XP SP2 computer cannot access network - master browser issue - a possible solution

T

tri_ing

hi newsgroup.
not a question...just a possible solution since all other threads didnt
work on my problem that ruined my nerves for weeks.

situation as follows

two pcs running xp sp2
one pc running xp sp1

on each of the computers is sygate personal firewall
each have advanced mode for shares activated (dont know the correct
english term, but its when you log on to a share you will need a
user/pass for it)

symptoms are:
from SP2 i cannot access workgroup pcs in the network neighbourhood
(not available, insufficient rights..blablabla...contact your local
admin)
thats the case until i turn on the SP1 computer
once it is up and running everything is fine

other problems i had:
network-mappings worked, but copying of some exe-files between
network-shares into time ran into timeouts or didnt start at all.
copying of other files seem to be no problem.



the problem was:
i disabled the sp2 firewall and disabled also the corresponding service
since i use a firewall that satisfy my needs

what i found out is that the "computer browser" service needs the
firewall service up and running to keep itself running. if the
sp2-firewall service is disabled the computerbrowser will crash and
hang up after some 2 minutes.

when i turned on the sp2-firewall service the computerbrowser service
came up automatically and after some 15 seconds i was able to see all
network resources without any problem at all


solution:
if you decide to _not_ use the sp2-firewall then do the following
- in the settings of the sp2-firewall allow any incoming and outgoing
traffic
- "ok" them ;)
- afterwards disable the firewall
- BUT DO NOT DEACTIVATE THE SP2-FIREWALL SERVICE...it is needed
- now you're free to install a firewall of your personal needs and
everthing should be fine

HTH

greetz
Tim
 
C

Chuck

hi newsgroup.
not a question...just a possible solution since all other threads didnt
work on my problem that ruined my nerves for weeks.

situation as follows

two pcs running xp sp2
one pc running xp sp1

on each of the computers is sygate personal firewall
each have advanced mode for shares activated (dont know the correct
english term, but its when you log on to a share you will need a
user/pass for it)

symptoms are:
from SP2 i cannot access workgroup pcs in the network neighbourhood
(not available, insufficient rights..blablabla...contact your local
admin)
thats the case until i turn on the SP1 computer
once it is up and running everything is fine

other problems i had:
network-mappings worked, but copying of some exe-files between
network-shares into time ran into timeouts or didnt start at all.
copying of other files seem to be no problem.



the problem was:
i disabled the sp2 firewall and disabled also the corresponding service
since i use a firewall that satisfy my needs

what i found out is that the "computer browser" service needs the
firewall service up and running to keep itself running. if the
sp2-firewall service is disabled the computerbrowser will crash and
hang up after some 2 minutes.

when i turned on the sp2-firewall service the computerbrowser service
came up automatically and after some 15 seconds i was able to see all
network resources without any problem at all


solution:
if you decide to _not_ use the sp2-firewall then do the following
- in the settings of the sp2-firewall allow any incoming and outgoing
traffic
- "ok" them ;)
- afterwards disable the firewall
- BUT DO NOT DEACTIVATE THE SP2-FIREWALL SERVICE...it is needed
- now you're free to install a firewall of your personal needs and
everthing should be fine

HTH

greetz
Tim

Tim,

Thank you for adding your experiences to the collective knowledge here.

--
Cheers,
Chuck
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not necessarily a bad thing - it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck sonic net.
 
H

Harry Putnam

What do you mean by corresponding service? What is the name of this
service if one were to look it up in the services dialog.
 
C

Chuck

What do you mean by corresponding service? What is the name of this
service if one were to look it up in the services dialog.

Harry,

In XP SP2, it's called the "Windows Firewall / Internet Connection Sharing
(ICS)" service. Pre-SP2, it's called the "Internet Connection Firewall /
Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)" service.

Windows Firewall is designed to break networking if stopped, to protect against
malware exposing your system.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/your-personal-firewall-can-either-help.html>

--
Cheers,
Chuck
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not necessarily a bad thing - it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck sonic net.
 
H

Harry Putnam

Thank you for adding your experiences to the collective knowledge here.

Chuck,
Can you verify any of what Tim has offered?
And what service are we talking about here.

The reason I ask is because in a very similar situation as Tim, I've
had all firewalls disabled all along. As you know well, I've had what
is really a minor problem in viewing some shares but no real inability
to carry on data exchange between comps.

I'd like to know what service is being presented as necessary since I
have several turned off.
 
C

Chuck

Chuck,
Can you verify any of what Tim has offered?
And what service are we talking about here.

The reason I ask is because in a very similar situation as Tim, I've
had all firewalls disabled all along. As you know well, I've had what
is really a minor problem in viewing some shares but no real inability
to carry on data exchange between comps.

I'd like to know what service is being presented as necessary since I
have several turned off.

Harry,

As I noted in my reply to your previous post, it's called the "Windows Firewall
/ Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)" service.

Tim's experience is consistent with other experiences here. I've been looking
for verification of this for some time, so right now, it's an anecdotal
observation, though I have added it as an entry in my troubleshooting guide.

Unless you have some really unique network configuration that we haven't already
examined, I doubt that it being disabled would be relevant to your minor problem
in viewing some shares, but stranger things have happened.

--
Cheers,
Chuck
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not necessarily a bad thing - it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck sonic net.
 
H

Harry Putnam

Chuck said:
Harry,

As I noted in my reply to your previous post, it's called the "Windows Firewall
/ Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)" service.

Tim's experience is consistent with other experiences here. I've been looking
for verification of this for some time, so right now, it's an anecdotal
observation, though I have added it as an entry in my troubleshooting guide.

Unless you have some really unique network configuration that we haven't already
examined, I doubt that it being disabled would be relevant to your minor problem
in viewing some shares, but stranger things have happened.

Your post wasn't on my server when I posted. I've checked the service
and further enabled all firewalls hoping to see some change in my
problem on reboot, but no it didn't happen.

Currently I'm running a repair from Winxp install cd. Hoping to see
some resolution after a reboot.
 
C

Chuck

Chuck,
Can you verify any of what Tim has offered?
And what service are we talking about here.

The reason I ask is because in a very similar situation as Tim, I've
had all firewalls disabled all along. As you know well, I've had what
is really a minor problem in viewing some shares but no real inability
to carry on data exchange between comps.

I'd like to know what service is being presented as necessary since I
have several turned off.

Harry,

As I noted in my reply to your previous post, it's called the "Windows Firewall
/ Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)" service.

Tim's experience is consistent with other experiences here. This reference took
some work to find:
<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/topics/threatsandcountermeasures/secmod54.mspx#E01C0AA>

Unless you have some really unique network configuration that we haven't already
examined, I doubt that it being disabled would be relevant to your minor problem
in viewing some shares, but stranger things have happened.

--
Cheers,
Chuck
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not necessarily a bad thing - it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck sonic net.
 
M

Michael Meyers

hi newsgroup.
not a question...just a possible solution since all other threads didnt
work on my problem that ruined my nerves for weeks.

situation as follows

two pcs running xp sp2
one pc running xp sp1

on each of the computers is sygate personal firewall
each have advanced mode for shares activated (dont know the correct
english term, but its when you log on to a share you will need a
user/pass for it)

symptoms are:
from SP2 i cannot access workgroup pcs in the network neighbourhood
(not available, insufficient rights..blablabla...contact your local
admin)
thats the case until i turn on the SP1 computer
once it is up and running everything is fine

other problems i had:
network-mappings worked, but copying of some exe-files between
network-shares into time ran into timeouts or didnt start at all.
copying of other files seem to be no problem.



the problem was:
i disabled the sp2 firewall and disabled also the corresponding service
since i use a firewall that satisfy my needs

what i found out is that the "computer browser" service needs the
firewall service up and running to keep itself running. if the
sp2-firewall service is disabled the computerbrowser will crash and
hang up after some 2 minutes.

when i turned on the sp2-firewall service the computerbrowser service
came up automatically and after some 15 seconds i was able to see all
network resources without any problem at all


solution:
if you decide to _not_ use the sp2-firewall then do the following
- in the settings of the sp2-firewall allow any incoming and outgoing
traffic
- "ok" them ;)
- afterwards disable the firewall
- BUT DO NOT DEACTIVATE THE SP2-FIREWALL SERVICE...it is needed
- now you're free to install a firewall of your personal needs and
everthing should be fine

HTH

greetz
Tim

This is contrary to my experience. Two PC's, both running XP SP2 and both
running ZA Pro. Windows firewall is disabled on both PC's. One on computer,
both the Windows Firewall/ICS service and the Computer Browser service are
disabled. This causes no problems.
 
C

Chuck

This is contrary to my experience. Two PC's, both running XP SP2 and both
running ZA Pro. Windows firewall is disabled on both PC's. One on computer,
both the Windows Firewall/ICS service and the Computer Browser service are
disabled. This causes no problems.

Maybe you needed no dependent services. From
<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/topics/threatsandcountermeasures/secmod54.mspx#E01C0AA>
If the Internet Connection Firewall (ICF)/Internet Connection Sharing system
service is stopped, networking services such as Internet sharing, name
resolution, addressing and/or intrusion prevention will be unavailable. Clients
on the network might not be able to access the Internet and their IP addresses
will expire, resulting in some clients using Automatic Private IP Addressing
(APIPA) for peer-to-peer networking connectivity. If this service is disabled,
any services that explicitly depend on this service will not start.

--
Cheers,
Chuck
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not necessarily a bad thing - it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck sonic net.
 

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