Workgroup not accessible

[Guest]

My network was working fine and suddenly I was not able to access it. I made
no changes and installed no new software I just got the error message
“Workgroup is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this
network resource…servers for this workgroup is not currently available†on my
Windows XP desktop. Both computers can still access the internet through the
Netgear router. The desktop is running Windows XP Professional SP2 and is
connected to my laptop running Windows 2000 Professional. The laptop can only
see itself not the desktop.Both my XP and third part firewalls are disabled.
I changed the workgroup name in all computers. I was then able to see both
computers from My Network Places on the Win XP desktop. But when I tried to
access the desktop share from the desktop itself, I was unable to and the
share disappeared. When I rebooted the desktop, I was unable to view the
network and again got the error “Workgroup is not accessible…not have
permissionâ€. The laptop could view the network and could see itself in
Network Places but could not see the desktop.

After taking several diagnosis steps, I decided to share the entire C: drive
on the desktop. Suddenly the laptop could see the desktop in addition to
itself and the desktop could both! I then closed the C: share and only
allowed My Documents to be shared. I noticed the laptop gave itself a new IP
address of 192.168.0.4 instead of 192.168.0.3. Everything was fine until I
rebooted the laptop, it then lost communication with the desktop it can’t see
or ping it anymore.

After rebooting the WINXP desktop the laptop disappeared from the Local
Network view in Network Neighborhood I again get the message “Workgroup is
not accessible…not have permission†when I try to view the network, however I
can view the My Documents share I created when clicking its Local Network
icon. The laptop cannot ping WINXP desktop and the WINXP desktop cannot ping
itself – request timed out.

NetBIOS over TCP/IP is enabled and the TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper service is
running automatic. TCP/IP is the only transport protocol installed on the
desktop. The WIN2000 laptop also has NWLink NetBios and NWLink
IPX/SPX/NetBios Compatible Transport Protocol
The computer browser system is started on both systems. I had no other
networking clients ever installed. I ran the command: netsh int ip reset on
the Windows XP desktop.
I have no duplicate names between the two computers. The command - net view
returns the results “the list of servers for this workgroup is not availableâ€
when run on the desktop. The net view command successfully lists the unique
computer names when run on the WIN2000 laptop.
Issue the command: net view \\computername, where computer name should be
replaced with one of the names displayed with the simple net view command.
Check all names for possible duplication. My router's diagnostic shows unique
IP addresses.
I also ran the command: netsh winsock.
Why do the computers in my network appear and disappear after rebooting?
Any help or suggestion will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Hans-Georg Michna]

My network was working fine and suddenly I was not able to access it. I made
no changes and installed no new software I just got the error message
“Workgroup is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this
network resource…servers for this workgroup is not currently available†on my
Windows XP desktop. Both computers can still access the internet through the
Netgear router. The desktop is running Windows XP Professional SP2 ...

You can use http://www.michna.com/kb/wxnet.htm to solve this
problem.

Hans-Georg

 

[Guest]

Your website is very helpful and I used it to do most of the troubleshooting
I have done. However, I still have the same problem.

Why is it an off again on again problem?

 

[Chuck]

My network was working fine and suddenly I was not able to access it. I made
no changes and installed no new software I just got the error message
“Workgroup is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this
network resource…servers for this workgroup is not currently available” on my
Windows XP desktop. Both computers can still access the internet through the
Netgear router. The desktop is running Windows XP Professional SP2 and is
connected to my laptop running Windows 2000 Professional. The laptop can only
see itself not the desktop.Both my XP and third part firewalls are disabled.
I changed the workgroup name in all computers. I was then able to see both
computers from My Network Places on the Win XP desktop. But when I tried to
access the desktop share from the desktop itself, I was unable to and the
share disappeared. When I rebooted the desktop, I was unable to view the
network and again got the error “Workgroup is not accessible…not have
permission”. The laptop could view the network and could see itself in
Network Places but could not see the desktop.

After taking several diagnosis steps, I decided to share the entire C: drive
on the desktop. Suddenly the laptop could see the desktop in addition to
itself and the desktop could both! I then closed the C: share and only
allowed My Documents to be shared. I noticed the laptop gave itself a new IP
address of 192.168.0.4 instead of 192.168.0.3. Everything was fine until I
rebooted the laptop, it then lost communication with the desktop it can’t see
or ping it anymore.

After rebooting the WINXP desktop the laptop disappeared from the Local
Network view in Network Neighborhood I again get the message “Workgroup is
not accessible…not have permission” when I try to view the network, however I
can view the My Documents share I created when clicking its Local Network
icon. The laptop cannot ping WINXP desktop and the WINXP desktop cannot ping
itself – request timed out.

NetBIOS over TCP/IP is enabled and the TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper service is
running automatic. TCP/IP is the only transport protocol installed on the
desktop. The WIN2000 laptop also has NWLink NetBios and NWLink
IPX/SPX/NetBios Compatible Transport Protocol
The computer browser system is started on both systems. I had no other
networking clients ever installed. I ran the command: netsh int ip reset on
the Windows XP desktop.
I have no duplicate names between the two computers. The command - net view
returns the results “the list of servers for this workgroup is not available”
when run on the desktop. The net view command successfully lists the unique
computer names when run on the WIN2000 laptop.
Issue the command: net view \\computername, where computer name should be
replaced with one of the names displayed with the simple net view command.
Check all names for possible duplication. My router's diagnostic shows unique
IP addresses.
I also ran the command: netsh winsock.
Why do the computers in my network appear and disappear after rebooting?
Any help or suggestion will be greatly appreciated.

Your intermittent problem sounds like a master browser conflict. Your LAN
description is a bit imprecise - do you have just two computers?

Check for a browser conflict between the two computers. I"m not talking about
Internet Explorer here. The browser is the program that allows any computer to
see any other computer on the LAN.

Make sure the browser service is running on one of the two computers - which one
doesn't matter. Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Services. Verify that
the Computer Browser, and the TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper, services both show with
Status = Started. Disable the browser service on the other computer.

After checking / disabling / enabling as above, power both computers off to
reset the browser settings on each. After you power both off, power both back
on again.

The Microsoft Browstat program will show us what browsers (I'm not talking about
Internet Explorer here) you have in your domain / workgroup, at any time.
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=188305

You can download Browstat from either:
<http://www.dynawell.com/reskit/microsoft/win2000/browstat.zip>
<http://rescomp.stanford.edu/staff/manual/rcc/tools/browstat.zip>

Browstat is very small (40K), and needs no install. Just unzip the downloaded
file, copy browstat.exe to any folder in the Path, and run it from a command
window, by "browstat status". Make sure both computers identify the same master
browser.

For more information about the browser subsystem (very intricate), see:
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=188001
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=188305
<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winntas/deploy/prodspecs/ntbrowse.mspx>

Also, make sure that you don't have a misbehaving firewall on either computer.
Firewalls are probably the single most common causes of problems experienced by
folks posting here.

--
Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck sonic net.