XP-sp2/98SE network problems

[Guest]

I have two pcs that are running 98 SE through a Linksys router and they work
fine. I added a laptop that is running XP pro sp2. I ran the XP network
configuration wizard and it appeared to set everything up fine. But now the
2 pcs don't see each other on the network unless the laptop is on. All of
them can access the internet ok no matter what.
I exchanged that laptop for a different one, removed the network from the 2
pcs and reset them up. I have not set up the laptop for the network yet.
How do I set up the laptop for the network so that it doesn't mess it up
like it did the last time?

 

[Haggis]

I have two pcs that are running 98 SE through a Linksys router and they
work
fine. I added a laptop that is running XP pro sp2. I ran the XP network
configuration wizard and it appeared to set everything up fine. But now
the
2 pcs don't see each other on the network unless the laptop is on. All of
them can access the internet ok no matter what.
I exchanged that laptop for a different one, removed the network from the
2
pcs and reset them up. I have not set up the laptop for the network yet.
How do I set up the laptop for the network so that it doesn't mess it up
like it did the last time?

did you make the disk and run it on the win98 machines? (don't) leave the
98 boxes alone and just run it on the laptop.

dissconnect the modem from the router and turn off the internal firewall on
the laptop ...problem still present?

any other firewall running?

post back

 

[Chuck]

I have two pcs that are running 98 SE through a Linksys router and they work
fine. I added a laptop that is running XP pro sp2. I ran the XP network
configuration wizard and it appeared to set everything up fine. But now the
2 pcs don't see each other on the network unless the laptop is on. All of
them can access the internet ok no matter what.
I exchanged that laptop for a different one, removed the network from the 2
pcs and reset them up. I have not set up the laptop for the network yet.
How do I set up the laptop for the network so that it doesn't mess it up
like it did the last time?

Ron,

Your problem is that the browser on Win98 and WinXP don't play well together.

You need to enable the browser on both Win98 computers, and disable it on the
WinXP laptop.
http://cms.simons-rock.edu/faq_by_subtopic/node138.html

Then power all 3 computers off. Power each back on again.

The Microsoft Browstat program will show us what browsers 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 3 computers give the same result.

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>

 

[Guest]

I did not make any disk and run anything on the 98 machines.

I have the internal firewall on the lap top turned off.

I do not have any other firewalls running.

I have not run the network set up on this new laptop yet because of the
problems I had before when I ran the network autoconfig on the XP laptop.

I do not want to do anything until I know how to set up this new laptop
without it messing up the network like it did the last time.

 

[Guest]

The browsers work fine on all three computers. It is the two 98 pcs seeing
each other on the network when the laptop is not connected that is the
problem.

I have not run the network autoconfigure on this new laptop nor have I
hooked it up to the network yet. My two 98 pcs are working properly and I
don't want to run the autoconfig on this new XP laptop and it cause the same
problems that were caused before.

I was hoping that there is a method to setup the network on the XP pro sp2
laptop manually which will keep it from causing the problems that happend
with the last laptop.

 

[Chuck]

The browsers work fine on all three computers. It is the two 98 pcs seeing
each other on the network when the laptop is not connected that is the
problem.

I have not run the network autoconfigure on this new laptop nor have I
hooked it up to the network yet. My two 98 pcs are working properly and I
don't want to run the autoconfig on this new XP laptop and it cause the same
problems that were caused before.

I was hoping that there is a method to setup the network on the XP pro sp2
laptop manually which will keep it from causing the problems that happend
with the last laptop.

Ron,

The browser (NOT Internet Explorer) keeps track of what computers are on the
network, and what file shares each is offering to the other computers.
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=188001
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=188305
<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winntas/deploy/prodspecs/ntbrowse.mspx>

Your problem is that the Win98 computers don't see each other when the WinXP
computers is offline. I'll bet that is because the WinXP computer is the master
browser. A WinXP browser gets elected as the master browser normally, when its
opponent is a Win98 browser.

So you need to disable the WinXP browser, and enable the Win98 browsers.
http://cms.simons-rock.edu/faq_by_subtopic/node138.html

Then power all 3 computers off. Power each back on again.

The Microsoft Browstat program will show us what browsers 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 3 computers give the same result.

 

[Guest]

Chuck,

I read all the information and when I tried to use the article you have
listed at
http://cms.simons-rock.edu/faq_by_subtopic/node138.html to disable the
browser in XP pro the instructions listed are not at all correct. There is
no place that you can click on that says "Administrative Tools"
I eventually went into the help area of xp and did a search for
administrative tools. Then scroll down on the right side to services and
click on it. This will bring up another window on the right and you click on
services one more time. This will bring up the services window and you
scroll down to computer browser. Click on that once to highlight it and then
right click on it to bring up the computer browser properties box. Under the
general tab go to the startup type box and click on the arrow on the right to
get disabled to appear in the white command box. Then click on apply and
reboot.

Thanks for at least steering me in the right direction. Now that I have
this disabled all my problems are gone.

Ron

 

[Chuck]

Chuck,

I read all the information and when I tried to use the article you have
listed at
http://cms.simons-rock.edu/faq_by_subtopic/node138.html to disable the
browser in XP pro the instructions listed are not at all correct. There is
no place that you can click on that says "Administrative Tools"
I eventually went into the help area of xp and did a search for
administrative tools. Then scroll down on the right side to services and
click on it. This will bring up another window on the right and you click on
services one more time. This will bring up the services window and you
scroll down to computer browser. Click on that once to highlight it and then
right click on it to bring up the computer browser properties box. Under the
general tab go to the startup type box and click on the arrow on the right to
get disabled to appear in the white command box. Then click on apply and
reboot.

Thanks for at least steering me in the right direction. Now that I have
this disabled all my problems are gone.

Ron

Ron,

Thanks for pointing this out. I generally use that article to instruct how to
disable the browser in Win9x, as the general solution is to use the browser with
WinNT. In your case, you had two Win9x computers, so you needed to go with the
Win9x master browser. Unfortunately, as you point out, the instructions for
WinNT, in that article, are not reliable.