Browsing a Windows LAN?

[***** charles]

Hi all,

There seems to be a lot of questions concerning browsing
a workgroup. So I have two general questions:

What are all the factors that can prevent a Windows machine
from browsing a workgroup, hardware and software? It
seems that most problems are software related.

Is there a good resourse that describes the browsing function
and all the factors that are included in the process?

I am at a dilema for the moment in my own lan. I have an
XPH machine that either can't browse at all (permissions ....
see administrator....) or it can see the workgroup and it
can see itself in that workgroup but can't see anyone else
who is a member of said workgroup. Hardware is ok.
I have been through article 188001 and others but most
are curative/problem oriented in nature and I would like
to see more theory and how a Windows lan is supposed
to act. It can get a little frustrating when one tries the
suggestions and it still doesn't fix the problem.

thanks,
charles......

 

[Chuck]

Hi all,

There seems to be a lot of questions concerning browsing
a workgroup. So I have two general questions:

What are all the factors that can prevent a Windows machine
from browsing a workgroup, hardware and software? It
seems that most problems are software related.

Is there a good resourse that describes the browsing function
and all the factors that are included in the process?

I am at a dilema for the moment in my own lan. I have an
XPH machine that either can't browse at all (permissions ....
see administrator....) or it can see the workgroup and it
can see itself in that workgroup but can't see anyone else
who is a member of said workgroup. Hardware is ok.
I have been through article 188001 and others but most
are curative/problem oriented in nature and I would like
to see more theory and how a Windows lan is supposed
to act. It can get a little frustrating when one tries the
suggestions and it still doesn't fix the problem.

thanks,
charles......

Charles,

There are two very frequent causes of browser problems: misconfigured firewalls,
and too few / many browsers active on the LAN. Then, of course, hardware
problems causing loss in connectivity is a distant third.

The Microsoft Browstat program will show us what browsers you have in your
domain / workgroup, at any time.
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=188305

You can download Browstat from either:
<http://www.dynawell.com/reskit/microsoft/win2000/browstat.zip>
<http://rescomp.stanford.edu/staff/manual/rcc/tools/browstat.zip>

Browstat is very small (40K), and needs no install. Just unzip the downloaded
file, copy browstat.exe to any folder in the Path, and run it from a command
window, by "browstat status". Make sure all computers give the same result.

For more information about the browser subsystem (very intricate), see:
<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winntas/deploy/prodspecs/ntbrowse.mspx>

The browser function depends upon anonymous access, so look at registry key
[HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa], value restrictanonymous, on each
computer.
<http://www.microsoft.com/windows200...2000/techinfo/reskit/en-us/regentry/46688.asp>
<http://www.jsifaq.com/subf/tip2600/rh2625.htm>
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=246261
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=296403

The above articles refer to Windows 2000. Remember WinXP is NT V5.1, and Win2K
is NT V5.0.

Have you used the Registry Editor before? If not, it's a scary tool, but it's
pretty simple once you get used to it. Here are a couple articles that might
help:
<http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/...home/using/productdoc/en/tools_regeditors.asp>
<http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/registry>

Just remember to backup the key (create a registry patch) for
[HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa] before making any changes, if
appropriate.

From the Annoyances article:
You can create a Registry patch by opening the Registry Editor, selecting a
branch, and choosing Export from the File menu. Then, specify a filename, and
press OK. You can then view the Registry patch file by opening it in Notepad
(right-click on it and select Edit). Again, just double-click on a Registry
patch file (or use Import in the Registry Editor's File menu) to apply it to the
registry.

And Charles, posting your email address openly will get you more unwanted email,
than wanted email. Learn to munge your email address properly, to keep yourself
a bit safer when posting to open forums. Protect yourself and the rest of the
internet - read this article.
http://www.mailmsg.com/SPAM_munging.htm

 

[***** charles]

Charles,

There are two very frequent causes of browser problems: misconfigured firewalls,
and too few / many browsers active on the LAN. Then, of course, hardware
problems causing loss in connectivity is a distant third.

what constitues to few (0?) or too manay browsers?

The Microsoft Browstat program will show us what browsers you have in your
domain / workgroup, at any time.
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=188305

You can download Browstat from either:
<http://www.dynawell.com/reskit/microsoft/win2000/browstat.zip>
<http://rescomp.stanford.edu/staff/manual/rcc/tools/browstat.zip>

got it.

Browstat is very small (40K), and needs no install. Just unzip the downloaded
file, copy browstat.exe to any folder in the Path, and run it from a command
window, by "browstat status". Make sure all computers give the same result.

For more information about the browser subsystem (very intricate), see:
<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winntas/deploy/prodspecs/ntbro
wse.mspx>

The browser function depends upon anonymous access, so look at registry key
[HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa], value restrictanonymous, on each

computer.

<http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/reskit/en-us/default.asp?url=
/windows2000/techinfo/reskit/en-us/regentry/46688.asp>
<http://www.jsifaq.com/subf/tip2600/rh2625.htm>
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=246261
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=296403

The above articles refer to Windows 2000. Remember WinXP is NT V5.1, and Win2K
is NT V5.0.

Have you used the Registry Editor before?

yes, since the early NT4 days.

If not, it's a scary tool, but it's
pretty simple once you get used to it. Here are a couple articles that might

help:

<http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/using/productdoc/en/default.asp?url
=/windowsxp/home/using/productdoc/en/tools_regeditors.asp>
<http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/registry>

Just remember to backup the key (create a registry patch) for
[HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa] before making any changes, if
appropriate.

From the Annoyances article:
You can create a Registry patch by opening the Registry Editor, selecting a
branch, and choosing Export from the File menu. Then, specify a filename, and
press OK. You can then view the Registry patch file by opening it in Notepad
(right-click on it and select Edit). Again, just double-click on a Registry
patch file (or use Import in the Registry Editor's File menu) to apply it to the
registry.

And Charles, posting your email address openly will get you more unwanted email,
than wanted email. Learn to munge your email address properly, to keep yourself
a bit safer when posting to open forums. Protect yourself and the rest of the
internet - read this article.
http://www.mailmsg.com/SPAM_munging.htm

my address has a X at the end of the name, should fool most internet bots.
saw you deleted the whole address

One thing I did notice is that my original post for this thread did NOT show
up in my newgroup list. I sent it at 7:19pm last night and I saw your
response but did not see my original post. I wonder what happened?
At least you saw it but I don't.

will read through your suggestions when I get a few spare minutes.

thanks,
charles.......