Problems browsing XP shares with 98 PC

[Guest]

I currently have 4 computers in a peer to peer network. 1 Windows XP
Professional, One Windows 2000 and 2 Windows 98 Laptops they are all
connected to a router/hub the two laptops connect wirelessly. I have files I
am trying to share on the Windows XP Pro computer. Both windows 98 computers
can access just fine for a time but then all of a sudden they can no longer
see the shares on the Windows XP system. However I can ping the IP address of
the XP system just fine. What is even stranger is that if I run winipcfg om
the 98 systems release the IP address and then renew it (The PCs get their IP
address from the router via DHCP.) the computers can see the shares just
fine. I would appreciate any light anyone could shed on this problem

 

[Hans-Georg Michna]

On Sat, 1 Jan 2005 12:05:04 -0800, "-Tony Micklus" <-Tony

I currently have 4 computers in a peer to peer network. 1 Windows XP
Professional, One Windows 2000 and 2 Windows 98 Laptops they are all
connected to a router/hub the two laptops connect wirelessly. I have files I
am trying to share on the Windows XP Pro computer. Both windows 98 computers
can access just fine for a time but then all of a sudden they can no longer
see the shares on the Windows XP system. However I can ping the IP address of
the XP system just fine. What is even stranger is that if I run winipcfg om
the 98 systems release the IP address and then renew it (The PCs get their IP
address from the router via DHCP.) the computers can see the shares just
fine. I would appreciate any light anyone could shed on this problem

Tony,

you're most likely in the wrong newsgroup. If a manipulation of
the Windows 98 computer resolves the problem temporarily, then
the cause is apparently in the Windows 98 computer and you may
have to ask in a newsgroup dealing with that operating system.

Hans-Georg

 

[Chuck]

On Sat, 1 Jan 2005 12:05:04 -0800, "-Tony Micklus" <-Tony

I currently have 4 computers in a peer to peer network. 1 Windows XP
Professional, One Windows 2000 and 2 Windows 98 Laptops they are all
connected to a router/hub the two laptops connect wirelessly. I have files I
am trying to share on the Windows XP Pro computer. Both windows 98 computers
can access just fine for a time but then all of a sudden they can no longer
see the shares on the Windows XP system. However I can ping the IP address of
the XP system just fine. What is even stranger is that if I run winipcfg om
the 98 systems release the IP address and then renew it (The PCs get their IP
address from the router via DHCP.) the computers can see the shares just
fine. I would appreciate any light anyone could shed on this problem

Tony,

You can have Windows 98 and Windows 2000 computers in the same LAN, but the
browser service on both will be problematic. This will cause the shares
visibility problem that you're seeing.

Make sure the browser service is stopped and disabled on the Windows 2000
computer. Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Services. Verify that the
Computer Browser, and the TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper, services both show with Status
= Disabled and Stopped. Enable the browser on the Windows 98 computers:
http://cms.simons-rock.edu/faq_by_subtopic/node138.html

After checking / disabling / enabling as above, power all computers off to reset
the browser settings on each. Then power the Windows 98 computers on, and
finally the Windows 2000 computer 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 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>