Can't see computer in Network Places

[Chuck]

Chuck

THe computer that had the Guest Account turned off was the VaioStorage room.
The master browser is now KevinsVaio as Sharon2 (which was the MB for all
the machines before Sharon2 was rebooted after a Windows Update)

Only 2 machines have Computer Browser Services turned on now. Which are
KevinsVaio and Sharon2.

When you ask "Was the master browser computer logged on or off when the
invisibility problem was observed?" I'm not sure what you mean. But I can
state that yesterday all the machines were on (running and logged in) until I
went to sleep and they all had Sharo2 as the MasterBrowser. This a.m. as I
mentioned KWTablet rebooted after hibernation after which it saw all the
machines. Not sure what MasterBrowser it saw after the reboot but but Sharon2
was still running so I assume it was Sharon2. Later this a.m. Sharon2 had a
windows update that also requied a reboot afterwhich all the machines saw
KevinsVaio as the MasterBrowser.

KMW

Kevin,

One of the reasons why Windows browsing, and the master browser situation in
general, is more unpredictable, in small home workgroups, than in large office
domains, is the nature of the master browser.
# In an office domain, the master browser is typically the domain controller.
This is a server that is seldom logged in, and it is never used as a desktop
computer.
# In a small home workgroup, the master browser does duty as a personal desktop
computer. It is frequently logged in, and is generally actively used.

My suspicion is that, when logged in as a desktop computer, the master browser
performs some tasks in the context of the account logged in. In a situation
like yours, where the master browser might change, and where you have such a
rich assortment of computers, this becomes significant. Particularly when you
add in the effect of the browser latency period, during which what's observed on
any client might be based upon information cached from the past.

Now that you've stabilised your browser array, I expect that your Network
Neighborhood should stabilise too. But, as you noted, when you did Windows
Update, KevinsVaio took over duties from Sharon2 as the MasterBrowser.
Hopefully, all of the clients now recognise KevinsVaio.

I personally use PSExec (part of the PSTools package from SysInternals) to run
browstat, en masse, on my workgroup. I have a macro with shortcut on my main
computer:
psexec \\* browstat status
You may find this even more useful than I (your workgroup of 8 computers beats
mine of 4). It will run browstat on all computers in the workgroup, at your
convenience (when the network is properly working), from one computer.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/essential-tools-for-desktop-and.html#PSTools>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/essential-tools-for-desktop-and.html#PSTools