Can't reconnect mapped drives but other PCs can see my shares

G

Guest

I have a network of 3 PCs: a Win2k desktop, a WinXP SP2 notebook, a WinXP SP2
desktop. They share an Internet connection behind a router and have File and
Printer sharing turned on. This set-up has worked for years. Yesterday,
however, the XP desktop just couldn't browse the network for the other
computers. I am still able to connect to the Internet, but I can't see the
mapped drives. When I click on a mapped drive or type in the WinExplorer
address bar, I get messsages like "Unable to browse network", "network is not
present or not started", or "error occurred while reconnecting". WinExplorer
is not even able to display the common workgroup name. The other computers,
however, are still able to see and browse the shared drives of the XP desktop.

Any recommendations? Thanks in advance for any help!
 
C

Chuck

I have a network of 3 PCs: a Win2k desktop, a WinXP SP2 notebook, a WinXP SP2
desktop. They share an Internet connection behind a router and have File and
Printer sharing turned on. This set-up has worked for years. Yesterday,
however, the XP desktop just couldn't browse the network for the other
computers. I am still able to connect to the Internet, but I can't see the
mapped drives. When I click on a mapped drive or type in the WinExplorer
address bar, I get messsages like "Unable to browse network", "network is not
present or not started", or "error occurred while reconnecting". WinExplorer
is not even able to display the common workgroup name. The other computers,
however, are still able to see and browse the shared drives of the XP desktop.

Any recommendations? Thanks in advance for any help!

Your problem is most commonly caused by a misconfigured or overlooked personal
firewall, or other security component. There are several other possibilities
too, and any might be the cause of your problem. Read this article with an open
mind.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html

You might want to look at "browstat status", "ipconfig /all", "net config
server", and "net config workstation", from each computer, and diagnose the
problem. Read this article, and linked articles, and follow instructions
precisely (download browstat!):
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#AskingForHelp>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#AskingForHelp

Please let us know if any of these suggestions are of any help. What you learn
may help others in the future, and that's the purpose of these forums.
 
G

Guest

Thanks for your recommendations, Chuck. Below are outputs from the two XP SP2
systems I have. The desktop does not see the notebook shares, but the
notebook sees the desktop shares. Both systems connect via Ethernet cables to
the RJ45 ports of a NETGEAR wireless router. Windows Firewall is OFF on both
systems. I can go onto the Internet and ping the other PCs.

However, I could not run NET CONFIG WORKSTATION because the Workstation
service is not running. I could not start the Workstation service either, and
I get an error pop-up, as follows:

Services dialog: Windows could not start the Workstation on Local Computer.
For more information, review the System Event Log. If this is a non-Microsoft
service, contact the service vendor and refer to service-specific error code
2250.

I found and followed KB 841570 to re-expand mup.sys from the XP install disk
into system32\drivers and system32\dllcache.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR XP SP2 DESKTOP:

C:\Documents and Settings>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : delacruz2
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Gigabit Ethernet NIC:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8169/8110 Family
Gigabit
Ethernet NIC #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-40-F4-BC-1B-B2
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.8
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, June 22, 2006 2:36:12 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Friday, June 23, 2006 2:26:42 PM

C:\Documents and Settings>net config server

Server Name \\DELACRUZ2
Server Comment Bing's Desktop

Software version Windows 2002
Server is active on
NetbiosSmb (000000000000)
NetBT_Tcpip_{DA23317B-B17F-4300-954F-448E3AF27A12} (0040f4bc1bb2)


Server hidden No
Maximum Logged On Users 10
Maximum open files per session 16384

Idle session time (min) 15
The command completed successfully.

C:\Documents and Settings>net config workstation
The Workstation service is not started.

Is it OK to start it? (Y/N) [Y]: Y
The Workstation service is starting.
The Workstation service could not be started.

A service specific error occurred: 2250.

More help is available by typing NET HELPMSG 3547.

C:\Documents and Settings>

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR XP SP2 NOTEBOOK:

C:\Documents and Settings>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : NotebookXP
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter On-board Ethernet:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 3Com 3C920 Integrated Fast
Ethernet
Controller (3C905C-TX Compatible)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0B-DB-05-C8-4D
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.3
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, June 22, 2006 2:34:58 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Friday, June 23, 2006 10:37:47 AM

C:\Documents and Settings>net config server
Server Name \\NOTEBOOKXP
Server Comment Dell Inspiron

Software version Windows 2002
Server is active on
NetbiosSmb (000000000000)
NetBT_Tcpip_{C9518FA9-AD2D-49BC-AA6B-E39E9D0FDF0F} (000bdb05c84d)


Server hidden No
Maximum Logged On Users 10
Maximum open files per session 16384

Idle session time (min) 15
The command completed successfully.


C:\Documents and Settings>net config workstation
Computer name \\NOTEBOOKXP
Full Computer name NotebookXP
User name Chel

Workstation active on
NetbiosSmb (000000000000)
NetBT_Tcpip_{C9518FA9-AD2D-49BC-AA6B-E39E9D0FDF0F} (000BDB05C84D)

Software version Windows 2002

Workstation domain DELACRUZ
Workstation Domain DNS Name (null)
Logon domain NOTEBOOKXP

COM Open Timeout (sec) 0
COM Send Count (byte) 16
COM Send Timeout (msec) 250
The command completed successfully.

C:\Documents and Settings>
 
G

Guest

My initial reply with the diagnostic outputs was incomplete. I still have not
been able to start the Workstation service, despite expanding mup.sys from
the XP install disk, and a cold reboot.

Any suggestions? Thanks!
 
C

Chuck

Thanks for your recommendations, Chuck. Below are outputs from the two XP SP2
systems I have. The desktop does not see the notebook shares, but the
notebook sees the desktop shares. Both systems connect via Ethernet cables to
the RJ45 ports of a NETGEAR wireless router. Windows Firewall is OFF on both
systems. I can go onto the Internet and ping the other PCs.

However, I could not run NET CONFIG WORKSTATION because the Workstation
service is not running. I could not start the Workstation service either, and
I get an error pop-up, as follows:

Services dialog: Windows could not start the Workstation on Local Computer.
For more information, review the System Event Log. If this is a non-Microsoft
service, contact the service vendor and refer to service-specific error code
2250.

I found and followed KB 841570 to re-expand mup.sys from the XP install disk
into system32\drivers and system32\dllcache.

Well, if the log from "net config workstation" is saying that the workstation
service is not running, I'd say that is the problem. The other diagnostics are
superfluous now.

So how did you get from "the workstation service is not running" to KB841570,
and "re install mup.sys"?

You might do well to post after my posts, as this could take a while. Be
patient with me.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/how-to-post-on-usenet-and-encourage.html#TopPosting>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/how-to-post-on-usenet-and-encourage.html#TopPosting

If the server service is running (which explains why the other computers can see
this one), and the workstation service isn't, why not un install and re install
Client for Microsoft Networks. Reboot after un installing, and again after re
installing. Then rerun "net config workstation".
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#Components>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#Components
 
G

Guest

I finally got the Workstation service to run after I saw "Could not load
rdbss.sys" in the System Event Log. I reinstalled rdbss.sy_ from the XP
install disk, replacing the file dated 5/5/2006 with an older 8/3/2004
version. I can now browse the shares of the other computers.

Any thoughts on what I'm missing from the 5/5/06 version, and where I can
get a good upgraded copy of rdbss.sys?

Thanks!
 

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