Workgroup newbie

[Thomas Grassi]

Hope this is the right forum.

Just setup two windows workstations in a workgroup and I keep getting errors
saying that the master browser is unable to get a list .

Is there any way to make one pc the master brower? One pc is Home Edition
and mine is Professional. I would like to make mine workstation the master
brower. How can I do that? I once thought there was a registry entry but
that was back on Windows 2000 and Win95 not sure about Windows XP

Thanks

Tom

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

Hope this is the right forum.

Just setup two windows workstations in a workgroup and I keep getting errors
saying that the master browser is unable to get a list .

Is there any way to make one pc the master brower? One pc is Home Edition
and mine is Professional. I would like to make mine workstation the master
brower. How can I do that? I once thought there was a registry entry but
that was back on Windows 2000 and Win95 not sure about Windows XP

Thanks

Tom

To make your workstation the master browser, enable the Computer
Browser service on your workstation, and disable the Computer Browser
service on the other workstation:

To enable or disable the service:

1. Click Start > Run.
2. Type "services.msc" in the box.
3. Click OK.
4. Double click "Computer Browser".
5. Set the startup type to Automatic (enable) or Disabled (disable).

Then, reboot both computers, wait 15 minutes, and try browsing the
network.

In my experience, network browsing through My Network Places in
Windows XP is inherently unreliable, and I recommend not using it.
You can spend a lot of time troubleshooting it and trying to get it to
work, but I don't think it's worth the effort.

To access the other computer directly, without using My Network
Places, type the other computer's name in the Start > Run box in this
format:

\\computer

You can create a desktop shortcut to the other computer, and click the
shortcut to access the other computer. Specify the shortcut's target
as:

\\computer
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

 

[Chuck]

Hope this is the right forum.

Just setup two windows workstations in a workgroup and I keep getting errors
saying that the master browser is unable to get a list .

Is there any way to make one pc the master brower? One pc is Home Edition
and mine is Professional. I would like to make mine workstation the master
brower. How can I do that? I once thought there was a registry entry but
that was back on Windows 2000 and Win95 not sure about Windows XP

Thanks

Tom

Tom,

You can make one computer the master browser. When you're getting that error,
though, you have a problem, and forcing the master browser may be a workaround
but it doesn't always solve the actual problem.

One of the most common causes of this problem would be a misconfigured or
overlooked personal firewall, or other security component. Read this article
with an open mind.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html

Also, check the NetBT setting, and make sure that it's consistently Enabled on
each computer.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/04/netbios-over-tcpip.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/04/netbios-over-tcpip.html

Or we could look at "browstat status", "ipconfig /all", "net config server", and
"net config workstation", from each computer, and 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

 

[Maincat]

In my experience, network browsing through My Network Places in
Windows XP is inherently unreliable, and I recommend not using it.
You can spend a lot of time troubleshooting it and trying to get it to
work, but I don't think it's worth the effort.

To access the other computer directly, without using My Network
Places, type the other computer's name in the Start > Run box in this
format:

\\computer

You can create a desktop shortcut to the other computer, and click the
shortcut to access the other computer. Specify the shortcut's target
as:

\\computer
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

Totally right in my experience. View workgroup computers is also very
unreliable.

Steve
CompTIA A+, Network+, MCP