'My Network Places' Problems

8 Sep 2006 11:38 PM

Matt

I have a network of 3 machines are hooked to a wired/wireless router
dishing DHCP in the 192.168.1.100-120 range. The machines are two
desktops and one laptop. The desktops seem to always 'see each other'
just fine. About every third time I connect the laptop it doesn't show
the two desktops in the My Network Places screen. Nor do the desktops
show the laptop. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't.

Here's some troubleshooting when it does not: All IP addresses are in
range. I can ping the other machines. Taking the firewall down doesn't
make a difference. Repair doesn't help. The workgroup is correct. It
does pull the Internet out of the router. Wired or wireless...it doesn't
matter.

So it's like it doesn't know its in the same workgroup. But not always.
I'm quite baffled by all this.

Any ideas?

Matt

9 Sep 2006 1:43 AM

Chuck

On Fri, 08 Sep 2006 16:38:14 -0700, Matt <matt_nospamtownsend@earthlink.net>
wrote:

Show quoteHide quote

>I have a network of 3 machines are hooked to a wired/wireless router
>dishing DHCP in the 192.168.1.100-120 range. The machines are two
>desktops and one laptop. The desktops seem to always 'see each other'
>just fine. About every third time I connect the laptop it doesn't show
>the two desktops in the My Network Places screen. Nor do the desktops
>show the laptop. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't.
>
>Here's some troubleshooting when it does not: All IP addresses are in
>range. I can ping the other machines. Taking the firewall down doesn't
>make a difference. Repair doesn't help. The workgroup is correct. It
>does pull the Internet out of the router. Wired or wireless...it doesn't
>matter.
>
>So it's like it doesn't know its in the same workgroup. But not always.
>I'm quite baffled by all this.
>
>Any ideas?
>
>Matt

One of the most common causes of your problem would be a misconfigured or
overlooked personal firewall, or other security component. There are several
other possibilities too, and any might be the cause of your problem. Read this
article with an open mind.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html

Make sure that NetBT is consistently selected on all computers!
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/04/netbios-over-tcpip.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/04/netbios-over-tcpip.html

Or look at "browstat status", "ipconfig /all", "net config server", and "net
config workstation", from each computer, and diagnose the problem. Read this
article, and linked articles, and follow instructions precisely (download
browstat!):
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#AskingForHelp>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#AskingForHelp

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.