Windows 2000 - XP Networking Problem (Not the same old thing!)

[Joe]

Hi,

I have a problem where my Windows 2000 Pro SP4 machine can access
Windows XP Home edition (SP2) on my laptop, and Windows XP Pro (SP1)
on another home computer, but neither of the XP machines can view the
2000 computer. I get the error message "\\Family is not accessible.
You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact
the administrator of this server to find out if you have network
permissions."

I have googled both the web and groups to try and find an answer to
the problem, but their doesn't seem to be a solution to my scenario. I
have been setting networks up for years now, so am no beginner. I have
also had XP talking to 2K without problem plenty of times in the past,
with ease.

I have accounts on the 2k machine with matching usernames and
passwords to those which are logged in on the XP machines. I use
static IP addresses on the network. I can ping 'Family' by its IP
address, but not by name. I can see 'Family' in My Network Places, but
when trying to access it is immediately when I get the error message.
I have tried disabling the Zonealarm firewalls I use on the machines,
and XP firewall is also definitely off.

All machines have no problems accessing the internet through the
wireless router, and the XP machines can see each other, and as I
mentioned earlier, the 2k machine can access the XP machines.

The weird thing is Win 2K has just been re-installed, and initially
they all talked to each other fine. Then all of a sudden XP wouldn't
access 2000, and the only thing I can think is different is that I
created an new administrator account and started logging onto that.
But since I have tried logging back into administrator and it still
doesn't work.

I've come to the end of my tether with it now, any help anyone can
give me will be greatly appreciated.

Zief

 

[Doug Sherman [MVP]]

"I can ping 'Family' by its IP address, but not by name." When you try to
ping by name is the name resolved to an IP address, or do you get host not
found?

Try:

1. Uninstall ZoneAlarm on the Win2k machine - this kind of software is
notorious for not be capable of real 'disable.'

2. If #1 doesn't solve the problem, restart the Server service in
Administrative Tools/Services.

3. Check Event Viewer for errors in System and Applications.

4. Try enabling the guest account: net user guest /active:yes

Doug Sherman
MCSE Win2k/NT4.0, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP

 

[Joe]

I'd pretty much tried all that already. I hadn't tried restarting the
server service or enabling the guest account, but neither of those
have worked either.

I forgot to mention that even though the W2k machine can access the XP
machines, it is a hardship to do so. If you go to my network places,
you just see the W2k machine alone. If you then try and ping the XP
machines by name, it can't resolve them, but if you ping them by ip
address, they then become available both by pinging by name, and by
searching for them by name in my network places! After that you can
access them as normal, but if they are left idle for 5 minutes or so,
you have to repeat this process over again!

Weirdest networking problem I've seen in all the time I've been using
networks.

Joe

 

[Doug Sherman [MVP]]

Sounds like a NetBios and/or election problem - best guess is that the
problem is ZoneAlarm.

Anyway, since you use static IPs and seem to be able to consistently connect
by IP address, here's a temporary work-around:

On each machine, click Start/Run \\IPaddressofothermachine ENTER. When
the Explorer window opens, right click on the computer icon and select
Create Shortcut. You will get a shortcut on your Desktop which you can
rename with the machine name. Many people find these shortcuts more
convenient than browsing through My Network Places.

Further efforts to resolve problem:

1. Uninstall ZoneAlarm on all machines. Use the ZoneAlarm uninstaller
rather than Add/Remove Programs.

2. Double check the workgroup name on all machines - make sure it is
spelled exactly the same.

3. On the Win2k and the XP Home machine, use the services applet and set
the Computer Browser service to manual. Reboot all machines. This forces
XP Pro to be the default master browser. Wait 12 minutes and see if you can
browse.

Doug Sherman
MCSE Win2k/NT4.0, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP