Re: Home Networking Problem

Tech-Archive recommends: Fix windows errors by optimizing your registry

From: Chuck (none_at_example.net)
Date: 01/21/05 

Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 15:20:13 -0800

On Fri, 21 Jan 2005 22:21:16 +0000, Darren Murray <dkmurray@canada.com> wrote:

>My home LAN consists of two computers, a desktop and a notebook, joined
>together by a Microsoft MN-700 Wireless Router. The desktop (named
>'DESKTOP') is running Windows XP Pro SP2 while the notebook (named
>'NOTEBOOK') is running Windows XP Home SP2.
>DESKTOP is connected to the router via ethernet; NOTEBOOK by wireless card.
>
>Up until the day before yesterday (or maybe the day before that)
>everything was working well. Seemingly all of a sudden, each computer
>can no longer see the other one, although internet access remains
>unaffected. Both computers belong to the same workgroup and have
>file-sharing turned on. I have removed all software firewalls as well as
>disabled Windows Firewall on both computers, leaving only the hardware
>firewall of the router.
>
>Each computer has Client for Microsoft Networks, File and Printer
>Sharing for Microsoft Networks, QoS Packet Scheduler and Internet
>Protocol installed.
>
>In Windows Explorer, if I click on Microsoft Windows Network, it shows
>the workgroup.
>
>If I click on the workgroup on NOTEBOOK, it shows both computers. If I
>click on the icon for NOTEBOOK, I see the shared drives, etc. However,
>if I click on DESKTOP, it says '\\DESKTOP is not accessible. You might
>not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the
>administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions.
>The network path was not found.
>
> From DESKTOP, if I click on the workgroup under Microsoft Windows
>Network it says '[workgroup] is not accessible. You might not have
>permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of
>this server to find out if you have access permissions.
>The list of servers for this workgroup is not currently available.'
>
>I've also tried pinging each computer from the other. From NOTEBOOK, I
>can ping itself as well as DESKTOP. From DESKTOP, however, I cannot ping
>NOTEBOOK.
>
>This was working only two short days ago, and I have tried everything I
>can think of. In the event that it helps, I have pasted in the results
>of 'ipconfig /all' from each computer.
>
>Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
>--------------------------
>NOTEBOOK Windows IP Configuration
> Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : NOTEBOOK
> Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
> Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed
> IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
> WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
>
>Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection 2:
> Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
> Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Wireless Notebook
>Adapter MN-720
> Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0D-3A-2A-C7-07
> Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
> Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
> IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.51
> Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
> Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
> DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
> DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
> Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 21 January 2005 20:52:01
> Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 04 February 2005 20:52:01
>
>Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
> Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
> Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VIA Compatable Fast
>Ethernet Adapter
> Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-C0-9F-18-EA-09
>
>-------------------------
>DESKTOP Windows IP Configuration
> Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : DESKTOP
> Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
> Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed
> IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
> WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
>
>Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
> Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
> Description . . . . . . . . . . . : D-Link DE-528 Ethernet PCI
>Adapter
> Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-80-C8-DD-35-95
> Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
> Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
> IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.185
> Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
> Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
> DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
> DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
> Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 21 January 2005 21:32:11
> Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 04 February 2005 21:32:11

Darren,

You have a pair of XP SP2 systems, so check the Windows Firewall settings. WF
should be enabled on each computer, so check the File and Printer Sharing
exception on each, make sure that's on too.

Try pinging by ip address, as well as by name.

Next, check for a browser conflict (I'm not talking about Internet Explorer).

Make sure the browser service is running only one of the computers. 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 to prevent conflicts.

After checking / disabling / enabling as above, power all computers off to reset
the browser settings on each. Then power both computers 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 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>

The browser requires anonymous access, so look at registry key
[HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa], value restrictanonymous, on both
computers.
<http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/reskit/en-us/default.asp?url=/windows2000/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/default.asp?url=/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.

>From the Annoyances article:
You can create a Registry patch by opening the Registry Editor, selecting a
branch, and choosing Export from the File menu. Then, specify a filename, and
press OK. You can then view the Registry patch file by opening it in Notepad
(right-click on it and select Edit). Again, just double-click on a Registry
patch file (or use Import in the Registry Editor's File menu) to apply it to the
registry. 

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

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