Win xp pro sp2 is hiding computers.

G

Guest

We have six computers on our workgroup (peer to peer). All are running
Windows XP Professional. I have started to upgrade these to SP2. We now have
a problem with the computers which have been upgraded to SP2. The SP2
computers only stay visible for a short time (about 1 hour) in “Network
Placesâ€. After they disappear, they can easily be mapped to, or found using
“search for files or folders / computers or people†and searching for the
computer by name. The missing shares can also be made to reappear
(temporarily) by using “administrative services / computer browser serviceâ€
and clicking “restart†on each missing computer, even though this option
always shows as already being started. No error messages appear and no
messages related to this appear in the event logs. All energy saving settings
have been disabled. It does not matter if the windows firewall has been
enabled or disabled. This problem only affects the computers which are now
running SP2. Computers with SP1 behave normally on the network. I am assuming
that something in SP2 is interfering with the proper functioning of the
computer browser service. Anyone have any ideas how to make this right?
 
R

Robert L [MVP - Networking]

Sounds like computer browser issues. Any errors in the event viewer?

Computer Browser How do I know I have a browser problem How to disable Master Browser in XP, 9X, W2k How to fix browsing problem in a mixed OS workgroup ...
www.chicagotech.net/browser.htm


Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on http://www.ChicagoTech.net
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on http://www.HowToNetworking.com
We have six computers on our workgroup (peer to peer). All are running
Windows XP Professional. I have started to upgrade these to SP2. We now have
a problem with the computers which have been upgraded to SP2. The SP2
computers only stay visible for a short time (about 1 hour) in “Network
Placesâ€. After they disappear, they can easily be mapped to, or found using
“search for files or folders / computers or people†and searching for the
computer by name. The missing shares can also be made to reappear
(temporarily) by using “administrative services / computer browser serviceâ€
and clicking “restart†on each missing computer, even though this option
always shows as already being started. No error messages appear and no
messages related to this appear in the event logs. All energy saving settings
have been disabled. It does not matter if the windows firewall has been
enabled or disabled. This problem only affects the computers which are now
running SP2. Computers with SP1 behave normally on the network. I am assuming
that something in SP2 is interfering with the proper functioning of the
computer browser service. Anyone have any ideas how to make this right?
 
C

Chuck

We have six computers on our workgroup (peer to peer). All are running
Windows XP Professional. I have started to upgrade these to SP2. We now have
a problem with the computers which have been upgraded to SP2. The SP2
computers only stay visible for a short time (about 1 hour) in “Network
Places”. After they disappear, they can easily be mapped to, or found using
“search for files or folders / computers or people” and searching for the
computer by name. The missing shares can also be made to reappear
(temporarily) by using “administrative services / computer browser service”
and clicking “restart” on each missing computer, even though this option
always shows as already being started. No error messages appear and no
messages related to this appear in the event logs. All energy saving settings
have been disabled. It does not matter if the windows firewall has been
enabled or disabled. This problem only affects the computers which are now
running SP2. Computers with SP1 behave normally on the network. I am assuming
that something in SP2 is interfering with the proper functioning of the
computer browser service. Anyone have any ideas how to make this right?
Click to expand...

I'd look at "browstat status" and "ipconfig /all", from each computer, to
diagnose the problem. Read this article, and linked articles, and follow
instructions precisely (download browstat!):
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#AskingForHelp>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#AskingForHelp
 
G

Guest

I've checked out all the hardware for faults. I've even had a motherboard
replaced in one of the computers (couldn't replace just the nettwork card).
Everything is good there. Following is the ipconfig /all and browstat status
from one of the problem computers:

Windows IP Configuration



Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : d415qn41

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : mshome.net



Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:



Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : mshome.net

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 570x Gigabit Integrated
Controller

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0F-1F-10-1D-26

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.61

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 85.255.115.51

85.255.112.187

Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, October 09, 2006 4:43:04
PM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, October 16, 2006 4:43:04
PM

browstat status:

Status for domain TORMAXX on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{8560D603-9A30-4E89-ADC7-E553C6117D34}
Browsing is active on domain.
Master browser name is: D7995J41
Could not connect to registry, error = 53 Unable to determine build
of browser master: 53
\\\\D7995J41 . Version:05.01 Flags: 71207 NT POTENTIAL BACKUP
MASTER
1 backup servers retrieved from master D7995J41
\\D7995J41
There are 4 servers in domain TORMAXX on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{8560D603-9A30-4E89-ADC7-E553C6117D34}
There are 1 domains in domain TORMAXX on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{8560D603-9A30-4E89-ADC7-E553C6117D34}

Chuck, Ive got your website bookmarked! It's been very educational - great
stuff.
 
C

Chuck

I've checked out all the hardware for faults. I've even had a motherboard
replaced in one of the computers (couldn't replace just the nettwork card).
Everything is good there. Following is the ipconfig /all and browstat status
from one of the problem computers:

Windows IP Configuration



Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : d415qn41

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : mshome.net



Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:



Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : mshome.net

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 570x Gigabit Integrated
Controller

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0F-1F-10-1D-26

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.61

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 85.255.115.51

85.255.112.187

Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, October 09, 2006 4:43:04
PM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, October 16, 2006 4:43:04
PM

browstat status:

Status for domain TORMAXX on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{8560D603-9A30-4E89-ADC7-E553C6117D34}
Browsing is active on domain.
Master browser name is: D7995J41
Could not connect to registry, error = 53 Unable to determine build
of browser master: 53
\\\\D7995J41 . Version:05.01 Flags: 71207 NT POTENTIAL BACKUP
MASTER
1 backup servers retrieved from master D7995J41
\\D7995J41
There are 4 servers in domain TORMAXX on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{8560D603-9A30-4E89-ADC7-E553C6117D34}
There are 1 domains in domain TORMAXX on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{8560D603-9A30-4E89-ADC7-E553C6117D34}

Chuck, Ive got your website bookmarked! It's been very educational - great
stuff.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the encouragement. The above shows that 4 servers are visible from
d415qn41, which is not the master browser. You say that you have 6 computers,
yet only 4 are seen from d415qn41, so there is a problem somewhere. By
comparing similar diagnostics from the other 5 computers, you should be able to
find 2 that are on a different broadcast segment.

If all are running XP Pro, you should get interesting results from CPSServ too
(run from each computer and compared).
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/04/cpsserv-comprehensive-psservice-source.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/04/cpsserv-comprehensive-psservice-source.html
 

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