File Sharing Problem

[Nobody]

HI,

I have 3 systems. System A runs ME, system B runs XP Pro, system C runs
XP home.

I have file sharing running fine when all 3 systems are running.

If system A is off I get an error when I try the following:

My Nework Places>Entire Network>Microsoft Windows Network>Workgroup

What changes can I make so that system A does not have to be on? I mostly
use system B and C. I would like to make the changes to system A & C.

Thank you for your help!

 

[Chuck]

HI,

I have 3 systems. System A runs ME, system B runs XP Pro, system C runs
XP home.

I have file sharing running fine when all 3 systems are running.

If system A is off I get an error when I try the following:

My Nework Places>Entire Network>Microsoft Windows Network>Workgroup

What changes can I make so that system A does not have to be on? I mostly
use system B and C. I would like to make the changes to system A & C.

Thank you for your help!

Joe,

I'm not sure what the error "My Nework Places>Entire Network>Microsoft Windows
Network>Workgroup" means, but I'm betting it's related to the browser (I'm not
talking about Internet Explorer) issue. The browsers for Windows 9x/ME and for
Windows NT/2K/XP don't work well together.

Make sure the browser service is running on Systems B and C. 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 on System A:
http://cms.simons-rock.edu/faq_by_subtopic/node138.html

Once that's done, power all 3 computers off, to let all 3 reset its browser
status. Then power each one on.

The Microsoft Browstat program will show us what browsers 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 give the same result.

For more information about the browser subsystem (very intricate), see:
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=188001
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=188305
<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winntas/deploy/prodspecs/ntbrowse.mspx>

 

[Nobody]

HI Chuck,

Thanks for the help. Here is what I found from running browstat:

1)The master browser for workgroup is on system A.
2)If I disable the browser on system A, browserstat on system B & C says
it cannot find master browser. Started computer browser on both B & C
before running browstat.

How can I relocate the master browser from A to C?

I have 3 systems. System A runs ME, system B runs XP Pro, system C runs
XP home.

 

[Chuck]

HI Chuck,

Thanks for the help. Here is what I found from running browstat:

1)The master browser for workgroup is on system A.
2)If I disable the browser on system A, browserstat on system B & C says
it cannot find master browser. Started computer browser on both B & C
before running browstat.

How can I relocate the master browser from A to C?

I have 3 systems. System A runs ME, system B runs XP Pro, system C runs
XP home.

Joe,

The master browser is elected from all computers that are running the browser
service. If you stop the browser service on A, the browsers on B and C will
elect one the master browser. The other of B or C will be the backup browser.

Stop the browser on A. Start the browser on B and C. Power all three off.
When you power B and C on, they will elect a master browser (probably which ever
you power up first).
<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winntas/deploy/prodspecs/ntbrowse.mspx>

 

[Nobody]

HI Chuck,

I did exactly what you said.

After rebooting B & C, I checked to make sure Browser was started. It was
started on both systems. I still have the same problem. I get a message
that "the workgroup is not accessable"

When I run browstat status on B & C, I get the following messages:
Browsing is NOT active on domain
Master name cannot be determined from GetAdapterStatus

It should work in theory, but it does not work in practice.

There must be some way to fix this manually, i.e, put the master browser
on C.

 

[Chuck]

HI Chuck,

I did exactly what you said.

After rebooting B & C, I checked to make sure Browser was started. It was
started on both systems. I still have the same problem. I get a message
that "the workgroup is not accessable"

When I run browstat status on B & C, I get the following messages:
Browsing is NOT active on domain
Master name cannot be determined from GetAdapterStatus

It should work in theory, but it does not work in practice.

There must be some way to fix this manually, i.e, put the master browser
on C.

Joe,

You can make ONE computer the master browser, by disabling the browser on all
other computers. Assuming that every thing else is OK, that will work. By
having the browser running on two computers, if the computer running the master
browser is offline, the computer running as the backup browser will become the
master browser.

The browser situation is the first thing that has to be resolved, though there
are other things that could go wrong. But if that isn't the problem, then let's
start diagnosing what's wrong.

Please provide ipconfig information for each computer.
Start - Run - "cmd". Type "ipconfig /all >c:\ipconfig.txt" into the command
window - Open c:\ipconfig.txt in Notepad, make sure that Format - Word Wrap is
NOT checked!, copy and paste entire contents into your next post. Identify
operating system (by name, version, and SP level) with each ipconfig listing.

Then provide browstat information for each computer.
Start - Run - "cmd". Type "browstat status >c:\browstat.txt" into the command
window - Open c:\browstat.txt in Notepad, make sure that Format - Word Wrap is
NOT checked!, copy and paste into your next post.

With ipconfig and browstat for each computer, we can see what needs to be
checked next.

Do you have any firewalls on any computer, now or in the past? Misconfigured
personal firewalls are the next thing to check.

 

[Nobody]

HI Chuck,

Thank you for all your help. I have come up with a work around that will
suffice for my needs right now.

I did a search on computers and it found the other 2 systems. I then
created a shortcut to both systems on the desktop. It works fine. I
repeated the same on the other 2 systems.

Of course I can always make sure all 3 systems are up.

Once again, I would like to thank you for your help. With Christmas and
New Years almost upon us, I don't have a lot of time to debug right now.