Windows XP & Win 98 Networking problems 1

[theonlytazman]

Yes another Newbie (in the forum world) wanting Help!

We have a Windows ME Peer to Peer network - yes not stable but moving to Windows 2000 Server will be too expensive (or will it - comments pls on how easy it is to migrate or whether we should consider Windows XP Pro or even Windows 2003). The Server PC is a 2Ghz model with 256mb ram running Windows ME (sorry!).

All PC's in office which are networked are either running Win98SE or WinME. Specs range from 400Mhz to 1.1Ghz - most of work is spreadsheet based therefore fast cpu speeds are not an issue.

Our problem:

Purchased a Sony Laptop (Centrino model) with Windows XP Pro with both wireless networking & standard 10/100 LAN setup.

We were originally getting problems with the Sony seeing the network using the wireless connection but this has now been resolved (or it had!). Our wireless signal strength is Excellent. After a while the Sony recognised our network within minutes rather than hours - initially it took the Sony a while to "power up" or "warm up" to then see our network.

Last week the Sony "saw" the network within 5 minutes of booting up!

In the last week only, the system is not seeing the network. No new software has been installed. No hardware changes have been made. No protocols or settings have been adjusted. Weird?

Even using the "ping" command with the IP address of the Server is coming up as "unreadable". We have used the "winipcfg" command on the Win98/ME machines to confirm the IP addresses. The other PC's are all set as "Obtain IP address automatically" with Network properties. TCP/IP, NETBui & IPX/SPX are all installed on the other machines including the server.

Our workgroup is similar to "John & Son" on our existing network. Windows XP Pro decided to rename it to "JOHNSON" as it cannot recognise spaces or the "&". We do not feel that this is the problem as it was recognising the network even with the "JOHNSON" workgroup instead of "John & Son".

We have just recently installed IPX/SPX (as someone mentioned that it may "fix" this problem) hoping that this would help and we are "thinking" of installing "Netbeui" onto the Sony WinXP Pro laptop via the WinXP cd - we know it's an old protocol since Win95 days, but it is on our Server and other networked PC's & from the comments we have read they seem to indicate that it may help (any comments on this would be appreciated?).

The Internet Connection Firewall has been disabled. We are running Zonelabs ZoneAlarm Pro firewall s/ware but even if this is disabled it has no effect on whether the Sony sees the Network or not.

Additional info in case it will help: The Server pc has it's drive shared with all other pc's. We have even setup a "Guest" account (as one user mentioned) on the WinXP system, again this does not help. Also using either the "wired" or "wireless" connection makes no difference!

Any help, guidance, fixes would be most kindly appreciated we are now at our wits end, and wish we had purchased a non-xp based machine! But you have to move with the times, heh?

 

[smah]

Zonealarm disabled could still be the problem. Look at task manager and see if the 'TrueVector' service is still running. You should add your LAN IP range to the 'trusted' computers setting of ZA.

 

[theonlytazman]

Thanks Smah

The tip was useful but it wasn't just a matter of disabling the ZoneAlarm program. Truevector was not running in the background. We were not able to ping other computers in the LAN.

Another guy mentioned that you should uninstall ZA and then it should be ok! YES! That worked!

We can now see the network! Only problem no firewall protection - I presume there must be some workaround?

Thanks anyway for the helpful advice though - as without it I may have continued looking in the wrong dir'n

 

[bcastner]

It is not that a firewall is incompatible with your LAN, it is that it must be configured to allow LAN traffic, particularly NETBIOS traffic to occur without impediment.

From the Zone Alarm site:

Click Firewall, then Zones. If the network adapter is listed, you can right-click on that name and change the setting to Trusted Zone.

If you have resources such as printers attached to your computer that others on the network need access to we recommend that you disable the ZoneAlarm Automatic Lock feature via the Lock Panel. When engaged, the Automatic Lock will block access to these resources from the Trusted Zone. Also, if the printer has an IP address assigned, be sure that IP is included in the Trusted Zone.

Note that using the Lock Feature will block all Local and Internet activity, and should not be used on a LAN in most cases. It can also cause loss of your Internet connection by blocking your ISP's DHCP server.

 

[theonlytazman]

:-(

Major Problem! The laptop is not seeing the network again!

Yesterday we "un-installed" ZoneAlarm Pro and then re-installed it and the network was being seen fine.

The guy concered then unplugged the laptop from the wireless connection (ie switched it off) and took it home & logged onto the internet via his ADSL (Broadband) connection.

Today on his return to the office his laptop cannot see the network. We again wiped off ZA pro, still NO luck! The Wireless connection is showing signal strength of excellent. Even "pinging" times out!

We have noticed in the past that it can sometimes take the wireless connection either minutes or hours to suddenly then see the network - is this normal?

But today we have had it on for a couple of hours & still nothing! Help is needed!

Any ideas why this is happening?

 

[bcastner]

You need to remove the WPA hotfix from Microsoft. Details can be found here:

http://www.intel.com/support/network/wireless/pro2100/sb/cs-006131-prd944.htm

 

[theonlytazman]

Thanks for the info Bcaster but,

The laptop does not have the 815485 patch installed. I know we should keep up with ALL patches that Microsoft has so stated we need, but from past problems we are very choosy about the updates we now put on.

Since I posted the above the laptop is now seeing the network again! But we are slightly wary of what is going to happen after work when it is taken away from the Wireless network environment & goes onto a standard broadband ADSL connection. Then tomorrow back into the office wireless network.

Is their a flaw with the Wireless option, ie it takes a little while to "see" the network?

We are now thinking of installing another PC with WinXP HE and due to our current & ongoing probs with getting this wireless WinXP Pro laptop to see our WinME network we are worried, even though this new pc is going to be wired

Any thoughts help would be most appreciated. Or is Win2003 the only option?

 

[theonlytazman]

Just as a quick conclusion to this thread.

The new Windows XP HE pc sees the network with NO problems - haven't installed ZA onto it yet though

1 Problem we did notice that the PC keeps requesting a password after every restart to log onto the network (even though we have enabled (or click on) the box marked auto log-on) - any ideas?

The Sony Laptop is now seeing the network within 10-15mins? No ideas why it takes a bit of time to suddenly "see" the network. This is without user intereference? Weird!

Thanks for ALL your help guys!

 

[smah]

Which PC keeps asking for the password?

If it's the 98 machine, see thread615-616699

If it's the xp machine, go to Start, Run, control userpasswords2 and uncheck 'Users must enter a username......'. When you click OK or Apply, you will be asked which user you want to automaticall log on - don't use Administrator.

 

[theonlytazman]

Thanks for the info on the passwords

Yes it allows me onto PC1 without a password, but once it has got to the desktop the network connection not found info box appears. Clicking on it opens up "my computer"

You then double click on the "network" drive and then the screen comes up that either the username or password are unknown.

The username box is completed by Windows and the password box is blank

Once you type the password in there the PC then logs onto the Network drive without any problem.

We want to be able to Automatically logon to the Network drive. We still want passwords to logon to Windows but then the network drive should automatically be connected up. Any ideas on how to do this? We have enabled "auto connect on logon"! In Win98/ME etc.. ticking this automatically logged you onto the server pc with no problem, with WinXP this tick does not seem to do the same

Also going back to the original laptop problem. As mentioned before it was taking a few secs/minutes to logon to the network drive but it did logon! This morning Windows did a security update (v4 I think!) and now the system isn't seeing the server anymore? Back to the old scenario!!! We have done a system restore but this didn't help? Has anyone any ideas on how to sort this out, or is it solely to do with Microsoft security settings changing something for Zone Alarm?

HELP!

 

[bcastner]

Let me discuss the wireless laptop.

1. Go to the Sony website and download a clean set of drivers for the wireless network adapter. Apply them.

2. Go to your network adapter card settings, and reset the channel number, SSID, and WEP settings. Disable 802.1x authentication. Remove NETBUI and IPX/SPX. (the former does not work well in wireless settings; the latter is unecessary and confuses things).

3. Go the Zone Alarm site and download or print the instructions as to how to completely remove ZA. Follow them.

4. Reboot.



3.