COMPUTERS NOT SHOWING UP IN WORKGROUP

[Guest]

WE JUST REPLACE 3 COMPUTERS AND UPGRADED 1. THEY ALL HAVE XP PROFESSIONAL
CONNECTED THROUGH AN ETHERNET HUB. NOW ONE OR MORE COMPUTERS WILL DROP OFF
FOR NO REASON. EACH COMPUTER MAY SHOW ALL OR SOME OR NO COMPUTERS IN THE
WORKGROUP. LOGGING OF AND ON WILL NOT RECONNECT THE WORKGROUP. YOU HAVE TO
RESTART EITHER THE STATION YOUR AT (MOST TIMES) OR THE MISSING STATION. THE
OLD STATION HAD 98 AND I HAD TO RENAME IT DURING THE UPGRADE AND CREATE A NEW
WORK GROUP.

 

[Chuck]

WE JUST REPLACE 3 COMPUTERS AND UPGRADED 1. THEY ALL HAVE XP PROFESSIONAL
CONNECTED THROUGH AN ETHERNET HUB. NOW ONE OR MORE COMPUTERS WILL DROP OFF
FOR NO REASON. EACH COMPUTER MAY SHOW ALL OR SOME OR NO COMPUTERS IN THE
WORKGROUP. LOGGING OF AND ON WILL NOT RECONNECT THE WORKGROUP. YOU HAVE TO
RESTART EITHER THE STATION YOUR AT (MOST TIMES) OR THE MISSING STATION. THE
OLD STATION HAD 98 AND I HAD TO RENAME IT DURING THE UPGRADE AND CREATE A NEW
WORK GROUP.

Please don't post in all caps - this is very hard to read, and is considered
rude in the various forums where you would seek advice.

Check for a browser conflict between the various computers. I"m not talking
about Internet Explorer here. The browser is the program that allows any
computer to see any other computer on the LAN.

On a 3 or 4 computer LAN, you should have only 2 computers running the browser.
Identify the two computers that stay online the most consistently, and designate
them the browsers.

Make sure the browser service is running on the browser computers. Control
Panel - Administrative Tools - Services. Verify that the Computer Browser, and
the TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper, services both show with Status = Started. Disable
the browser service on the other computers.

After checking / disabling / enabling as above, power all computers off to reset
the browser settings on each. Then power the browser computers on, and finally
the other computers on.

The Microsoft Browstat program will show us what browsers (I'm not talking about
Internet Explorer here) 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 list the same master
browser.
For more information about the browser subsystem (very intricate), see:
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=188001
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=188305
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=231312
<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winntas/deploy/prodspecs/ntbrowse.mspx>

--
Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck sonic net

 

[Guest]

thanks, pardon the caps, but small letters are hard for these old eyes to
see. anyway, are computers are not really connected to the internet. my
office manager uses hers (comp# 2)to connect to process credit card payment.
doe this matter? our main purpose for the network is to share our accounting
software(which the main company data folder is located on the old
(comp#1)upgraded computer) and to share the printers are dedicated forms are
printed with. comps 3 &4 are used for data entry. which computers should i
make the browsers?

 

[Carey Holzman]

www.careyholzman.com/net1.htm

Carey

 

[Chuck]

thanks, pardon the caps, but small letters are hard for these old eyes to
see. anyway, are computers are not really connected to the internet. my
office manager uses hers (comp# 2)to connect to process credit card payment.
doe this matter? our main purpose for the network is to share our accounting
software(which the main company data folder is located on the old
(comp#1)upgraded computer) and to share the printers are dedicated forms are
printed with. comps 3 &4 are used for data entry. which computers should i
make the browsers?

The browser is responsible for informing the other computers what computers are
on the LAN - with a small LAN like yours, you should have a master browser and a
backup browser. The master and browser should be the computers that stay online
the most, so the browser service is always available on the LAN.

If computer #1 is the computer with the shared software, presumably it and
computer #2 would be online the most. This is however a decision you must make,
based upon your knowledge of which computers are used the most. Just remember
that one of the browsers has to be online if the other computers are to see the
shared resources in Network Neighborhood.

And, if you stop or start any browser services, remember to power all computers
off to ensure that all learn anew which computers are the browsers.

--
Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck sonic net.