System Error 53 - Network Path not Found

[Phil Alter]

I have a Windows 2000 laptop and a Windows XP desktop
connected over a network. The XP desktop shares one
directory, two printers and a CD/RW drive.

I've had this confiuration for over 6 months, but recently
the Windows 2000 laptop loses its connection to the XP
desktop.

If I reboot the Win2K laptop, and issue the "Net View"
command, I can see the XP desktop. If I issue the "NET
VIEW \\XPCOMPUTER" - I can see all the shared resources.

However, at some point (in five minutes or in 5 hours -
there is no rhyme nor reason to it) - the Win2K laptop
loses the connection to the XP desktop. If I issue
the "Net View \\XPCOMPUTER" command, I get a System Error
53.

Nothing I try will restore the connection except rebooting
the Win2K Laptop.

This just recently started - within the past week or so -
and the only updates I did to my PCs was install critical
updates from Microsoft.

Any ideas on how to maintain the connection or how to
restore it without rebooting?

 

[Larry Brasher]

Hello Phil,

Several things can cause loss of connectivity.

1.)I would check the laptop's NIC card settings. Some NIC cards have a
"sleep mode" that is triggered during periods of inactivity.

2.)The Error 53 message is generally returned when name resolution fails
for a particular computer name. Error 53 can also occur when there is a
problem establishing a NetBIOS session. To distinguish between these two
cases, use the following procedure:
"To determine the cause of an Error 53 message
1.From the Start menu, open a command prompt.
2.At the command prompt, type:
net view * \\<hostname>
where <hostname> is a network resource you know is active.
If this works, your name resolution is probably not the source of the
problem. To confirm this, ping the host name, as name resolution can
sometimes function properly and yet net use returns an Error 53 (such as
when a DNS or WINS server has a bad entry). If Ping also shows that name
resolution fails (by returning the "Unknown host" message), check the
status of your NetBIOS session.
"To check the status of your NetBIOS session
1.From the Start menu, open a command prompt.
2.At the command prompt, type:
net view \\<IP address>
where <IP address> is the same network resource you used in the above
procedure. If this also fails, the problem is in establishing a session.

3.)Instead of rebooting try an IPconfig /release and IPconfig /renew at the
command prompt and then check out connectivity then.

4.)Right click on the NIC card and disable and then re-enable it. Once done
check out you connectivity.

5.)Right click on the NIC card and select "repair" The repair feature:
Check if DHCP is enabled, and if so, issues a broadcast renew to refresh
the IP address (see Note below)
Flushes the ARP cache
Flushes the NETBios cache
Flushes the DNS cache
Re-registers with WINS
Re-registers with DNS


I hope this helps.


Shane Brasher
MCSE (2000,NT),MCSA, A+
Microsoft Platforms Support
Windows NT/2000 Networking

 

[BitsNotBytes]

Hey Shane,

If you can see this I don't seem to have a repair option for my NIC in
step 5. I'm looking in Device Manager. I started getting
intermittent System 53 errors and what works is disable/enable and
ipconfig /renew to reestablish connection without rebooting. I was
curious about why I couldn't see a repair option.

Thanks,
BitsNotBytes

 

[Boyd Benson [MS]]

BitsNotBytes,

The Repair option is available only in WindowsXP when you right click on
the NIC.

To get to the properties of the NIC in XP, follow these steps:

XP:
Right click on "My Network Places" on the desktop and select properties /
Right click on the NIC

OR

XP Start Menu: Start button / Control Panel / Network Connections... /
Right click on the NIC
XP Classic Start Menu:
Start button / Settings / Control Panel / Network and Dial-up Connections
/ Right click on the NIC

If your client is Windows2000, then this option will not be there.

Boyd Benson
Microsoft Technical Support

--------------------