Vista & XP - File sharing randomly "dies" on Vista end?

[trinimex]

Tra'soonI have Windows XP SP2 on a desktop computer, and Windows Vista
Business on my laptop. The Vista system iss relatively new, but I used my
previous laptop (running XP) in this configuration without difficulty.

The problem: Whether using wireless or wired connections, sooner or later
the Vista machine will stop responding to file & print sharing requests from
the desktop. i.e. all open network shares will freeze, attempts to access
mapped network drives return "The specified network name is no longer
available," and attempts to access the system using NET VIEW or NET USE or
similar result in "Error 64: The specified network name is no longer
available" (after a long delay, anyway).

When this happens, the Vista laptop is still able to access the desktop
shares, but nothing short of a reboot will allow the desktop to access the
laptop (disabling/re-enabling network connections does not help).
Incidentally, when this occurs, my Linux server (running Samba 3.0.24) also
fails to do anything useful. "smbclient -U <username> -L //<ip>" only gets
as far as "session request ok," and the next client_receive_smb() call times
out without having received anything. It then bombs out with a 'protocol
negotiation failed' error. After a reboot, this works fine (times out on
port 445 but then works via 139).

Anyone have an idea of places I could check on this? This will happen
whether I log in to Vista, or just leave it at the login screen after
booting. It could happen 5 minutes after I boot, or an hour later. Since I
normally work on everything on the laptop (i.e. work on the desktop but save
files on the laptop), this is turning into a real productivity nightmare ...

 

[Chuck [MVP]]

Tra'soonI have Windows XP SP2 on a desktop computer, and Windows Vista
Business on my laptop. The Vista system iss relatively new, but I used my
previous laptop (running XP) in this configuration without difficulty.

The problem: Whether using wireless or wired connections, sooner or later
the Vista machine will stop responding to file & print sharing requests from
the desktop. i.e. all open network shares will freeze, attempts to access
mapped network drives return "The specified network name is no longer
available," and attempts to access the system using NET VIEW or NET USE or
similar result in "Error 64: The specified network name is no longer
available" (after a long delay, anyway).

When this happens, the Vista laptop is still able to access the desktop
shares, but nothing short of a reboot will allow the desktop to access the
laptop (disabling/re-enabling network connections does not help).
Incidentally, when this occurs, my Linux server (running Samba 3.0.24) also
fails to do anything useful. "smbclient -U <username> -L //<ip>" only gets
as far as "session request ok," and the next client_receive_smb() call times
out without having received anything. It then bombs out with a 'protocol
negotiation failed' error. After a reboot, this works fine (times out on
port 445 but then works via 139).

Anyone have an idea of places I could check on this? This will happen
whether I log in to Vista, or just leave it at the login screen after
booting. It could happen 5 minutes after I boot, or an hour later. Since I
normally work on everything on the laptop (i.e. work on the desktop but save
files on the laptop), this is turning into a real productivity nightmare ...

First, I'd look for a LSP / Winsock / TCP/IP problem. With Vista this is a bit
simpler than with XP.
<http://networking.nitecruzr.net/2005/05/problems-with-lsp-winsock-layer-in.html>
http://networking.nitecruzr.net/2005/05/problems-with-lsp-winsock-layer-in.html

Then look for a misbehaving personal firewall. Any anti-malware software too.
<http://networking.nitecruzr.net/2005/05/your-personal-firewall-can-either-help.html>
http://networking.nitecruzr.net/2005/05/your-personal-firewall-can-either-help.html

Finally, I'd check for physical network problems, and the network device
drivers. Is the laptop under warranty? The fact that the laptop can
communicate with the desktop may or may not rule this out. Ditto both Ethernet
and WiFi.
<http://networking.nitecruzr.net/2005/05/dealing-with-physical-network-problems.html>
http://networking.nitecruzr.net/2005/05/dealing-with-physical-network-problems.html