XP Home, Home Network

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

Hi,

I have two machines connecting to a wireless router. I can access the
internet, etc.

I am trying to copy files from one machine to another.

I have enabled filesharing for a specific directory on computer A but on
computer B when I open explorer I cannot see the shared folder name anywhere.

The workgroups are the same on both machines. What's strange is that if I go
to my hubs set-up page I can click an option there to see shared files from
any computer on my network, when I do this I then get an explorer folder
(with computer A's ip in the address bar) opening up on computer b showing
the shared folders from computer A.

So, in summary, I cannot see that shared folder through explorer but I can
through the hubs web page.

Any ideas please?

THanks
Nick
 
Hi Chuck,

I am using wireless on both machines. Given your status on wireless does
this effectively mean I should not pursue using explorer to view shared files
on both computers? should I access the shared files through the hubs settings
page since this seems to work consistently?

I ran browstat on both computers and it reports the same build (2600).
Additionally it shows the domain is the same and that there are 1 servers in
domain (presumably this relates to the folder I've opted to share).

As a side when I ran browstat with norton internet security running it told
me that browsing is not active on domain. Presumably this will cause a
problem, do I need to change any Norton settings? Browstat ran fine with
Norton disabled.

I'm a little bit further forward now in that on Computer A through explorer
I can now see the name of computer B under workgroup and I can view computers
B's files, etc. It does not appear to work the other way round though, e.g.
computer A is not showing on computer B


Thanks
Nick


Chuck said:
Hi,

I have two machines connecting to a wireless router. I can access the
internet, etc.

I am trying to copy files from one machine to another.

I have enabled filesharing for a specific directory on computer A but on
computer B when I open explorer I cannot see the shared folder name anywhere.

The workgroups are the same on both machines. What's strange is that if I go
to my hubs set-up page I can click an option there to see shared files from
any computer on my network, when I do this I then get an explorer folder
(with computer A's ip in the address bar) opening up on computer b showing
the shared folders from computer A.

So, in summary, I cannot see that shared folder through explorer but I can
through the hubs web page.

Any ideas please?

THanks
Nick
Click to expand...

Nick,

This sounds like a typical browser conflict. 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.

Power all computers off to reset the browser settings on each. Once ALL
computers have been powered off, power them back on.

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 all computers list 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://support.microsoft.com/?id=231312
<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winntas/deploy/prodspecs/ntbrowse.mspx>
<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/win95/w95brows.mspx>

The browser requires anonymous access, so look at registry key
[HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa], value restrictanonymous. on both
computers.
<http://www.microsoft.com/windows200...2000/techinfo/reskit/en-us/regentry/46688.asp>
<http://www.jsifaq.com/subf/tip2600/rh2625.htm>
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=246261
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=296403

The above articles refer to Windows 2000. Remember WinXP is NT V5.1, and Win2K
is NT V5.0.

Have you used the Registry Editor before? If not, it's a scary tool, but it's
pretty simple once you get used to it. Here are a couple articles that might
help:
<http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/...home/using/productdoc/en/tools_regeditors.asp>
<http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/registry>

Just remember to backup the key (create a registry patch) for
[HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa] before making any changes, if
appropriate.

Are both computers connected wirelessly? Be aware that having wireless
computers running the browser service can lead to a fragmented workgroup, and
the browser conflict could be recreated if either computer drops off the network
even briefly.

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

Sorry forgot to mention. The values for registry item

restrictanonymous is 0

and restrictanonymousam is 1


Can you tell me what values these shold be set to? it wasn't too clear for
me reading the ms article.

Thanks
Nick


Chuck said:
Hi,

I have two machines connecting to a wireless router. I can access the
internet, etc.

I am trying to copy files from one machine to another.

I have enabled filesharing for a specific directory on computer A but on
computer B when I open explorer I cannot see the shared folder name anywhere.

The workgroups are the same on both machines. What's strange is that if I go
to my hubs set-up page I can click an option there to see shared files from
any computer on my network, when I do this I then get an explorer folder
(with computer A's ip in the address bar) opening up on computer b showing
the shared folders from computer A.

So, in summary, I cannot see that shared folder through explorer but I can
through the hubs web page.

Any ideas please?

THanks
Nick
Click to expand...

Nick,

This sounds like a typical browser conflict. 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.

Power all computers off to reset the browser settings on each. Once ALL
computers have been powered off, power them back on.

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 all computers list 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://support.microsoft.com/?id=231312
<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winntas/deploy/prodspecs/ntbrowse.mspx>
<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/win95/w95brows.mspx>

The browser requires anonymous access, so look at registry key
[HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa], value restrictanonymous. on both
computers.
<http://www.microsoft.com/windows200...2000/techinfo/reskit/en-us/regentry/46688.asp>
<http://www.jsifaq.com/subf/tip2600/rh2625.htm>
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=246261
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=296403

The above articles refer to Windows 2000. Remember WinXP is NT V5.1, and Win2K
is NT V5.0.

Have you used the Registry Editor before? If not, it's a scary tool, but it's
pretty simple once you get used to it. Here are a couple articles that might
help:
<http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/...home/using/productdoc/en/tools_regeditors.asp>
<http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/registry>

Just remember to backup the key (create a registry patch) for
[HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa] before making any changes, if
appropriate.

Are both computers connected wirelessly? Be aware that having wireless
computers running the browser service can lead to a fragmented workgroup, and
the browser conflict could be recreated if either computer drops off the network
even briefly.

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

I am using wireless on both machines. Given your status on wireless does
this effectively mean I should not pursue using explorer to view shared files
on both computers? should I access the shared files through the hubs settings
page since this seems to work consistently?

I ran browstat on both computers and it reports the same build (2600).
Additionally it shows the domain is the same and that there are 1 servers in
domain (presumably this relates to the folder I've opted to share).

As a side when I ran browstat with norton internet security running it told
me that browsing is not active on domain. Presumably this will cause a
problem, do I need to change any Norton settings? Browstat ran fine with
Norton disabled.

I'm a little bit further forward now in that on Computer A through explorer
I can now see the name of computer B under workgroup and I can view computers
B's files, etc. It does not appear to work the other way round though, e.g.
computer A is not showing on computer B


Thanks
Nick
Click to expand...

Nick,

The problem, I suspect, is the master browser election. If you have 2 computers
on the LAN, with both running the browser, only one can be the master browser.
The two will hold an election (conducted peer-peer), and one will be elected the
master browser. The other browsers becomes backup browsers.

The browser subsystem contains a failover mechanism. If at any time, a backup
browser can't contact the master browser, it is authorised to hold an election
and determine a new master browser. This would generally be because the
existing master browser went offline (restarted or powered off). When the
current master browser comes back online, it will learn that there is a new
master browser (elected when it was offline), and remain a backup browser.

On a wireless LAN, computers can go offline and come online at various times,
sometimes without being restarted. If both computers are powered on, and move
in and out of contact, both computers will elect themselves master browsers.
This will give you a fragmented workgroup, with both of your computers having
elected themselves, and neither able to see the other.

With a 2 computer LAN, this is remedied by Stopping and Disabling the browser
service on one computer. then powering both computers off. When both computers
are powered back on, only the computer running the browser service will be the
master browser, and the computer not running as a browser will know that.

A detailed description of this situation is here:
<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winntas/deploy/prodspecs/ntbrowse.mspx>

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

Just to be sure : can I disable (services.msc) the browser process
permanently on one machine? Should this resolve the problem and is there any
drawbacks?

Thanks
Nick
 
Hi,

Just to be sure : can I disable (services.msc) the browser process
permanently on one machine? Should this resolve the problem and is there any
drawbacks?

Thanks
Nick
Click to expand...

Nick,

That's the currently used solution to this problem - Stop and Disable the
Computer Browser service on one computer (services.msc). The computer that you
stop it on won't have browsing ability, if it's separated from the computer
that's running the browser (and is the master browser).

The rationale for doing this is, when both computers are separated, the browsing
ability is not necessary, as each computer will have access to its own local
drives. The only downside is the computer(s) separated from the browser won't
have access to any of their own share(s), if you use shares to create logical
drives.

This is not a problem on a 2 computer LAN. On a 3 or more computer LAN, with
these casual relationships, the problem becomes a bit stickier.

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

Sorry forgot to mention. The values for registry item

restrictanonymous is 0

and restrictanonymousam is 1


Can you tell me what values these shold be set to? it wasn't too clear for
me reading the ms article.

Thanks
Nick
Click to expand...

The '0' is the most commonly used solution, though in theory a '1' should also
work. What won't work is '2'.

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