One machine missing from network

[Guest]

I had a local network of three XP machines working fine. Now, for no apparent
reason, one of the machines can't access it. Two of the machines are still
talking fine. The third can't see or be seen on the network.

On the problem machine when I click "view workgroup computers," I get a long
pause then the dreaded "you may not have permission" message informing me the
list of servers for this workgroup is currently unavailable. I've tried all
the fixes suggested by various net advisers like like renaming machine,
disabling 1394 connection, manually enabling NetBIOS, unsharing and
re-sharing folders, etc. Can't find anything interesting in the events logs.
Firewalls are off.

I can ping the other machines from the problem machine and vice-versa.
However when I first tried this I couldn't and this is the only possible clue
I have found. Even though there was %SystemRoot%\system32 in the path, I
couldn't use Ping or IPCONFIG from any directory (other than
\windows\system32). So I hard coded \windows\system32 into the path. Ping and
ipconfig now work from anywhere but no help with the network.

Can anyone suggest further debugging efforts?

 

[Robert L [MS-MVP]]

if you can ping the problem pc but not browse, it could be computer browser
issue. this step by step troubleshooting may help,
http://www.howtonetworking.com/Troubleshooting/notaccessibale0.htm

--
For more and other information, go to http://howtonetworking.com.

Don't send e-mail or reply to me except you need consulting services.
Posting on MS newsgroup will benefit all readers and you may get more help.

Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
How to Setup Windows, Network, Remote Access on
http://www.HowToNetworking.com
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on
http://www.ChicagoTech.net
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties.

 

[Guest]

Hey, that's a nice troubleshooting site! Unfortunately, it didn't help. net
view shows shared folders from the problem machine to the other machines and
vice-versa. Still I get the "can't access [workgroupname] you may not have
permission..." error when I try to access the network from the problem
machine.

I'm flummoxed.

 

[Malke]

Hey, that's a nice troubleshooting site! Unfortunately, it didn't
help. net view shows shared folders from the problem machine to the
other machines and
vice-versa. Still I get the "can't access [workgroupname] you may not
have permission..." error when I try to access the network from the
problem machine.

I'm flummoxed.

What changed on this machine from the time it worked? By any chance did
it get SP2? If so, SP2 automatically enables the Windows Firewall and
you may think you have no firewalls enabled but do.

Malke

 

[Guest]

What changed on this machine from the time it worked? By any chance did
it get SP2? If so, SP2 automatically enables the Windows Firewall and
you may think you have no firewalls enabled but do.

It's an almost new machine, so it was installed and working with SP2. I've
got the firewall shut off. As far as I know nothing changed on the computer.
It's sitting behind a residential cable modem with its own firewall so I
think the probability of some kind of hacking is low.

 

[Malke]

It's an almost new machine, so it was installed and working with SP2.
I've
got the firewall shut off. As far as I know nothing changed on the
computer.
It's sitting behind a residential cable modem with its own firewall
so I
think the probability of some kind of hacking is low.

I think you've also ruled out the possibility of bad hardware since you
said you can get Internet access OK from the problem machine. Here is a
troubleshooter by MVP Hans-Georg Michna that is *very* useful in
pinpointing the failure spot. Go through it and if you are still having
problems, report back with the results of the troubleshooter:

http://www.michna.com/kb/wxnet.htm

Malke

 

[Carey Holzman]

www.careyholzman.com/net1.htm

Carey