[SOLVED] networking problem (Moved from Windows XP)

[acdcdenis]

I volunteer for a community radio station and I'm having an interesting problem with a network of 4 computers running XP and linked via a Wise ethernet switch, where I can't see the other computers in My Network Places.
I set up the network again and it's all there, a couple of days later, gone again. I've disabled the power down feature to the network cards, turned off the firewalls, but no luck so far.
2 of the computers run winamp using files over the network and this operates OK.
These same 2 have a mapped drive on the third machine, with no problems.
If I put a shortcut to a remote directory on the desktop, it works fine.
If I search for a particular computer, it usually appears, but a blank search gives no results.
I have 2 computers and a laptop at home running XP with no problems networking (oh, just thought - that's connected to a router, maybe that's the answer?)
I'll take any advice I can get on this.

[JohnthePilot]

I've moved your query to network support.

[cjessee]

Can you ping the other computers? My Network Places is not the most reliable window to reach MS networks. Let us know if you need help with pinging the other computers.

[johnwill]

Look in the system event log and see if there are any networking related errors logged. Also, I'd like to see this for each of the computers.

Start, Run, CMD to open a command prompt:

Type the following command:

nbtstat -n

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.

[acdcdenis]

I ran ipconfig and nbtstat on all 4 computers and here are results:
Results for Studio 1 Computer:

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

C:\Documents and Settings\Studio 2>
C:\Documents and Settings\Studio 2>cd\

C:\>ipconfig

Windows IP Configuration


Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.245.95
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :



C:\>nbtstat -n

Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [169.254.245.95] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
GREAT-1 <00> UNIQUE Registered
MSHOME <00> GROUP Registered
GREAT-1 <20> UNIQUE Registered
MSHOME <1E> GROUP Registered

C:\>

Results for DDN Computer:

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

C:\Documents and Settings\User>cd\

C:\>ipconfig/all

Windows IP Configuration

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

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82566DC Gigabit Network Con
nection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-19-D1-4C-B2-37
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.241.84
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

C:\>nbtstat -n

Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [169.254.241.84] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
DDN <00> UNIQUE Registered
MSHOME <00> GROUP Registered
DDN <20> UNIQUE Registered
MSHOME <1E> GROUP Registered

C:\>

Results for Logger:

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

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>cd\

C:\>ipconfig/all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : great-15
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/100 VM Network Connecti
on
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-08-02-3A-67-89
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.40.37
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

C:\>nbtstat -n

Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [169.254.40.37] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
GREAT-15 <00> UNIQUE Registered
MSHOME <00> GROUP Registered
GREAT-15 <20> UNIQUE Registered
MSHOME <1E> GROUP Registered

C:\>

Results for Studio 2 computer:

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

C:\Documents and Settings\Studio 2>cd\

C:\>ipconfig/all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : great-16
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/100 VM Network Connecti
on
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-08-02-09-F2-7E
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.209.96
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

C:\>nbtstat -n

Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [169.254.209.96] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
GREAT-16 <00> UNIQUE Registered
MSHOME <00> GROUP Registered
GREAT-16 <20> UNIQUE Registered
MSHOME <1E> GROUP Registered
MSHOME <1D> UNIQUE Registered
..__MSBROWSE__.<01> GROUP Registered

C:\>

[johnwill]

You have autoconfiguration addresses, which is pretty unreliable for workgroup networking. Consider the following configuration.

Manually configure the four computers.

PC1:
IP address: 192.168.0.2
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Leave Default Gateway and DNS addresses blank.

PC1:
IP address: 192.168.0.3
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Leave Default Gateway and DNS addresses blank.

PC1:
IP address: 192.168.0.4
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Leave Default Gateway and DNS addresses blank.

PC1:
IP address: 192.168.0.5
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Leave Default Gateway and DNS addresses blank.


On all of the computers, do this:

Enable NETBIOS over TCP/IP for 2K/XP

1. Right click Network Neighborhood
2. Select Properties
3. Right click your Internet Connection (ex. Local Area Connection)
4. Select Properties
5. Make sure Client for Microsoft Networks, and File and Print Sharing for Microsoft Networks are SELECTED.
   • Highlight Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
   • Click Properties
   • Click Advanced
   • Select the WINS Tab Above
   • Make sure Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP is SELECTED
6. Click OK and Close Network Connections Window.

For simple workgroup browsing, it may take up to 15 minutes for workgroup names to be resolved.

If this is a static setup where all the systems will be remaining in the same configuration, you can also use the HOSTS file to speed recognition.

Start, Run, NOTEPAD c:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc\HOSTS.

Add the following lines at the bottom of the file, obviously replacing the PC1, PC2, etc. to your actual computer names.

192.168.0.2 PC1
192.168.0.3 PC2
192.168.0.4 PC3
192.168.0.5 PC4

Save the HOSTS file.

[acdcdenis]

Thanks for that - I went to the station today and set up the addresses as suggested and was able to see the network Ok. I'll check again in a couple of days, but it certainly looks the best it has so far. I didn't need to change the hosts file, but will keep the info handy for future reference.
Many thanks
denis

[johnwill]

You're welcome.