on domain.
Master name cannot be determined from GetAdapterStatus.

COMPUTER 2 - Notebook Connecting Wirelessly
From IPCONFIG...
Windows IP Configuration



Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : NOTEBOOK

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Peer-Peer

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No



Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:



Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-90-4B-58-7C-7F

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.101

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 12.213.80.61

Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Friday, March 09, 2007 9:50:09 AM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, March 10, 2007 9:50:09
AM

From Browstat...

Status for domain JOHNSON HOME on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{43ABA524-4143-4710-AF4D-9A03CC29E007}
Browsing is active on domain.
Master browser name is: NOTEBOOK
Master browser is running build 2600
1 backup servers retrieved from master NOTEBOOK
\\NOTEBOOK
There are 2 servers in domain JOHNSON HOME on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{43ABA524-4143-4710-AF4D-9A03CC29E007}
There are 1 domains in domain JOHNSON HOME on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{43ABA524-4143-4710-AF4D-9A03CC29E007}
 
C

Chuck

Chuck,
I read the articles (thanks) and still no luck. Here is the information from
ipconfig and browstat on the two computers. Please help!!! Jackie

COMPUTER 1 - Desktop connected using ethernet cable
From IPCONFIG...
Server Name \\DESKTOP
Server Comment Main Desktop

Software version Windows 2002
Server is active on
NetbiosSmb (000000000000)
NetBT_Tcpip_{2BA0CC16-53B1-495B-9818-A69CEB9F54C3} (00016cf821da)


Server hidden No
Maximum Logged On Users 10
Maximum open files per session 16384

Idle session time (min) 15
The command completed successfully.

Computer name \\DESKTOP
Full Computer name DESKTOP
User name Jackie

Workstation active on
NetbiosSmb (000000000000)
NetBT_Tcpip_{2BA0CC16-53B1-495B-9818-A69CEB9F54C3} (00016CF821DA)

Software version Windows 2002

Workstation domain JOHNSON HOME
Workstation Domain DNS Name (null)
Logon domain DESKTOP

COM Open Timeout (sec) 0
COM Send Count (byte) 16
COM Send Timeout (msec) 250
The command completed successfully.

From Browstat...

Status for domain JOHNSON HOME on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{2BA0CC16-53B1-495B-9818-A69CEB9F54C3}
Browsing is NOT active on domain.
Master name cannot be determined from GetAdapterStatus.

COMPUTER 2 - Notebook Connecting Wirelessly
From IPCONFIG...
Windows IP Configuration



Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : NOTEBOOK

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Peer-Peer

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No



Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:



Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-90-4B-58-7C-7F

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.101

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 12.213.80.61

Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Friday, March 09, 2007 9:50:09 AM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, March 10, 2007 9:50:09
AM

From Browstat...

Status for domain JOHNSON HOME on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{43ABA524-4143-4710-AF4D-9A03CC29E007}
Browsing is active on domain.
Master browser name is: NOTEBOOK
Master browser is running build 2600
1 backup servers retrieved from master NOTEBOOK
\\NOTEBOOK
There are 2 servers in domain JOHNSON HOME on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{43ABA524-4143-4710-AF4D-9A03CC29E007}
There are 1 domains in domain JOHNSON HOME on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{43ABA524-4143-4710-AF4D-9A03CC29E007}
Jackie,

Status for domain JOHNSON HOME on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{2BA0CC16-53B1-495B-9818-A69CEB9F54C3}
Browsing is NOT active on domain.
Click to expand...

OK, to start, Desktop either has NetBT not Enabled, or a personal firewall in
the way.
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : NOTEBOOK

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Peer-Peer
Click to expand...

Next, Notebook has Peer-Peer Node Type.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/address-resolution-on-lan.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/address-resolution-on-lan.html

Fix both of the above problems. Then, if the symptoms persist, rerun all 4
tests on each computer, and post output from ALL 8 TESTS, and I'll try again.
 
G

Guest

Chuck,
Thank you so much. It works now but I don't know for how long!:) I changed
the setting on the desktop computer from netbios over TCPIP back to default
(I know thats not what you told me to do but it was already set the other
way!) then I changed the node type on the laptop to broadcast. I restarted
the laptop but not the desktop and they communicated just fine. Thanks again
for your help. Let me know if you think this is a temporary fix or if I have
solved the problem.

Jackie
 

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