Windows shares broken after uninstall of firewall. TCP Stack resetno help.

[LURKER]

Network shares are broken after uninstall of a firewall.

I performed the TCP Stack reset (LSPFix).
Still broken network.

I am now testing with no antivirus and Windows firewall turned off as I try to debug.

My network shares are still "not found" by my other home computers.

Environmnt:

Home network with 4 Windows XP systems behind a Linksys wireless router.

The other systems can see each other's shares, but not the shares on the main computer (name = \\king-daddy, fixed ip
192.168.1.xx). Shares include household printers.

king-daddy can see the shares on all the other computers.

king-daddy has dual boot... the second bootable hard drive is a clone of the primary XP on HD0 P1; just aged a little.

I booted from the alternate partition and networking works fine, so I know it is not hardware. Boot back to the primary
partition, and networking is broken again.

Using BROWSTAT STATUS...
Other systems receive code 53 (path not found) when they try to access king-daddy.

Is there any other information that might be helpful?

How do I approach the problem?

lurker

 

[Jack [MVP-Networking]]

Hi
Make sure that the network works, http://www.ezlan.net/debug.html
If needed use this process, http://www.ezlan.net/clean.html#refreshnet
When every thing checks OK redo the share.
Jack (MS, MVP-Networking).

 

[LURKER]

Hi again,
Thanks for those links. Those are really useful for those just getting into making network connections. I think I am a
little beyond the basics but definitely over my head in understanding the netbios browser, Master and workgroup when a
correctly function Home Network suddenly isn't behaving.

After hours of struggling at it, restoring the hard drive twice, and other netbios and TCPIP commands, I am working
again, but I don't know the details of why. Big picture, this is what I have found:

1) After installing the firewall beta, my shares quit working.
(Hindsight tells me that it probably impacted an already slightly dysfunctional environment).
2) Un-install the product from the control panel and reboot, my SHARES were totally invisible even on itself (when using
the command "NET VIEW"

3) That explains why BROWSTAT STATUS could not fetch information.

4) I found that I could not Explorer/Tools/Map Network Drive because... when I would browse the Microsoft
Network/Workgroups, KING-DADDY was not in the list.

....however I could manually map a drive with NET USE.

Exactly when I successfully got KING-DADDY back in the WORKGROUP, I don't know, but I was going though a lot of command
prompt commands as I fumbled around trying things, and I also made a minor "nop" alteration to Computer Name /
description to cause it to be re-added to the WORKGROUP.

5) After the net Browser seemed to be behaving and processing shares, and mapping drives, I reinstalled the product...
and all seems to be fine. That is why I kinda think maybe the WORKGROUP issue existed before I first installed the
product. All my previously mapped shares always reconnected as required.

I also observed that the MASTER Browser was no longer KING-DADDY, but was now on one of the other machines. I think that
is expected in this case.

So I still do not know enough about the net browser and how to troubleshoot what is dysfunctional.

Carl

 

[Anteaus]

If you are trying to access the shares with "Network Places" then be aware
that this is seldom reliable anyway.