H
Harvey Jeane
Many of you have requested help on a problem that I observed (and have been
vigorously investigating) since installing Windows XP SP2. When I attempt to
view the computers in my workgroup, only a small fraction of these are
displayed. My workgroup consists of 10 computers. All of the computers are
running Windows XP Home Edition SP2. Depending on which computer I use to
view the workgroup, I get a different picture of the active computers. In no
case do I see all 10 computers. Usually I see only 1 to 3 computers. The
computers seen will differ from machine to machine and will change over
time. Everything else appears to be working fine. Every computer can ping
every other computer; every computer can access the shared resources of all
other computers; My Network Places on all computers are fully populated and
fully functional. I have asked for help on this Newsgroup on several
occasions and have gotten timely and professional responses - Thanks!
Unfortunately, none of the suggestions resulted in a "fix".
With this said, I appear to have stumbled on a solution while working a
totally different problem. To recap, my current network is configured as
follows...
All computers are running Windows Home Edition SP2
All firewalls are turned off (maybe not - more about this later)
All computers are on the same subnet
IP addresses are provided by a DHCP server integrated into a router
All computers have unique names
All computers are in the same workgroup
NetBIOS over TCP/IP is enabled on all computers
Computer Browser Service is started automatically and is running on all
computers
TCP/IP Net BIOS Helper Service is started automatically and is running on
all computers
Client for Microsoft Networks is enabled on all computers
File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks is enabled on all computers
As I have already said, all computers see and can access shared resources
across the network; all computers can ping all other computers across the
network
Based on my own document search and suggestions from this newsgroup, I have
studied the following Microsoft Knowledge Base Articles...
188305 - "Troubleshooting the Microsoft Computer Browser Service"
231312 - "Computer Name Missing in the Browsing List"
Despite all of my efforts and the excellent suggestions provided on this
newsgroup, I had made absolutely no progress (learned a lot, but "no cigar")
on solving this problem until about 6 hours ago. I was doing some routine
maintenance on my network and discovered a possible anomaly in Windows XP.
Once addressed, this anomaly appears to have been the cause of my problems
since installing SP2 on all computers. Let me explain...
I was changing the share name on a hard disk drive (C: drive) on one of the
computers in my network - simple enough, right? At the bottom of the Sharing
Tab on the drive properties is a simple statement...
"Windows Firewall will be configured to allow this folder to be shared with
other computers on the network."
"View your Windows Firewall settings"
I don't know why I decided to click-on the "View your Windows Firewall
settings", but I did. This "pulled-up" the standard Windows Firewall screen
that I have viewed 100s of times before. The screen indicated that the
Firewall for this computer was On. Without changing anything, I went to the
Control Panel and opened the Windows Security Center. This screen reported
that the Firewall was Off. Again, I did not change anything. I went to the
Network Connections screen and looked at the Internet Connection icon. The
icon did not contain the "little lock" that would indicate an active
firewall. Finally, I opened the Sharing Tab on the drive properties for the
D: drive on this computer and clicked-on the "View your Windows Firewall
settings". The Firewall was Off on the D: drive. In summary, every place I
looked the firewall was Off except when I accessed the firewall state from
the Sharing Tab associated with the C: drive. I had always assumed that the
firewall state was a global setting within a single computer and would
report the same results independently - apparently not. I returned to the C:
drive Sharing Tab, entered the Windows Firewall screen and turned the
firewall Off. I then went to the other 9 computers on my network and
confirmed that no firewall was active when viewed via the Sharing Tabs.
Within 15 minutes of making this change, all workgroup computers were
showing up on all machines on my network. This time (i.e., 15 minutes) is
consistent with the time required for a full propagation cycle of computer
name information in a single segment environment (see document entitled,
"Troubleshooting the Microsoft Computer Browser Service"). Also, it is clear
how one misconfigured computer on a network can result in Browser Service
problems on all of the computers on the network. Browser Service is not a
centralized service. It propagates information among the network computers
in a seemingly random manor. Therefore, if something is "screwed-up"
anywhere on the network, it can interrupt this propagation cycle and have a
profound global effect.
In summary, just because the firewall is Off doesn't mean that it is Off
everywhere. This has nothing to do with uninstalling the firewall and having
pieces of the firewall still in memory and the registry. This appears to be
a situation where the firewall must be turned Off at various places to
insure that it is truly Off everywhere. This does not make a lot of sense,
but it definitely appears that it solves my problem - hopefully, this
information will be useful to others on this newsgroup.
Harvey
vigorously investigating) since installing Windows XP SP2. When I attempt to
view the computers in my workgroup, only a small fraction of these are
displayed. My workgroup consists of 10 computers. All of the computers are
running Windows XP Home Edition SP2. Depending on which computer I use to
view the workgroup, I get a different picture of the active computers. In no
case do I see all 10 computers. Usually I see only 1 to 3 computers. The
computers seen will differ from machine to machine and will change over
time. Everything else appears to be working fine. Every computer can ping
every other computer; every computer can access the shared resources of all
other computers; My Network Places on all computers are fully populated and
fully functional. I have asked for help on this Newsgroup on several
occasions and have gotten timely and professional responses - Thanks!
Unfortunately, none of the suggestions resulted in a "fix".
With this said, I appear to have stumbled on a solution while working a
totally different problem. To recap, my current network is configured as
follows...
All computers are running Windows Home Edition SP2
All firewalls are turned off (maybe not - more about this later)
All computers are on the same subnet
IP addresses are provided by a DHCP server integrated into a router
All computers have unique names
All computers are in the same workgroup
NetBIOS over TCP/IP is enabled on all computers
Computer Browser Service is started automatically and is running on all
computers
TCP/IP Net BIOS Helper Service is started automatically and is running on
all computers
Client for Microsoft Networks is enabled on all computers
File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks is enabled on all computers
As I have already said, all computers see and can access shared resources
across the network; all computers can ping all other computers across the
network
Based on my own document search and suggestions from this newsgroup, I have
studied the following Microsoft Knowledge Base Articles...
188305 - "Troubleshooting the Microsoft Computer Browser Service"
231312 - "Computer Name Missing in the Browsing List"
Despite all of my efforts and the excellent suggestions provided on this
newsgroup, I had made absolutely no progress (learned a lot, but "no cigar")
on solving this problem until about 6 hours ago. I was doing some routine
maintenance on my network and discovered a possible anomaly in Windows XP.
Once addressed, this anomaly appears to have been the cause of my problems
since installing SP2 on all computers. Let me explain...
I was changing the share name on a hard disk drive (C: drive) on one of the
computers in my network - simple enough, right? At the bottom of the Sharing
Tab on the drive properties is a simple statement...
"Windows Firewall will be configured to allow this folder to be shared with
other computers on the network."
"View your Windows Firewall settings"
I don't know why I decided to click-on the "View your Windows Firewall
settings", but I did. This "pulled-up" the standard Windows Firewall screen
that I have viewed 100s of times before. The screen indicated that the
Firewall for this computer was On. Without changing anything, I went to the
Control Panel and opened the Windows Security Center. This screen reported
that the Firewall was Off. Again, I did not change anything. I went to the
Network Connections screen and looked at the Internet Connection icon. The
icon did not contain the "little lock" that would indicate an active
firewall. Finally, I opened the Sharing Tab on the drive properties for the
D: drive on this computer and clicked-on the "View your Windows Firewall
settings". The Firewall was Off on the D: drive. In summary, every place I
looked the firewall was Off except when I accessed the firewall state from
the Sharing Tab associated with the C: drive. I had always assumed that the
firewall state was a global setting within a single computer and would
report the same results independently - apparently not. I returned to the C:
drive Sharing Tab, entered the Windows Firewall screen and turned the
firewall Off. I then went to the other 9 computers on my network and
confirmed that no firewall was active when viewed via the Sharing Tabs.
Within 15 minutes of making this change, all workgroup computers were
showing up on all machines on my network. This time (i.e., 15 minutes) is
consistent with the time required for a full propagation cycle of computer
name information in a single segment environment (see document entitled,
"Troubleshooting the Microsoft Computer Browser Service"). Also, it is clear
how one misconfigured computer on a network can result in Browser Service
problems on all of the computers on the network. Browser Service is not a
centralized service. It propagates information among the network computers
in a seemingly random manor. Therefore, if something is "screwed-up"
anywhere on the network, it can interrupt this propagation cycle and have a
profound global effect.
In summary, just because the firewall is Off doesn't mean that it is Off
everywhere. This has nothing to do with uninstalling the firewall and having
pieces of the firewall still in memory and the registry. This appears to be
a situation where the firewall must be turned Off at various places to
insure that it is truly Off everywhere. This does not make a lot of sense,
but it definitely appears that it solves my problem - hopefully, this
information will be useful to others on this newsgroup.
Harvey