Trouble seeing one computer in a workgroup of three

[DeepEllumFrog]

I have tried everything I can think of. I have 3 computers, all connected to a belkin router, 2 wired desktops 1 wireless laptop. I can see all three on one of the desktops and can access all files, but the other desktop and laptop can only see and access each other. I can ping all three on all three computers.

Of course the one I can't see is the one I need to have for print sharing. have shut off the Windows firewall, and am pasting ipconfig/all and NBTSTAT -n in hopes that there is something I am missing there. Thanks for any help you can offer.



Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

E:\Documents and Settings\Robert W. Kelly>ipconfig/all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : RKDESK
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 3:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-30-1B-28-08-CB
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.4
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. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, August 07, 2008 635 PM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, August 09, 2008 635 PM


E:\Documents and Settings\Robert W. Kelly>nbtstat -n

Local Area Connection 3:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.2.4] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
RKDESK <00> UNIQUE Registered
RKHOME <00> GROUP Registered
RKHOME <1E> GROUP Registered

E:\Documents and Settings\Robert W. Kelly>

[johnwill]

Turn off any firewalls for debugging. If the firewall is the problem, you'll have to configure it to allow access to "trusted zone" addresses. Note that some firewalls must be completely uninstalled to stop them from affecting your networking.

Hold the Windows key and press R, then type CMD to open a command prompt.

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands:

PING each remote computer by IP address, and if successful, PING by name. Open a command prompt as described above and type.

PING <ip address>
or
PING <computer name>

Where:
<ip address> - is the x.x.x.x IP address
<computer name> - is the computer name

A failure to PING is almost always a firewall configuration issue. Any failure to PING needs to be corrected before you go any farther.

Note: You can obtain the IP address and computer name of a computer by opening a command prompt (DOS window) and typing IPCONFIG /ALL. This should work for any Windows version. The IPCONFIG /ALL display will provide a wealth of useful information for debugging your network connection.

Check your Services are Started on all PCs:

• Computer Browser
• DHCP Client
• DNS Client
• Network Connections
• Network Location Awareness
• Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
• Server
• TCP/IP Netbios helper
• Workstation

Note: You can check the services in Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services.

All of these services should be started, and their startup type should be automatic.

All computers should be in the same workgroup for computer browsing to function properly. File & Print Sharing has to be enabled on any computer you wish to share files or printers from. You also need to actually share the resource in question from My Computer, right click on the drive/printer/folder, and select sharing.

If you encounter difficulties accessing computers that are visible in Network Neighborhood, make sure the computer being accessed has an account with the same name/password as the system connecting to it uses to login.

While the default NetBIOS setting is correct for normal network configurations, it's possible for it to be altered, and it costs nothing to make sure it's correct. NETBIOS over TCP/IP must be enabled for normal network browsing.

[DeepEllumFrog]

Tried all the above, the computer I am having the visibility problem with is visible in the network only on itself and the router, in other words, you can see all three here. The other two computers only see each other, but you can ping the invisible computer. Any other things it might be or I can try?

[johnwill]

Let's see this for the problem computer, and also for one of the working ones.


Hold the Windows key and press R, then type CMD to open a command prompt:

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands, one at a time, followed by the Enter key:

Note that there is a space before the -n or the /ALL, but there is NOT a space after the - or / in the following commands.

NBTSTAT -n

IPCONFIG /ALL

Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter.
Paste the results in a message here.

If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here.

[DeepEllumFrog]

Here is the computer with the problem:

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

E:\Documents and Settings\Robert W. Kelly>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : RKDESK
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 3:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-30-1B-28-08-CB
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.4
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. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, August 12, 2008 9:31:06 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, August 14, 2008 9:31:06 AM


E:\Documents and Settings\Robert W. Kelly>nbtstat -n

Local Area Connection 3:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.2.4] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
RKDESK <00> UNIQUE Registered
RKHOME <00> GROUP Registered
RKHOME <1E> GROUP Registered

E:\Documents and Settings\Robert W. Kelly>

[DeepEllumFrog]

and here is the laptop that cannot see the above computer, but can ping it by IP and name



Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Robert W Kelly>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : rk-laptop
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-14-A5-79-73-77
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.2
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. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, August 12, 2008 12:29:31 PM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, August 14, 2008 12:29:31 P
M

Ethernet adapter SonicWALL Virtual Adapter:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : SonicWALL VPN Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-60-73-EB-68-3B
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255

C:\Documents and Settings\Robert W Kelly>nbtstat -n

Wireless Network Connection:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.2.2] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
RK-LAPTOP <00> UNIQUE Registered
RK-LAPTOP <20> UNIQUE Registered
RKHOME <00> GROUP Registered
RKHOME <1E> GROUP Registered

SonicWALL Virtual Adapter:
Node IpAddress: [0.0.0.0] Scope Id: []

No names in cache

C:\Documents and Settings\Robert W Kelly>

[johnwill]

Do the other two happen to have that VPN installed on them? That's the first thing I see. Other than that, I'm still thinking firewall, since you are obviously connected to the same network.

Just to insure it's not something silly set wrong, please do this stack repair on the problem machine.

TCP/IP stack repair options for use with Windows XP with SP2/SP3.

Start, Run, CMD to open a command prompt:

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands:

Note: Type only the text in bold for the following commands.

Reset TCP/IP stack to installation defaults, type: netsh int ip reset reset.log

Reset WINSOCK entries to installation defaults, type: netsh winsock reset catalog

Reboot the machine.

[DeepEllumFrog]

the other 2 do not have the vpn. i don't use it anymore, should i dump it?

And if you can let me know how, is it a program? I'm a little lost on this since i didn't install and it was for a job i no longer have. thx for all the help, i am still just unable to figure this out.

i have the windows firewall off, and when working on it i turn the avg antivirus off too. i am just lost as to what it might be

[johnwill]

The VPN is a Virtual Private Network, which is an encrypted tunnel to a remote site. It's used a lot in corporate remote connections.

If you don't use it anymore, for sure remove it.

[DeepEllumFrog]

Found the problem, it was an NVDiA hidden firewall. changed the driver, and now it works just fine. Was a network controller. Crazy stuff. Thanks for your help John!

[johnwill]

Well, it was screaming firewall, I forgot about that stupid nVidia firewall!