Master Browser issuse

[Guest]

I am having trouble with a couple of computers being able to see the server.
These are 2 Win XP Pro and 1 Win 98 machine. The server is Win 2K Server.
There are 15 computers connected to the network. the other computers are
able to see the server. No firewalls are active on these three computers nor
the server. The firewall is a hardware firewall and it was disconnected and
the issue was still present. Both XP computers have SP2 but the issue
started well after SP2 was installed. I have also reinstalled XP on one of
the computers and before installing any updates Tried connecting to the
server and could not. When I look at the event viewer on Win 2k machine it
states that these three computers want to be the master browser. I read about
shutting down the computer browser service and have done that and the issue
is still the same. Also, the server can not connect to the internet any
more since this started. I can from the server see other computers on the
network but the three in question. And again there are other computers that
can access the server. Here is where it gets a little wierd, the same issue
happened about 6 months ago. The server had not been taken care of at that
time and it was deemed a fresh install would be the thing to do. After
reinstalling Win 2K everything was fine. Now 6 months later the same exact
computers are having the exact same issue again. I would hate to have to
reinstall Win 2Kserver.

The XP and 98 machines do not have any viral or spyware on them and one of
the XP machines was reloaded.

Anybody have any suggestions?

 

[BP]

Hello Tuckan
Windows 98/XP like to self assign their own IP if can't here
a dhcp server broadcast on the network due to cable length,
marginal ethernet card, switch ports or just bad connections.
The result is the workstation belongs to another network not
the one the server is in and the station browser becomes the
master for that new network. IPconfig /all will reveal if this
is the case or not.

 

[Guest]

Hi BP,

Thanks for the reply. The network is setup using static IP's on all
computers. I didn't set it up that way the client did. All IP's and subnets
are the same. All are on the same Domain. Now there is a long cable that
connects a wharehouse to the offices. But all computers have static IP's.
I'm really at a loss with this as I have tried shutting down the computer
browser service on the computers and still get the same problem. I have
tried different IP address and have changed computer names and the issue is
still present.

 

[BP]

Check the Win2k server is forced to be domain master browser
HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Browser\Parameters
IsDomainMaster:REG_SZ: TRUE
MaintainServerList:REG_SZ: Yes
Also can you connect with run \\ServerName\$C or what
ever partition exists from those stations to win2k server?
Beginning to sound like a Wins issue you may want to
check the database to ensure the records for those stations
are not expired, tombstoned or even exist at all. Browsing
relies on name resolve either from dynamic dns in AD or
Wins if not running AD or both if chosen.