XP Pro x64/x32 unable to see XP Home

  • Thread starter Thread starter John Hupp
  • Start date Start date
J

John Hupp

I have a Windows XP Pro x64 desktop, an XP Pro x32 desktop and an XP Home
laptop. The laptop has a shared
folder named C:\RECOVERY. There are also shared folders on the Pro
desktops. All machines are connected via Ethernet
router/switch.

The Problem: The XP Home laptop can see and access the shares on the Pro x64
and Pro x32 machines, but neither Pro desktop can see or browse the XP Home
laptop, or access its shared folder via UNC.

I worked the problem over pretty hard between the x64 and Home machines.
Things I have looked at: Both computers are members of WORKGROUP. Both have
a matching administrative user account and password (the Administrator
account, passworded on both machines). The Guest account was temporarily
activated on the Home machine. I enabled NetBIOS over TCP/IP on both
machines. The Computer Browser service is running on both. I ran the
Network Setup Wizard on the XP Home computer. I temporarily disabled the
software firewalls on both machines. Both machines have good Internet
access, by the way. For the XP Home shared folder's Properties, the Sharing
tab does not have a Permissions button, so as far as I know I'm not running
into a Permissions/Rights issue.

I was inclined to think that this was some sort of unidentified issue
between XP x64 and x32, but then I connected this XP Pro x32 to the network
and got the same result. Though I have not checked it out as thoroughly, it
now looks to me like it has nothing to do with x64.

Anyone have a good idea of what the problem is?

--John Hupp
 
I have a Windows XP Pro x64 desktop, an XP Pro x32 desktop and an XP Home
laptop. The laptop has a shared
folder named C:\RECOVERY. There are also shared folders on the Pro
desktops. All machines are connected via Ethernet
router/switch.

The Problem: The XP Home laptop can see and access the shares on the Pro x64
and Pro x32 machines, but neither Pro desktop can see or browse the XP Home
laptop, or access its shared folder via UNC.

I worked the problem over pretty hard between the x64 and Home machines.
Things I have looked at: Both computers are members of WORKGROUP. Both have
a matching administrative user account and password (the Administrator
account, passworded on both machines). The Guest account was temporarily
activated on the Home machine. I enabled NetBIOS over TCP/IP on both
machines. The Computer Browser service is running on both. I ran the
Network Setup Wizard on the XP Home computer. I temporarily disabled the
software firewalls on both machines. Both machines have good Internet
access, by the way. For the XP Home shared folder's Properties, the Sharing
tab does not have a Permissions button, so as far as I know I'm not running
into a Permissions/Rights issue.

I was inclined to think that this was some sort of unidentified issue
between XP x64 and x32, but then I connected this XP Pro x32 to the network
and got the same result. Though I have not checked it out as thoroughly, it
now looks to me like it has nothing to do with x64.

Anyone have a good idea of what the problem is?

--John Hupp
Click to expand...

John,

It sounds like you have done most of the initial diagnosis, so let's narrow down
the possibilities. Look at "browstat status" and "ipconfig /all" from each
computer. 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
 
Thanks, Chuck, for taking an interest in my problem. I follow with the
diagnostic info for "the invisible laptop" and for the Pro x64 desktop.

--John Hupp

-----------------------------------------------------

IPCONFIG.TXT for the problematic XP Home (Ver. 2002, SP2) laptop:

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : DanOsberger
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : hsd1.in.comcast.net.

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hsd1.in.comcast.net.
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : National Semiconductor Corp.
DP83815/816 10/100 MacPhyter PCI Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0D-9D-5D-95-4C
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.4
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.87.72.130
68.87.77.130
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, April 26, 2007 9:02:59
AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, January 18, 2038
11:14:07 PM

-----------------------------------------------------

NETCONFIG.TXT for the same machine:

Server Name \\DANOSBERGER
Server Comment

Software version Windows 2002
Server is active on
NetbiosSmb (000000000000)


Server hidden No
Maximum Logged On Users 5
Maximum open files per session 16384

Idle session time (min) 15
The command completed successfully.

Computer name \\DANOSBERGER
Full Computer name DanOsberger
User name Dan O

Workstation active on
NetbiosSmb (000000000000)
NetBT_Tcpip_{FCC13356-E357-4D8F-B3E1-BDC4BD4215F1} (000D9D5D954C)

Software version Windows 2002

Workstation domain WORKGROUP
Workstation Domain DNS Name (null)
Logon domain DANOSBERGER

COM Open Timeout (sec) 0
COM Send Count (byte) 16
COM Send Timeout (msec) 250
The command completed successfully.

-----------------------------------------------------

BROWSTAT.TXT for the same machine:

Status for domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{FCC13356-E357-4D8F-B3E1-BDC4BD4215F1}
Browsing is active on domain.
Master browser name is: SERVER
Could not open key in registry, error = 5 Unable to determine build
of browser master: 5
\\\\SERVER . Version:05.02 Flags: 51207 NT POTENTIAL MASTER
1 backup servers retrieved from master SERVER
\\SERVER
There are 2 servers in domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{FCC13356-E357-4D8F-B3E1-BDC4BD4215F1}
There are 1 domains in domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{FCC13356-E357-4D8F-B3E1-BDC4BD4215F1}


Status for domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\Nbf_NdisWanNbfOut{81E71789-ACEF-4DA8-8557-408EC7CC6188}
Browsing is NOT active on domain.
Master name cannot be determined from GetAdapterStatus.


Status for domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\Nbf_{FCC13356-E357-4D8F-B3E1-BDC4BD4215F1}
Browsing is active on domain.
Master browser name is: DANOSBERGER
Master browser is running build 2600
1 backup servers retrieved from master DANOSBERGER
\\DANOSBERGER
There are 1 servers in domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\Nbf_{FCC13356-E357-4D8F-B3E1-BDC4BD4215F1}
There are 1 domains in domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\Nbf_{FCC13356-E357-4D8F-B3E1-BDC4BD4215F1}

-----------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------

IPCONFIG.TXT for the XP Pro x64 with SP1 desktop:

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : server
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : hsd1.in.comcast.net.

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hsd1.in.comcast.net.
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Generic Marvell Yukon Chipset based
Ethernet Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-15-58-6D-31-B5
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.87.72.130
68.87.77.130
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Friday, April 27, 2007 1:41:18 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Friday, April 27, 2007 1:41:17 PM

-----------------------------------------------------

NETCONFIG.TXT for the x64 machine:

Server Name \\SERVER
Server Comment

Software version Microsoft Windows XP
Server is active on
NetbiosSmb (000000000000)
NetBT_Tcpip_{10DCEFD9-4D1D-434A-A76F-6EBB431413C0} (0015586d31b5)


Server hidden No
Maximum Logged On Users 10
Maximum open files per session 16384

Idle session time (min) 15
The command completed successfully.

Computer name \\SERVER
Full Computer name server
User name Administrator

Workstation active on
NetbiosSmb (000000000000)
NetBT_Tcpip_{10DCEFD9-4D1D-434A-A76F-6EBB431413C0} (0015586D31B5)

Software version Microsoft Windows XP

Workstation domain WORKGROUP
Logon domain SERVER

COM Open Timeout (sec) 0
COM Send Count (byte) 16
COM Send Timeout (msec) 250
The command completed successfully.

-----------------------------------------------------

BROWSTAT.TXT for the x64:

Status for domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{10DCEFD9-4D1D-434A-A76F-6EBB431413C0}
Browsing is active on domain.
Master browser name is: STA2
Could not open key in registry, error = 5 Unable to determine build
of browser master: 5
\\\\STA2 . Version:05.01 Flags: 51007 NT POTENTIAL MASTER
1 backup servers retrieved from master STA2
\\STA2
There are 2 servers in domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{10DCEFD9-4D1D-434A-A76F-6EBB431413C0}
There are 1 domains in domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{10DCEFD9-4D1D-434A-A76F-6EBB431413C0}
 
Thanks, Chuck, for taking an interest in my problem. I follow with the
diagnostic info for "the invisible laptop" and for the Pro x64 desktop.

--John Hupp

-----------------------------------------------------

IPCONFIG.TXT for the problematic XP Home (Ver. 2002, SP2) laptop:

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : DanOsberger
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : hsd1.in.comcast.net.

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hsd1.in.comcast.net.
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : National Semiconductor Corp.
DP83815/816 10/100 MacPhyter PCI Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0D-9D-5D-95-4C
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.4
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.87.72.130
68.87.77.130
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, April 26, 2007 9:02:59
AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, January 18, 2038
11:14:07 PM

-----------------------------------------------------

NETCONFIG.TXT for the same machine:

Server Name \\DANOSBERGER
Server Comment

Software version Windows 2002
Server is active on
NetbiosSmb (000000000000)


Server hidden No
Maximum Logged On Users 5
Maximum open files per session 16384

Idle session time (min) 15
The command completed successfully.

Computer name \\DANOSBERGER
Full Computer name DanOsberger
User name Dan O

Workstation active on
NetbiosSmb (000000000000)
NetBT_Tcpip_{FCC13356-E357-4D8F-B3E1-BDC4BD4215F1} (000D9D5D954C)

Software version Windows 2002

Workstation domain WORKGROUP
Workstation Domain DNS Name (null)
Logon domain DANOSBERGER

COM Open Timeout (sec) 0
COM Send Count (byte) 16
COM Send Timeout (msec) 250
The command completed successfully.

-----------------------------------------------------

BROWSTAT.TXT for the same machine:

Status for domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{FCC13356-E357-4D8F-B3E1-BDC4BD4215F1}
Browsing is active on domain.
Master browser name is: SERVER
Could not open key in registry, error = 5 Unable to determine build
of browser master: 5
\\\\SERVER . Version:05.02 Flags: 51207 NT POTENTIAL MASTER
1 backup servers retrieved from master SERVER
\\SERVER
There are 2 servers in domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{FCC13356-E357-4D8F-B3E1-BDC4BD4215F1}
There are 1 domains in domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{FCC13356-E357-4D8F-B3E1-BDC4BD4215F1}


Status for domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\Nbf_NdisWanNbfOut{81E71789-ACEF-4DA8-8557-408EC7CC6188}
Browsing is NOT active on domain.
Master name cannot be determined from GetAdapterStatus.


Status for domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\Nbf_{FCC13356-E357-4D8F-B3E1-BDC4BD4215F1}
Browsing is active on domain.
Master browser name is: DANOSBERGER
Master browser is running build 2600
1 backup servers retrieved from master DANOSBERGER
\\DANOSBERGER
There are 1 servers in domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\Nbf_{FCC13356-E357-4D8F-B3E1-BDC4BD4215F1}
There are 1 domains in domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\Nbf_{FCC13356-E357-4D8F-B3E1-BDC4BD4215F1}

-----------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------

IPCONFIG.TXT for the XP Pro x64 with SP1 desktop:

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : server
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : hsd1.in.comcast.net.

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hsd1.in.comcast.net.
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Generic Marvell Yukon Chipset based
Ethernet Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-15-58-6D-31-B5
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.87.72.130
68.87.77.130
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Friday, April 27, 2007 1:41:18 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Friday, April 27, 2007 1:41:17 PM

-----------------------------------------------------

NETCONFIG.TXT for the x64 machine:

Server Name \\SERVER
Server Comment

Software version Microsoft Windows XP
Server is active on
NetbiosSmb (000000000000)
NetBT_Tcpip_{10DCEFD9-4D1D-434A-A76F-6EBB431413C0} (0015586d31b5)


Server hidden No
Maximum Logged On Users 10
Maximum open files per session 16384

Idle session time (min) 15
The command completed successfully.

Computer name \\SERVER
Full Computer name server
User name Administrator

Workstation active on
NetbiosSmb (000000000000)
NetBT_Tcpip_{10DCEFD9-4D1D-434A-A76F-6EBB431413C0} (0015586D31B5)

Software version Microsoft Windows XP

Workstation domain WORKGROUP
Logon domain SERVER

COM Open Timeout (sec) 0
COM Send Count (byte) 16
COM Send Timeout (msec) 250
The command completed successfully.

-----------------------------------------------------

BROWSTAT.TXT for the x64:

Status for domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{10DCEFD9-4D1D-434A-A76F-6EBB431413C0}
Browsing is active on domain.
Master browser name is: STA2
Could not open key in registry, error = 5 Unable to determine build
of browser master: 5
\\\\STA2 . Version:05.01 Flags: 51007 NT POTENTIAL MASTER
1 backup servers retrieved from master STA2
\\STA2
There are 2 servers in domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{10DCEFD9-4D1D-434A-A76F-6EBB431413C0}
There are 1 domains in domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{10DCEFD9-4D1D-434A-A76F-6EBB431413C0}
Click to expand...

From DanOsberger:
Status for domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{FCC13356-E357-4D8F-B3E1-BDC4BD4215F1}
Browsing is active on domain.
Master browser name is: SERVER
Could not open key in registry, error = 5 Unable to determine build
of browser master: 5
\\\\SERVER . Version:05.02 Flags: 51207 NT POTENTIAL MASTER
1 backup servers retrieved from master SERVER
\\SERVER
There are 2 servers in domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{FCC13356-E357-4D8F-B3E1-BDC4BD4215F1}
There are 1 domains in domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{FCC13356-E357-4D8F-B3E1-BDC4BD4215F1}


Status for domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\Nbf_NdisWanNbfOut{81E71789-ACEF-4DA8-8557-408EC7CC6188}
Browsing is NOT active on domain.
Master name cannot be determined from GetAdapterStatus.


Status for domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\Nbf_{FCC13356-E357-4D8F-B3E1-BDC4BD4215F1}
Browsing is active on domain.
Master browser name is: DANOSBERGER
Master browser is running build 2600
1 backup servers retrieved from master DANOSBERGER
\\DANOSBERGER
There are 1 servers in domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\Nbf_{FCC13356-E357-4D8F-B3E1-BDC4BD4215F1}
There are 1 domains in domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\Nbf_{FCC13356-E357-4D8F-B3E1-BDC4BD4215F1}
Click to expand...

From Server:
Status for domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{10DCEFD9-4D1D-434A-A76F-6EBB431413C0}
Browsing is active on domain.
Master browser name is: STA2
Could not open key in registry, error = 5 Unable to determine build
of browser master: 5
\\\\STA2 . Version:05.01 Flags: 51007 NT POTENTIAL MASTER
1 backup servers retrieved from master STA2
\\STA2
There are 2 servers in domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{10DCEFD9-4D1D-434A-A76F-6EBB431413C0}
There are 1 domains in domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{10DCEFD9-4D1D-434A-A76F-6EBB431413C0}
Click to expand...

DanOsberger has DanOsberger as the master browser. Server has Sta2. I don't
see any diagnostics for Sta2.

DanOsberger has an extra protocol. Extra protocols will cause this sort of
problem.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/fix-network-problems-but-clean-up.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/fix-network-problems-but-clean-up.html
 
Chuck,

I'll cover the easy point first.

Regarding your second observation: "DanOsberger has an extra protocol.
Extra protocols will cause this sort of
problem."
I added the NetBEUI protocol as a prospective work-around for the
problem, but not until after I had done all the troubleshooting I described
in the first post. It is clearly not the source of the problem, but I
confess a deviation from the attempt to troubleshoot the TCP/IP networking.

Regarding your first observation: "DanOsberger has DanOsberger as the master
browser. Server has Sta2. I don't see any diagnostics for Sta2."
Browstat for Sta2 also has Sta2 as the master browser. If that is
the problem, how do I fix DanOsberger so that it also has Sta2 as master
browser?
For completeness, I follow below with the Sta2 diagnostics.

Thanks again for your help!

--John Hupp

IPCONFIG.TXT for STA2:

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : sta2
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : hsd1.in.comcast.net.

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hsd1.in.comcast.net.
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast
Ethernet NIC
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-19-21-22-D6-4E
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.3
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.87.72.130
68.87.77.130
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, April 24, 2007 10:33:22
AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, January 18, 2038
11:14:07 PM

----------------------------------------------------------------------

NETCONFIG.TXT for STA2:

Server Name \\STA2
Server Comment

Software version Windows 2002
Server is active on
NetbiosSmb (000000000000)
NetBT_Tcpip_{27FCC0BC-F471-4CA6-BC6F-81132D913166} (00192122d64e)


Server hidden No
Maximum Logged On Users 10
Maximum open files per session 16384

Idle session time (min) 15
The command completed successfully.

Computer name \\STA2
Full Computer name sta2
User name Dan

Workstation active on
NetbiosSmb (000000000000)
NetBT_Tcpip_{27FCC0BC-F471-4CA6-BC6F-81132D913166} (00192122D64E)

Software version Windows 2002

Workstation domain WORKGROUP
Workstation Domain DNS Name (null)
Logon domain STA2

COM Open Timeout (sec) 0
COM Send Count (byte) 16
COM Send Timeout (msec) 250
The command completed successfully.

------------------------------------------------------

BROWSTAT.TXT for STA2:

Status for domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{27FCC0BC-F471-4CA6-BC6F-81132D913166}
Browsing is active on domain.
Master browser name is: STA2
Master browser is running build 2600
1 backup servers retrieved from master STA2
\\STA2
There are 2 servers in domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{27FCC0BC-F471-4CA6-BC6F-81132D913166}
There are 1 domains in domain WORKGROUP on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{27FCC0BC-F471-4CA6-BC6F-81132D913166}
 
Chuck,

I'll cover the easy point first.

Regarding your second observation: "DanOsberger has an extra protocol.
Extra protocols will cause this sort of
problem."
I added the NetBEUI protocol as a prospective work-around for the
problem, but not until after I had done all the troubleshooting I described
in the first post. It is clearly not the source of the problem, but I
confess a deviation from the attempt to troubleshoot the TCP/IP networking.

Regarding your first observation: "DanOsberger has DanOsberger as the master
browser. Server has Sta2. I don't see any diagnostics for Sta2."
Browstat for Sta2 also has Sta2 as the master browser. If that is
the problem, how do I fix DanOsberger so that it also has Sta2 as master
browser?
For completeness, I follow below with the Sta2 diagnostics.

Thanks again for your help!
Click to expand...

John,

You have to START with a minimised protocol stack. Adding NetBEUI does NOT
simplify things. Read about the browser system, including the Microsoft article
cited within my article. Master browser elections are semi-chaotic with only
one protocol involved; with multiple protocols, especially if non-symmetric, and
they become almost fully chaotic.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/04/nt-browser-or-why-cant-i-always-see.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/04/nt-browser-or-why-cant-i-always-see.html

Once ONLY NetBT is involved (consistently enabled too please), you'll have to
power all computers down. Power up the computer that you intend to be the
master. Once the master is up, power the others up. And wait.

Then tune the browser infrastructure. How many computers do you have? Is any
one computer online consistently? If you don't need all computers to be
browsers, disable browsing on the others. The less browser servers you have,
the less chance of a conflict.
 
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