Please Help Network/Master Browser Issue

[Adam Smith]

Okay - this is killing me.

Every time I take my laptop and connect it to a new network I run into all
kinds of network issues when I return. Previous to leaving everything is
100%. The only change I make is from static IP at home to DHCP at a remote
site. Nothing else and I set it all back correctly.

OS is WinXP Pro SP2 on 2 desktops and the troublesome laptop. The desktops
are unaffected accept that the laptop is invisible to them (besides \\IP
browing and ping).

IPs 192.168.123.XX
Subnet 255.255.255.000
Gateway 192.168.123.2
DNS 192.168.123.2

1) My Network Places - completely depopulates itself
2) Other computers are not visible on the network despite being in the same
workgroup, having file sharing turned on, and working great before leaving
3) I CAN ping other computers via IP address
4) I CAN browse other computers via IP address in Explorer (but NOT the name
of the computer)
5) I can't access the workgroup of which all computers are a member (HOME is
the name) I get access refused and a note to talk to the network admin
(standard no help message).

So I ran browstat on my laptop and I get the following: "Browsing is NOT
active on domain. Master name cannot be determined from GetAsapterStatus".
Of course, my other PCs are unaffected and one of them is the master browser
when I run this on the others.

I'm guessing that when I connect to the other network the whole master
browser thing takes a giant crap. Unfortunately, I usually work at home so
this is unacceptable.

Any ideas how I can prevent this from happening or how about resetting it so
I can get it back without a complete reimage of the HD (which I've been
doing in the past).

Any help is appreciated greatly because I'm really tired and irritated on
this one.

Chris

 

[Malke]

Okay - this is killing me.

Every time I take my laptop and connect it to a new network I run into
all
kinds of network issues when I return. Previous to leaving everything
is
100%. The only change I make is from static IP at home to DHCP at a
remote
site. Nothing else and I set it all back correctly.

OS is WinXP Pro SP2 on 2 desktops and the troublesome laptop. The
desktops are unaffected accept that the laptop is invisible to them
(besides \\IP browing and ping).

IPs 192.168.123.XX
Subnet 255.255.255.000
Gateway 192.168.123.2
DNS 192.168.123.2

1) My Network Places - completely depopulates itself
2) Other computers are not visible on the network despite being in the
same workgroup, having file sharing turned on, and working great
before leaving 3) I CAN ping other computers via IP address
4) I CAN browse other computers via IP address in Explorer (but NOT
the name of the computer)
5) I can't access the workgroup of which all computers are a member
(HOME is the name) I get access refused and a note to talk to the
network admin (standard no help message).

So I ran browstat on my laptop and I get the following: "Browsing is
NOT
active on domain. Master name cannot be determined from
GetAsapterStatus". Of course, my other PCs are unaffected and one of
them is the master browser when I run this on the others.

I'm guessing that when I connect to the other network the whole master
browser thing takes a giant crap. Unfortunately, I usually work at
home so this is unacceptable.

Any ideas how I can prevent this from happening or how about resetting
it so I can get it back without a complete reimage of the HD (which
I've been doing in the past).

Any help is appreciated greatly because I'm really tired and irritated
on this one.

Chris

You can set up two network profiles in XP. Set one up for work, one for
home. Check XP's Help & Support for something like "networking
profiles". Otherwise, third-party connection management software would
work for you. Not expensive, and very useful. Here are some links for
that:

http://www.netswitcher.com - NetSwitcher
http://www.globesoft.com/mnm_home.html - MultiNetwork Manager
http://www.mobilenetswitch.com - Mobile Net Switch

Malke

 

[Adam Smith]

Hi, I've actually used IBM's software on my Thinkpad to do that before. I'm
not so much concerned with switching the settings manually as getting my
computer to browse the network again.

From Browstat's message: "Browsing is NOT active on domain. Master name
cannot be determined from
GetAsapterStatus" it looks like it has been disabled (more time does not
bring it back up - My Network Places simply remains empty forever). It's as
if the functionality got disabled when I used that one network and it never
ever returns. I've tried everything. When I change the settings again
whether it's manual for IBM's software and return home - it's no dice,
everything is gone, every single time.

I can not tell you how frustrating this is (especially considering I just
reimaged the drive again a few days ago specifically because of this issue).

Chris