[draclan12]

Okay. It's like this.

I have a network already set up with 3 computers, 1 server computer, and 1 laptop. All of them have XP SP2... I also have a couple printers set up that are also networked. Everything works just fine and I can share files & print from any computer to any printer.

I recently got a new laptop with Vista on it. I tried to get the network set up so i went and changed the workgroup name to match, and I got it connected to the network.

In Vista I go to the Network and Sharing Center and I have it set up like this:
Network discovery - On
File sharing - On
Public folder sharing - On
Printer sharing - Off (no printers installed)
Password protected sharing - Off
Media sharing - On

Now, when I go to the full Network Map, all of my computers are being read and displaying there (after I installed an update on all my XP machines).

I can also print to printers that are connected to other computers, but the thing is when I go to the actual Network, where I can view all the computers in the network, it doesn't show them. It only show's my Vista laptop.

How can I get the computers to show there? Even though I can print, I can't share files...

Here's a screenshot -

[Edit] By the way, some computers were turned off at the time of the screenshot.

Thanks for any help... :]

[JohnWill]

On the Vista computer, please do this.

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.

[draclan12]

Thanks for the help, but I managed to get it working...

I just ended up redoing the network. Thanks anyways!

[draclan12]

Sorry for double post but it doesn't work now..

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6001]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Steen Hedegaard>nbtstat -n

Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [0.0.0.0] Scope Id: []

    No names in cache

Bluetooth Network Connection:
Node IpAddress: [0.0.0.0] Scope Id: []

    No names in cache

Wireless Network Connection:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.1.108] Scope Id: []

                NetBIOS Local Name Table

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

C:\Users\Steen Hedegaard>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : XPSlaptop
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : lv.cox.net

Ethernet adapter Bluetooth Network Connection:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1F-E1-DE-50-2A
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : lv.cox.net
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Dell Wireless 1395 WLAN Mini-Card
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-16-44-D6-F5-31
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::142:e9d1:cb94:fd1%12(Preferred)
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.108(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, July 06, 2008 9:18:57 AM
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, July 07, 2008 4:47:38 PM
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.105.28.11
                                       68.105.29.11
                                       68.105.28.12
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Marvell Yukon 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet
 Controller
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1D-09-5C-51-09
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 13:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:4137:9e50:3c89:1e99:3f57:fe93(Pref
erred)
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::3c89:1e99:3f57:fe93%10(Preferred)
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 12:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 18:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : lv.cox.net
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #3
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

C:\Users\Steen Hedegaard>

[TerryNet]

Did you make any changes between "Thanks anyways!" and "It doesn't work now.."?

My suspicion is a 3rd party firewall (security suite), probably on the Vista.

Picking one of the XPs, can you ping both ways between it and the Vista by IP address? By computer name?

[draclan12]

Well, this isn't my network, and I haven't been here since the first post I made so I wouldn't know... But as far as I can tell, no changes.

This computer has ESET Smart Security on it and I have let it have network sharing on it.

Yes, I can ping the XP and the XP to Vista.

If I go to the run dialog box and type in \\computer-name-here it will go to the computer and show all the shared files and printers...

[TerryNet]

Perhaps the Network Location Awareness service. It should be Started with the Startup Type 'Automatic.'

[JohnWill]

Can you ping each of the computers by name from other computers in the network? This has the ring of firewall issues.

[draclan12]

Originally Posted by TerryNet

Perhaps the Network Location Awareness service. It should be Started with the Startup Type 'Automatic.'

Yea, it's set to automatic and is started.

Originally Posted by JohnWill

Can you ping each of the computers by name from other computers in the network? This has the ring of firewall issues.

Yes, I can ping using the name.

It's been a couple days and it still doesn't work.

[JohnWill]

Have you disabled ALL of the firewalls to see if that's where the issue lies?

Check on each of the computers for these services.

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 (or perhaps manual).

[draclan12]

Originally Posted by JohnWill

Have you disabled ALL of the firewalls to see if that's where the issue lies?

Check on each of the computers for these services.

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 (or perhaps manual).

I just tried that, and no it didn't fix it.

But then I tried to remember what I did last time that made it work, and I remembered that I went and changed the workgroup name.

So I went and changed the workgroup name on all the computers, let them restart and voila, it worked.

Thanks for all the help you gave me.

[draclan12]

Aww dang it. It's not working any more.

It'll just randomly stop working...

[TerryNet]

My suspicion is a 3rd party firewall (security suite), probably on the Vista.

Often they must be completely and cleanly uninstalled or properly configured for the desired access. Sometimes 'turn off' or 'disable' will suffice.

[draclan12]

Originally Posted by TerryNet

My suspicion is a 3rd party firewall (security suite), probably on the Vista.

Often they must be completely and cleanly uninstalled or properly configured for the desired access. Sometimes 'turn off' or 'disable' will suffice.

Yea... I'm using ESET Smart Security on all of the computers.

When I installed it I remember it asking me if I wanted a 'Strict' network or to allow sharing. I remember putting allow, but I don't know why this is happening. And I tried doing it with firewalls disabled but no difference and I don't want to uninstall it because the person who owns this network wants to have good anti-virus + anti-spyware software on his computers.

Also, I tried pinging the computers again and I got something different:

• When I ping Vista to XP it pings successfully but at least every dozen or so replies it says 'Request timed out'
• When I ping XP to Vista the same thing as above happens.
• When I ping XP to XP it works fine 100% of the time and I get successful replies.

[JohnWill]

The symptoms seem to indicate an issue with the network topology. Maybe you have flaky hardware somewhere, have you tried new cables, new ports on the router, etc.?