do I need the computer browser service??

[ftechguy]

I am running a domain with a win2K server and a good mix of win2k pro, win XP and win98 clients. Since I started adding more and more XP machines to replace the win98 PCs, I get occasional network browsing problems.

The only clue I can find is the computer browser service errors in the event viewer. I have been reading on other threads that win2k server and win XP conflict when there are multiple browser services running on the network. So should I disable all services on the XP and 2K machines?

I tried disabling browser on some XP machines and this resulted in stopping *all* 2K and XP machines from browsing the network (I would get the 'domain is not accessible' error message when I browse the network places). Any shares, mapped drives, etc. would still be accessible though.

So anybody know the final word on this? Keep the browser service on all XP machines or just on the server?

 

[bcastner]

The answer is, it depends.

See the Browser discussion here:

http://www25.brinkster.com/ChicagoTech/

 

[linney]

This is what "Blkviper" has to say about it.

"Computer Browser service maintains a listing of computers and resources located on the network. This service is not required on a standalone system. In fact, even if you want to browse the network (workgroup or domain) or have mapped network shares as local hard drives, you can still do so. On a large network, one computer is designated the “master” browser and another one is the “backup” browser. All others just announce they are available every 12 minutes to “take over” duties if one of the other computers fail. No lag time is discernable if this service remains disabled on all but one computer. Honestly, I do not even believe one needs to be running. You could, “just in case,” but it sure does not need to be running on all computers, all of the time."

http://www.blkviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

 

[ftechguy]

My network behavior with the browser service seems to be unpredictible and contrasting with what's provided in the links. Seems like this is one of those 'try everything and see what works' kinda things. Well I'll see on Monday. Hopefully, it's not too messy there with the power failure.

 

[ftechguy]

Well I disabled browser in the winXP machines and this results in stopping Win2K machines from connecting to them. They can see them in the network places and directory and connect to win98 machines fine, but if they try to connect to XP pcs, they get a '[computername] not found' error. Same problem whether they try to connect by browsing the directory or directly by Run -> \\[computername]

I also noticed the WinXP pcs cannot see the Win2K machines at all, although they can connect to them directly.

I enabled browser services again on the XP pcs and this prevented all machines from browsing the network period. (yes, above I said *disabling* browser prevented the pcs from browsing the network places, now it's re-enabling that causes the problem). Maybe I tried browsing when an election was being held, as that seems to be causing problems, but overall, this is one serious pain and it seems there is no standard for this which simply makes it worse.
Should I try disabling browser on the Win2k pcs and let it run only on the DC??

 

[bcastner]

See again "Browser Issues" on this site:

http://www25.brinkster.com/ChicagoTech/

There is no hard rule, but this is what I would first try:

1. Make the DC the Master Browser. This involves a small registry change;

2. Disable the 'Computer Browser' service on Win2k and XP client workstations.

3. Leave the Master Browser setting on Win9x enabled.

It can take up to 3 hours for the full effect of these changes to replicate through the clients.

For advice on how to make the registry edit on the DC and client settings, see the discussion I linked above.