hosts file

[Guest]

I am trying to use XP's built in VPN ability, and I can get the VPN to
connect just fine using PPTP. The problem, is that I cannot view remote
resources via My Network Places. I even have troubles mapping a drive to the
remote source. Firewalls on both ends are off. So, I entered the name and
IP of the remote PC into my hosts file, and now I can map the remote drive
immediately upon connecting to the VPN. However, I found out the software I
am using does not support mapped drives while looking for its database. It
only supports UNC names. I did some research and found out it is a NetBIOS
broadcast problem that is preventing me from seeing the remote resources in
My Network Places. From what I understand, I should be able to edit the
LMHOSTS file to fix this. Is this true? If so, do I need to alter this file
on both PC's, or just the one I am connecting from? Also, is there any good
page that easily explains how to make the proper entries into this file? It
is a simple workgroup, with no domains. Thanks for any help.

Jeff

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

I am trying to use XP's built in VPN ability, and I can get the VPN to
connect just fine using PPTP. The problem, is that I cannot view
remote resources via My Network Places. I even have troubles mapping
a drive to the remote source. Firewalls on both ends are off. So, I
entered the name and IP of the remote PC into my hosts file, and now
I can map the remote drive immediately upon connecting to the VPN.
However, I found out the software I am using does not support mapped
drives while looking for its database. It only supports UNC names.
I did some research and found out it is a NetBIOS broadcast problem
that is preventing me from seeing the remote resources in My Network
Places. From what I understand, I should be able to edit the LMHOSTS
file to fix this. Is this true? If so, do I need to alter this file
on both PC's, or just the one I am connecting from? Also, is there
any good page that easily explains how to make the proper entries
into this file? It is a simple workgroup, with no domains. Thanks
for any help.

Jeff

See http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;180094

Note - the padding spaces for the domain name (0x1b) entry are very
important - be sure not to miscount! I'm not sure how different this needs
to be for a workgroup rather than a domain, though.

For more info, see
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;150800

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the reply. I'll look into both of these and see if I can make any
headway.

If you think of anything else, I'd appreciate letting me know. Thanks again!

Jeff