Cannot brows My network Places

[Guest]

Hi there

One my network I have two Windows 2000 DC's some more 2k server that is
providing file/printer services and all of my clients are running Windows XP
Pro.
I also have a few Windows 2003 servers.

On not one of my servers or workstations am I able to brows my network places.
If I don a net view then it will tell me that the list of servers in the
workgroup is currently unavailable with system error 6118

Everything use to work just fine till about a week ago. No GPO's has been
changes. McAfee AV installed on systems. I have disabled McAfee on one of the
systems but it is doing the same. NBT is enabled on the whole network. All
computers are on the same subnet. No personal firewall software installed on
servers, only windows firewall on the XP machines.

Nothing the the event logs. No even on the DC's.

Any help will be much appreciated.

thanks

 

[John Wunderlich]

Hi there

One my network I have two Windows 2000 DC's some more 2k server
that is providing file/printer services and all of my clients are
running Windows XP Pro.
I also have a few Windows 2003 servers.

On not one of my servers or workstations am I able to brows my
network places. If I don a net view then it will tell me that the
list of servers in the workgroup is currently unavailable with
system error 6118

Everything use to work just fine till about a week ago. No GPO's
has been changes. McAfee AV installed on systems. I have disabled
McAfee on one of the systems but it is doing the same. NBT is
enabled on the whole network. All computers are on the same
subnet. No personal firewall software installed on servers, only
windows firewall on the XP machines.

Nothing the the event logs. No even on the DC's.

Just a guess..., but in this regard, one computer on the subnet with
a mis-configured firewall can cause this. On each subnet, one
computer is elected to serve as the Master Browser and collect
information about other connected devices which it then distributes
to any computer that asks for a list. A lot of this protocol is
handled via Broadcasts which tend to be ignored by computers with
firewalls enabled... so these computers tend to think they're the
only computer on the subnet and force themselves to become the
master browser. After this, that computer's firewall turns a deaf
ear to the fact that other computers are on the subnet and refuses
to hear requests for the browser list.

If this is your problem, try reducing your subnet to a few computers
then add other computers one-at-a-time until the problem reappears.
I have also had luck using the "browstat.exe" program to force an
election on the subnet. Sometimes for a short while after an
election, a "browstat vw" command will reveal more than one browse
master -- one of these devices will most likely be the problem
device.

Good luck,
John

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your quick response John.

All of my computers are on the same subnet as it is a relatively small
network. About 70 computers and servers on the subnet. How can I determine
which server is currently the master browser or do you to manually trigger an
elections.

browstat - is this a support of resource kit tool.

I also have McAfee running on my whole network with on access scanner
enabled. In the past I had lots of problems with the on access scanner. Do
you think this might cause the problem?

Hope to hear from you soon.

thanks

 

[John Wunderlich]

All of my computers are on the same subnet as it is a relatively
small network. About 70 computers and servers on the subnet. How
can I determine which server is currently the master browser or do
you to manually trigger an elections.

browstat - is this a support of resource kit tool.

I also have McAfee running on my whole network with on access
scanner enabled. In the past I had lots of problems with the on
access scanner. Do you think this might cause the problem?

You can determine current master browser by issuing the
browstat GETMASTER [...] or
browstat STATUS [...]

browstat VIEW [...] command should return a list of computers in your
domain or workgroup with the master browser listed with "MBR" status.

Alternatively, you can issue a "nbtstat -a <computername>" or
"nbtstat -A <ip_address>" (-A or -a is case sensitive) command for each
machine on your network and look for a line that contains
"__MSBROWSE__" with the data that is returned. Every subnet should
have exactly one such machine for each workgroup or domain.

Browstat.exe is a Support Tool. See
"Folder Listing of the Support Tools Included in Windows 2000"
<http://support.microsoft.com/kb/246926/en-us>

Some instructions for using Browstat are found in article:
"Troubleshooting the Microsoft Computer Browser Service"
<http://support.microsoft.com/kb/188305/en-us>

This article seems a close fit to your problem:
"Internet firewalls can prevent browsing and file sharing"
<http://support.microsoft.com/kb/298804/en-us>

Sorry, but I am unfamiliar with the McAfee product you cite.

HTH,
John