Computers do not appear under Network Neighborhood

[Robert Neville]

I began noticing some network connectivity idiosyncrasies after
upgrading my laptop with Windows XP Corporate SP2. My network uses
Netbeui protocol for accessing the file shares (drive shares). I know
you don't need Netbeui for file sharing, yet my network had it in the
past and prefer have the additional layers for "file and print
sharing". Both computers have drive shares with permissions.

My troubleshooting efforts have left me stump. I could ping all
computers from all computers, yet they do not show up in network
neighborhood.

ping 127.0.0.1
ping localhost
ping 192.168.1.100
ping Tarzan
ping 192.168.1.101
ping Jane

ping http://www.yahoo.com

All computers passed the ping tests. After ipconfig /all, I discovered
that "Tarzan" was 192.168.1.101 when in the past it was 192.168.1.100.
So my first question relates to resetting the IP address so "Tarzan"
grabs 192.168.0.100. I already tried *ipconfig /release* and *ipconfig
/renew*. I rebooted the router as well. Do I need to enter a static IP
address?

My D-Link 514 router has an option to assign IP addresses to a MAC
address. But this alternative seems less desirable since I often
switch between network adapters on "Jane", a laptop with wifi & cable
adapters. Could one achieve the same result from the network setting
side?

Selecting the network adapter and choosing "Properties", allows one to
select the "Internet protocol TCP/IP" and then "Properties" again.
Then one assigns an IP address. Yet two questions come to mind. First,
do you need to input anything in the DNS server setting? Could one
keep it as "Obtain DNS server address automatically?" Second, how do I
set it up the network setting for use on alterative networks? The
laptop travels on many networks other than my home network. I can not
waste precious time research every idiosyncrasies on different
networks. I need to familiarize myself with all roadblocks in Window
networking and be able to address them. The following list relates to
my troubleshooting efforts


- All PCs have TCP/IP installed.
- All PCs have Netbios over TCP/IP enabled.
- All PCs have the same workgroup.
- All PCs have a unique computer name.
- ALL PCs have network shares defined directly under c:.
- ALL NICS are on the same subnet (typically IP 192.168.0.* subnet
255.255.255.0).
- MS Client and file & printer sharing are checked on each NIC.
- All NICs have their node type = to UNKNOWN.
- XP's ICF firewall is permanently disabled.
- All 3rd party firewalls are disabled, uninstalled and deleted (until
connection is working).
- Internet Connection performs as expected on both machines.

Let me know if you have any suggestions or could lead me to clarify
the situation further. Thanks!

 

[Guest]

I had the same problem sort of at work. We had to
uninstall a VPN that a company we were (they moved out)
sharing an office had setup to communicate with their main
office in Florida.

Anyway, I just ran the netsetup program that XP makes for
configuring local networks. I had to put it on our ftp
site of our website because the laptops we have don't have
floppies (sp?), and run that after I had restored our
internet connectivity (being as it is you can restore the
internet to your XP network without file sharing working).
Just run the network setup wizard and run the netsetup.exe
that it writes to a floppy and then make sure you have
netBIOS IPX TCP/IP installed on your network devices.

That's I guess how it should be. Try to run the netsetup
wizard on one of the computers that is sharing already
correctly and then run the .exe it copies to a floppy on
your machine that isn't working. That's my best guess. I
think the networking is actually dependent on you running
the netsetup program, but I'm not really sure. I couldn't
get anything to work until I did that. I don't think SP2
has anything to with it.

David Harris

 

[Lance]

Good trouble shooting. I don't have a solution, but do have a couple
more things to check:

Robert Neville said the following on 10/7/2004 2:04 PM:

- ALL NICS are on the same subnet (typically IP 192.168.0.* subnet
255.255.255.0).

The IP's should be 192.168.1.*

In Services (Start/Run/type in services.msc<enter>), is Computer Browser
started on all PC's? TCP/IP Netbios Helper?

Any third party firewalls installed in the past? There may be bits and
pieces left over (from my own personal experience with Cisco VPN). Find
manual uninstall instructions from the vendor and check.

Lance
*****

 

[Harvey Jeane]

Robert,

I would like to talk with you directly (via the telephone) about this
problem. I recognize that this procedure is a bad practice as others do not
get the benefit of our "problem solving" efforts. My only justification for
this is that I sense this might be an easier approach to bring you up to
date on my efforts to address a similar problem (in fact, I believe it is
the exact same problem). Otherwise, I would have to spend a lot of time
typing-in what I've learned to date.

Unfortunately, I do not have a solution at this time, but I have gathered
some information that might be useful going forward. The problem appears to
be associated with Microsoft's Computer Browser Service. This service
constructs and maintains a list of computers across a LAN or WAN. The
Browser Service does this in a fairly complicated and decentralized manner
(i.e., your can read about this in Microsoft Knowledge Base Articles #188001
and #188305). I believe that this service is at the core of our common
problem. I had been running my current network configuration for over two
years under XP (SP1); before that, for about three years under a mixture of
Me, Windows 2000 and NT. I never had the problem until I installed SP2 for
Windows XP. I can see and directly communicate with every shared resource on
my network. The only thing that appears to be broken is the construction and
maintenance of a complete Network Neighborhood list.

I live in Las Vegas and can be contacted at (702) 645-0999. I have no
problem calling you and "picking-up" the long distance charges if you're
willing to share your telephone number with me and provide me a time when
you would be available. I keep working on other projects and coming back to
this problem - I would really like to get it resolved.

I use Earthlink's Spam Blocker to control spam. As such, it will not forward
an email to me if the sender's email address is not in my current address
book. Instead, it informs the sender that his message was blocked, and
allows the sender to request that his email address be added to my address
book. Under normal circumstances, I would add your email address to my
address book immediately, and any direct response to this message would not
be blocked. Unfortunately, in looking at the construction of your email
address, I suspect that you might be employing a form of "munging" to defeat
(or at least slow down) email mining viruses from collecting your email
address on an open newsgroup. Therefore, please respond to the Earthlink
message if you are blocked so I can add you to my address book, or pick up
the phone and give me a call. As I stated above, once I get your telephone
number, I'll be glad to pick-up future long distance charges.

I'll keep monitoring this thread if you fail to reach me directly via email
of telephone.

Harvey Jeane (Harv)
(e-mail address removed) (delete "-remove-" before using)

 

[Madhur Ahuja]

The IP's should be 192.168.1.*

Why? Does it make any difference since both are valid Class C Address.

 

[Lance]

Madhur Ahuja thought carefully and wrote on 10/8/2004 11:52 AM:

Why? Does it make any difference since both are valid Class C Address.

You are right of course, but his successful ping attempts used
192.168.1.*. It's probably a typo, but if not it could be a problem.

Lance
*****

 

[Robert Neville]

Thanks for your support. This situation seems like a bugger.

I am leaving for the weekend for a wedding and will not be able to
address this situation until early next week. Keep a watch on the
thread. Thanks!

 

[Robert Neville]

In Services (Start/Run/type in services.msc<enter>)

YES - Computer Browser
YES - TCP/IP Netbios Helper?

Any third party firewalls installed in the past? There may be bits and
pieces left over (from my own personal experience with Cisco VPN).

Never on both machines.

I know that I missing something, but can not get beyond this point.

Any suggestions on troublshooting the Computer Browser?

Or

Any suggestions on troublshooting the TCP/IP Netbios Helper?

How do delete the current Computer Browser settings?


What other tests or utilities would help troubleshoot my network
settings?

 

[AllanK]

I fixed my problem by disabling the Windows Firewall. Tried Exceptions and
Services settings but nothing allowed NetBIOS shares into the machine.
HOWEVER, even with the Firewall disabled it still blocked my network
sessions to the share. I had to clear the Firewall on LAN box to make things
work. I also turned off Security Center in Control Panel... Recommendations
for Firewall Notifications.

Happy again..... thinking of Linux.