Sharing in both directions solved!

[Paul van Hagen]

After a long struggle I finally got sharing in two directions working on my
wireless home network.

I followed the steps described in the following article:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;170336

Despite the persistent browstat Error 53 return on one of the networked
PC's, I can see all shares on both computers from both computers in the
network neighborhood.

The only thing I needed was to define a key in:

HKLM/SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\NetworkProvider\Order\

ProviderOrder REG_SZ with the value "LanmanWorkstation"

and everything was working nicely.

Chuck,

If you read this, I've read many of your articles but I didn't come across
this one. That doesn't mean it's not there. If it is not I strongly
recommend to add the above link in one of your articles. I will attempt to
post a comment on one of the relevant blogs.
The conclusion for me is that although "browstat" is a very powerful
diagnostic tool it apparently can also falsely indicate a problem on your
network. Or, perhaps a problem is still lurking and will hit you at some
point, but it isn't critical for file and printer sharing to operate
properly i.e. from what I observe.

I recommend everyone to keep following the updates on Chuck's weblog. It's a
an extremely comprehensive set of articles and a good start for diagnosing
network problems.

 

[Chuck]

After a long struggle I finally got sharing in two directions working on my
wireless home network.

I followed the steps described in the following article:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;170336

Despite the persistent browstat Error 53 return on one of the networked
PC's, I can see all shares on both computers from both computers in the
network neighborhood.

The only thing I needed was to define a key in:

HKLM/SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\NetworkProvider\Order\

ProviderOrder REG_SZ with the value "LanmanWorkstation"

and everything was working nicely.

Chuck,

If you read this, I've read many of your articles but I didn't come across
this one. That doesn't mean it's not there. If it is not I strongly
recommend to add the above link in one of your articles. I will attempt to
post a comment on one of the relevant blogs.
The conclusion for me is that although "browstat" is a very powerful
diagnostic tool it apparently can also falsely indicate a problem on your
network. Or, perhaps a problem is still lurking and will hit you at some
point, but it isn't critical for file and printer sharing to operate
properly i.e. from what I observe.

Paul,

Did you use this fix on a Windows XP computer? Or pre-XP (NT / 2000)?

My Windows 2000 computer indeed has this value "LanmanWorkstation". I've
checked this value on 2 Windows XP Pro computers, and one Server 2003 computer,
and they have "RDPNP,LanmanWorkstation,WebClient". I also have a VirtualPC
running Windows XP Home, and it has "MRxVPC,RDPNP,LanmanWorkstation,WebClient".
This article you also might find interesting.
<http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=832161>
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=832161

I agree with your finding about the "Error = 53" - that should not affect the
ability to see other computers in Network Neighborhood. Seeing computers (ie
the browser) works from broadcasted datagrams, and does not require name
resolution. What happens when you try to open a share listed in Network
Neighborhood?

I've gotta work on a guestbook for my blog - I've known that for a while.
Having folks add comments at the end of each article, and not giving them a
chance to provide an email address, is stupid. DOHH.

 

[Paul van Hagen]

Hey Chuck,

Thanks for your feedback.

The two machines involved both run Windows XP Home Edition. One was
installed with SP2. The other I did recently using Windows update. One XP
station had all the REG_SZ value as you describe it (i.e. include Webclient,
etc.). The other machine had no entry at all which was obviously causing all
the problems.
I know - as being a professional software developer myself - that building a
good and reliable error reporting system can be a challenge. I think though
that Microsoft could have done a much better job at hinting what was
actually wrong like "corrupt registry setting" or even indicate what key in
the registry got corrupted. That could have saved me a lot of time.

Anyways, if I open the remote shares I can navigate all folders as if it
were on a local drive.

I will study the Microsoft article.

Thanks a lot for all your help.

 

[Chuck]

Hey Chuck,

Thanks for your feedback.

The two machines involved both run Windows XP Home Edition. One was
installed with SP2. The other I did recently using Windows update. One XP
station had all the REG_SZ value as you describe it (i.e. include Webclient,
etc.). The other machine had no entry at all which was obviously causing all
the problems.
I know - as being a professional software developer myself - that building a
good and reliable error reporting system can be a challenge. I think though
that Microsoft could have done a much better job at hinting what was
actually wrong like "corrupt registry setting" or even indicate what key in
the registry got corrupted. That could have saved me a lot of time.

Anyways, if I open the remote shares I can navigate all folders as if it
were on a local drive.

I will study the Microsoft article.

Thanks a lot for all your help.

Thanks for your feedback, Paul. If you get any more information out of the
Microsoft article, please let us know. There's one or 2 cases / month that I
deal with where your symptoms sound vaguely similar, and your diagnosis might be
useful.