Windows XP Pro Networking Weirdness 1

[msanto]

I have a home network setup w/ a workgroup. All was working well until just recently.

For some reason, one PC can see and access all the other PCs in the workgroup, but none of them can access the drives of the first PC (though they can see it). They used to be able access the first PC, but now, for some reason.

The drive is shared properly (I also deleted and recreated the share) and the PCs all use the same username / PW combo, which has admin rights on all PCs. As I said it used to work fine. I'm thinking there's some registry entry that got hosed or something.

There was a system crash on the first PC (the one that no other PC can access) that required me to do a system restore about 3 days back to get it working again.

Note also that the other PCs can all access each other. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[msanto]

Additional info. All the PCs are running XP Pro.

 

[bcastner]

Did you re-install SP1 and all hotfixes?

 

[msanto]

The System Restore only took me back 3 days or so, so I didn't have reinstall any hotfixes or SP, but I did run a Windows Update to be sure.

 

[bcastner]

It sounds like a subnet issue. Check your settings, you want to be sure the same Workgroup name is being used on the problem machine as the others.

Then check TCP/IP properties. If you are using a router and DHCP, make certain a proper IP address is being assigned, the Gateway address is correct, and the DNS table entries are being populated. If using a static IP make certain the IP is unique on the network, and on the same subnet as the other machines. Under the Advanced settings of TCP/IP, DNS, make sure that "Netbios over TCP/IP" is enabled, LMHOSTS disabled.

Reboot the machine and go to another workstation. Start, Run, CMD, net use m: \\xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.\sharename, where the x's are the IP of the problem machine. Will it let you create the map? Please advise.

 

[bcastner]

You might also consider whether the second condition discussed in this article applies to the problem machine:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;329441

It would help to look at your Event logs to see if there is a message indicating a network related problem.

Start, Run, eventvwr.msc

 

[msanto]

Tried everything elso, no luck.

So ... , I tried the net use command and got the error:

Not enough server storage is available to process this command.

Doesn't make sense, there's plenty of disk space available.

 

[bcastner]

Your Winsock service stack space is corrupted in the registry. Try this on the problem machine and report back as to the results:

http://members.shaw.ca/techcd/VB_Projects/WinsockFix.zip

 

[msanto]

Yeah, that worked. Thanks! I also found from this MS URL that making the change suggested w/in would work:

http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...port/kb/articles/Q106/1/67.asp&NoWebContent=1

What would cause such a problem, anyway?

 

[bcastner]

Winsock stack corruption has been an issue for every version of Windows I have ever seen.

Some things that cause it I have observed:

. Overly ambitious/poorly programmed registry cleaners
. Overly ambitiuos/poorly programmed Ad removal software
. Overly ambitious/poorly programmed Trojan removal software
. Overly ambitious/poorly programmed Anti-Virus software
. Multiple driver installations for a network adapter
. Multiple network adapter installations
. Protocol changes
. DUN related service changes. e.g. pure dial-up to PPoE
. Pilot error, an attempt to solve a TCP/IP issue by changing hardware, driver versions or both

The difficulty is with XP there are as many clean "tricks" available to thorougly reset service stack corruption in the registry. I will amend that, there are no convenient ways to do this for any Windows version.

The Microsoft KB article you referred to suggested that the netsh int ip reset logfile.txt would do a complete reset of the IP service. It will not. Its particular failing is that it will not reset the service stacks for active adapters, it simply reloads the corrupted service stack.

The utility I gave you approaches the problem in a different way. It recognizes whether you are using Win95, Win98, Win98SE, ME, Win2k, or XP. It often uses its own stored table of entries for virgin installations of these same operating systems. It begins by disabling all active adapters, including hidden ones. It finishes by forcing a reset of TCP/IP services on the new stack base to reconcile any lingering differences. It also does a check for HOSTS corruption and possible errant entries in your router table.

And it is a heck of a lot easier than doing it by hand.

Glad it worked for you. These odd DNS issues can be hard to trace. And if there source is from a corrupted service stack in the registry you may not see an error message, or if you do, it will not be clear as to the source of the problem. Forum Member CableGuy is the author of this little gem.

 

[bcastner]

"The difficulty is with XP there are as many clean "tricks" available to thorougly reset service stack corruption in the registry. I will amend that, there are no convenient ways to do this for any Windows version."

I missed an important "not" in the first sentance. XP will not let you remove TCP/IP, which in earlier Windows versions can do a fairly decent rebuild of Winsock if you experience problems.

This tool is more aggresive in dealing with the issue. It assumes by default that the Winsock, Winsock2, Router, VxD and adapter entries are erronous, and replaces them. Then it forces a rebuild of the TCP/IP service from Windows' own services.

This is not the same as just deleting Winsock2 in the registry, and DUN and rebooting.

If you have odd DNS issues, please consider the possibility that your workstation Winsock service stacks are corrupt and run the tool. I have not seen where it could hurt you, and surprisingly often it helps solve the problem.