Vista vs Workgroup name

[P.Schuman]

We have a test LAN of various machines and they all work fine - until Vista
There is a Win98se, XP/Pro, and several of each - and now a Vista laptop

Each machine was configured with a different Workgroup name
such as Work.98se or Work.XP or Work.Vista

WELL - when the Vista machine has it's own workgroup name
it can't see any of the other machines in the Vista Network listing.
If we change the Vista workgroup to say Work.98,
then we can see ALL the other machines, not just the ones in the same
workgroup...

Vista is VERY weird -

 

[Chuck [MVP]]

We have a test LAN of various machines and they all work fine - until Vista
There is a Win98se, XP/Pro, and several of each - and now a Vista laptop

Each machine was configured with a different Workgroup name
such as Work.98se or Work.XP or Work.Vista

WELL - when the Vista machine has it's own workgroup name
it can't see any of the other machines in the Vista Network listing.
If we change the Vista workgroup to say Work.98,
then we can see ALL the other machines, not just the ones in the same
workgroup...

Vista is VERY weird -

Vista presents several challenges, and one is interoperability with Windows 9x.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/12/windows-xp-and-vista-on-lan-together.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/12/windows-xp-and-vista-on-lan-together.html

But what you are discussing is a browser (no I'm not discussing Internet
Explorer) issue.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/04/nt-browser-or-why-cant-i-always-see.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/04/nt-browser-or-why-cant-i-always-see.html

The browser relationship between Windows 9x and Windows NT/2000/XP is a known
challenge.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/windows-9x-9598me-and-browser.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/windows-9x-9598me-and-browser.html

And I'll bet that you have a variant of the latter.

Your workgroup infrastructure is interesting, to say the least. Having each
computer in a separate workgroup must solve one problem - master browser
conflicts. It also might cause other problems. I'd love to explore this with
you, if you have the patience.

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP 2005-2007 [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.

 

[P.Schuman]

Vista presents several challenges, and one is interoperability with Windows 9x.<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/.../12/windows-xp-and-vista-on-lan-together.html

But what you are discussing is a browser (no I'm not discussing Internet
Explorer) issue.

http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/04/nt-browser-or-why-cant-i-always-see.html

The browser relationship between Windows 9x and Windows NT/2000/XP is a known
challenge.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/windows-9x-9598me-and-browser.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/windows-9x-9598me-and-browser.html

And I'll bet that you have a variant of the latter.

Your workgroup infrastructure is interesting, to say the least. Having each
computer in a separate workgroup must solve one problem - master browser
conflicts. It also might cause other problems. I'd love to explore this with
you, if you have the patience.

I used to also have NT 4.0 running - but sold that laptop, and a couple of XP
machines.
These workbench laptops were used to test various software programs for
compatibility.

I've wrestled with the Master Browser issues,
hence the idea of putting each machine in their own individual world.

On top of that - there are individual machine issues....
like one XP laptop that refused to "share" after the entire c:\ drive was shared
once,
and then reverted back to normal sharing - all with "simple sharing"
This one REALLY has me stumped.

It's like a OS sharing minefield - each step forward results in blowing up
or falling off yet another Microsoft cliff.