Win98 Clients Do Not Show Up Under Entire Network 1

[rayway]

We are running W2K Server. The W2K and XP clients show up under Entire Network but the Win98 clients do not. The Win98 clients log in Ok and mappings work fine. I'm not sure what changes to make on the client machines or the server.

 

[SgtB]

Are you running a WINS server? I believe OS's like win9x and NT need WINS enabled to run some NetBIOS things like network browsing. 2k and XP rely only on DNS for everything, and if its a 2k network, then you no doubt have DNS. This would explain your problem. Unless you ARE running WINs, then the problem is of course not this...if you ARE running WINs, let me know some more about your environment.

Hope this helps!

 

[rayway]

WINS is running on the server. I have also created a Computer account in the AD for one WIN98 client on the server. When I click on AD and then properties/General tab for this client machine I notice that there is no data in the DNS Name field where all the other machines that show up under Entire Network have data here.

The client machine is set to obtain an IP address automatically (the server is running DHCP) and the client is also set to use DHCP for WINS resolution.

 

[CoolClark]

Pre-Win2k can't register themselves in DNS. You have to setup DHCP to register the clients in DNS.

 

[rayway]

How can I do this?

 

[dmanlam]

we had this same problem and strangely enough, the only way I got Win9x machines to display when browsing the network was to configure their "WORKGROUP" setting with the name of our Win2k Domain! This was true despite that they were already set to use a domain at login, AND they all had computer accounts in AD, AND our DNS (dynamic) servers had already registered these computers on our network. I believe the WORKGROUP thing is due to NETBios.

As for pre-win2k machines -- they can register themselves in DNS, so long as you have the Dynamic DNS properties set up on your DHCP server(s). Admin Tools | DHCP | Select a DHCP server and choose Properties. Click on the DNS tab and make sure the following are checked:
Automatically update DHCP client info in DNS
Enable updates for DNS clients that don't support dynamic update

-Drew

 

[SgtB]

dmanlam is correct! I totally forgot about this issue. We have an NT domain, and its the same thing with our 9x machines. We need to put the domain name in the workgroup name in order for 9x to browse the network. I completely forgot about this. Been a while since I had to configure a 9x machine.

 

[koquito]

Are those clients under the same network mask?
Check if their workgroup is the same as the damain name for your win2k...as dmanlam is saying.. A+, MCP, CCNA
marbinpr@hotmail.com

Keep fighting for your knowledge!

 

[GlenJohnson]

we had this same problem and strangely enough, the only way I got Win9x machines to display when browsing the network was to configure their "WORKGROUP" setting with the name of our Win2k Domain! Here's a star for you dmanlam. If it's set for Workgroup, then you're not really joining the domain. You might authenticate through it, but you don't really have full resources of the domain. Glen A. Johnson
Microsoft Certified Professional
glen@nellsgiftbox.com


"A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it."
Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695); French poet.

 

[rayway]

Thanks for the help but still no success. I did make sure to check that the workgroup name is the same as the domain and it is. I installed the netbui protocol to see if this would help, but no good. Does netbios need to be running for all of this to work? I tried to enable this under the tcp/ip settings but the box is grayed out and will not allow me to enable it.

 

[GlenJohnson]

Try using lmhost files and see what happens. Maybe pick one pc and give it a static mapping in wins just for the fun of it. You've got me curious. Glen A. Johnson
Microsoft Certified Professional
glen@nellsgiftbox.com


"A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it."
Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695); French poet.

 

[SoulAssassin]

Another thing to check are the bindings of the 9x machines. Make sure that TCP/IP is the only protocol used for file/print sharing. Happened to me at a client who had xp pro and 9x machines sharing files.

 

[emzabala]

You should enable file and print sharing in Network Neighborhood Properties. Then afterwards when you browse the network the Windows 98 machines should pop up.

 

[emzabala]

How do I put posts up for my own questions?
I just joined and still learning this site.

Oh yeah one more thing with my post above. I forgot to say configure the Network Neighborhood properties on the Windows 98 pcs. Then after the restart give it a couple of minutes depending on the speed of your LAN and they should appear when you browse Network Neighborhood.

 

[rayway]

Thanks emzabala. Enabling file and printer sharing did force the Win98 machine to show up on the network.

 

[emzabala]

No problem.