Computer does not see network anymore

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I got four computers in a network using a router. All computers run Windows XP pro. This has been working without any problems for about a year.
Now one of the computers can not see the network anymore.
From that computer I can ping the other computers, from the other computers I can not ping the computer with the problem.

I switched network cables between two computers. The problem still exists on the same computer.

I ran the network wizard (configurationwindow, networks). No difference.

Workgroup is OK, computername is OK, there are several folders shared on the computer.

All computers have TCP/IP as network protocol (no NETBUI).

Who has the golden tip to solve this problem?

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Have you tried switching ports on the router? Did you update anything on the affected PC?

Joe

--Joe

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Any changes to your firewall on any of the machines?

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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Switching off firewall and virus scanner is no solution to the problem, after killing them the problem still exists.
Different router port and new network cable also do not have any effect.

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Just turning OFF the firewalls will NOT do it, as the MS firewall will kick in.

Make sure that the IP address of each machine is included in the safe list of EACH machine’s firewall.

What firewall softwall are you using a each machine?

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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I replaced the network card, no effect.
I removed all firewalls on all computers, switched off the Windows firewall on all computers, switched off the virusscanner on all computers (unplugged the modem for safety reasons during this test), no effect.

Next step is moving the computer to another network (I will do that tonight) en see what happens.

Any tips are still welcom.

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Do you remember changing the affected PC immediatelt prior to the problem appearing?

Joe

--Joe

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No hardware or software changes made prior to the problem.

I connected the computer to a completely different network. The problem also exists there.
Ik can ping from the computer with the network problem other computers but I can not ping the computer with the problem

From the computer with the problem I can ping 127.0.0.1 and 212.79.247.24.
I can also ping the router from that computer. I can not load the setup page from the router.

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I just found out that this computer also cannot ping its own IP address.

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I downloaded and executed WinsockxpFix.exe.
This solved the problem.

Thanks for all the replies.

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I’m glad to see you got it working, thanks for sharing the solution.

StuartR

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I have a very similar problem, so I am very interested that in the fact “WinsockxpFix.exe” may be the solution.

In my case 5 PCs (all XP Home) & 1 laptop (XP pro) on a peer-peer network. The PCs are linked to each other via 2 hubs. One of those is linked to a router & then onto the internet (via a cable modem). Normally router sets IP addresses.

All worked fine till I was in Tokyo 2-4 weeks ago. There I connected my laptop: 1. to my hotel broadband internet (100Mbs via RJ45, purely browser interface, no setup whatever – worked perfectly); & 2. to a corporate (server) network (internet access only – worked, except I could not send oullook email via my NZ account). I suspect the latter may have affected my network settings though? (I had been on the same hotel internet system 6 months earlier with no ill effects).

When I got back home (NZ), I could no longer access other computers on our network from the laptop & vice versa. All other PCs on the network can still see each other as per normal. Also, I still have full access to the internet from my laptop (& other computers).

After several days of fluffing around, discussing with other people (& several more just ignoring the problem), I eventually bit the bullet & paid MS their fee (NZ$35) for technical support. Fairly nominal (esp this case!!), but after over 3 hours on the line to with a technician, the problem remains unsolved. Tried everything short of a reinstall (or rather, “new folder install” which they say is the only option left). That I would dearly love to avoid, for the present at least. Did reset Winsock though; removed the router; ran HijackThis; manually set IP addresses; ….; and lastly did a repair install of Windows. Still no chop.

I did discover 1 interesting point though with the aid of MS tech support: I can fully access the network directly via IP addresses. It is only access via computer name & Windows Explorer that does not work. eg; typing 192.168.1.100 into “Run” correctly brings up a Windows explorer with all shared folders on my “Office” PC. “Runing” Office fails. Similarly can successfully ping “192.168.1.100 ” but not “Office”. Same applies in reverse (ie. other PCs can access the laptop via its IP address – whether auto set, manually set, or set by the router).

Does the above give any clue as to the cause of the problem? (DNS?? or Winsock)?

In the meantime I am going to give “WinsockxpFix.exe” a go – must be less painful than a “new folder install”?

If that fails I will work via IP addresses for now. Fortunately, I found this morning that Win Explorer “My Network Places” has retained the IP address links to my “Office” desktop, making it fairly easy to connect via IP addresses.

Any alternate suggestions?

David

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Alas, WinsockxpFix.exe made no difference to the problem. Still only able to connect via IP addresses.

David

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Hi,
Have you checked whether NetBIOS is enabled over your TCP/IP connection? Go to Control Panel – Network connections, right-click the LAN connection and choose Properties, select Internet Protocol, Properties, then Advanced. On the WINS tab, make sure Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP is checked. Then OK out of everything and see if that helps.

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Tried that to no avail, but thanks for the suggestion. Also tried with & without “Enable LMHOSTS lookup” to no avail (perhaps not surprising, since LMHOSTS is empty. Using HOSTS – not that I know what the difference actually is).

What I have done for now is add the names & IP addresses of a couple of the networked PCs to my Hosts file. That allows me to ping by computer name; enter the PC name in a Win Explorer address field; & most importantly, means that printer drivers on the laptop now work (the 2 PCs I put in the Hosts file are my work & backup PCs & have printers on them) .

Net View Name1 now works
Net View Name2 does not work (“System error 53 has occurred”)

where Name1 is one of the PCs in the Hosts file & Name2 one of the other PCs

Still cannot drill down to a networked PC from “My Network Places” in Win Explorer though; ie. get error message ( “… The list of servers for this workgroup is not currently available”) when eventually click on “Workgroup”. Of course access by Hosts file names:IP association will fail if IP addresses assigned by our router change; use the laptop on a different network; … ; or etc.

David

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David,
If you type ipconfig /all at a command prompt, what value do you get for Node Type (usually third line down under Windows IP Configuration)?
Oh, and is the Computer Browser service started?

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Peer-peer

What is Computer Browser service ? !!!!

See IP Config below.
“Lease Expires” ???
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No ???
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No ???

One thing I discovered though. When I saved the results of ipconfig /all in TextPad, I was able to drill down from Workgroup in the Save As dialogue. Still only able to access the PCs listed in Hosts though. Still, the ability to drill down in the Save As dialogue means that I have restored most of the network functionality by using Hosts.

David

###############

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
© Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : LAPTOP
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Peer-Peer
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet
#2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : ##################
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.104
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 203.96.152.4
203.96.152.12
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Friday, 26 August 2005 10:04:24 p.m.

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, 27 August 2005 10:04:24 p.
m.

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : HP WLAN 802.11a/b/g W500 #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : #####################

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If you look in Control Panel – Administrative Tools – Services, there should be a service called Computer Browser. This should have a startup type of Automatic and be shown as Started. If it is stopped, try starting it and see if that helps.
If it doesn’t (I suspect it won’t as I think your node-type is wrong), check your registry (Start-Run-Regedit) under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetServicesNetBtParameters and see if there are entries in the right hand pane called NodeType and DhcpNodeType. If there are, try deleting them and then restarting your machine (I suggest as a precaution that you right-click the Parameters key and choose export so you have a backup just in case).

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Brilliant work Rory.

Computer Browser had startup type of Automatic and was Started.

Was no entry in NetBtParameters for NodeType, but was one for DhcpNodeType (see attached).

Deleted that as you suggested & re-booted. NodeType has now changed to “Unknown” (which is the same as my desktop).

Networking (both from & to Laptop) now appears to be working 100% (just need to eliminate my entries in HOSTS to make sure). [Now confirmed]

A couple of Qns:

– why NodeType “Unknown” rather than “Peer-Peer” ? (given it is a peer-peer network)

– how would the change have occurred (if it did change) – when I attached to the corporate network in Japan?

(while I never had problems linking out from my Laptop, I could not previously connect from my desktop to my laptop. That makes me wonder if the setting was always wrong, but has only shown up now, possibly because of a Windows update “fixing” something?). Being able to now connect from desktop to laptop will be a big +.

I see my backup PC has a NodeType of “Mixed” rather than “Unknown”. Have had networking issues with that machine in the past, though it seems to be working OK now. Would it be best to follow a similar process on that machine to change NodeType to “Unknown” ?

Anyway, MANY thanks for taking the time to fix this annoying problem. You achieved in a few paragraphs what 3+hrs of MS technician time + talking to half a dozen others had failed to do.

David

BTW – now checked other PC’s & see that they have a node type of “Mixed”. They have a DhcpNodeType value of (4) (laptop had a value of 2).

Perhaps that would have been a better mod (ie. change value to 4, rather than delete the key ???

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Typically, the node type is set by a DHCP server, so I assume the network in Japan set yours to P-node to avoid broadcast messages using up bandwidth.
There are 4 types of node:
1. Broadcast (default if no specified WINS servers) – tries to effect name resolution by broadcasting to every host within “earshot”.
2. P-node – only tries to communicate point-to-point with a WINS server (which you don’t have, so it fails).
3. Modified – tries broadcast first, then point-to-point (this is your ‘Mixed’ type)
4. Hybrid (the default if there are WINS servers) – tries point-to-point first, then broadcast.
I believe the respective registry values are 1,2,4 and 8.
I would leave your backup PC as it is, since it’s node-type should be fine (and it’s working!), but you could try setting all the others to 4 (or even 1) if you wanted. There should be no need though as the default value is 1 since you have no WINS servers.

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Thanks – all makes sense when you know what is going on.

David

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All of these problems sound similar to my own. I have several computers networked using a router, all of which can see the WAN but one of which appears not to be able to see the LAN, apart from itself. This happened at a time when I was performing some major file transfers, and any number of changes may have inadvertently been made. (I perform such transfers offline, with my ZoneAlarm Security Suite and MS firewall turned off.)

If I look in My Network Places on the offending computer (XP Pro), under Local Network, it displays a folder for Shared Docs on itself, and beneath that is a section called Unspecified, beneath which is a display of all of the shared folders on the rest of the LAN, with generic icons.

If, however, I go to View Workgroup Computers, I can see my other computers, if I double click on any of them, I can see the shared folders within them, and if I double click on a shared folder, I can see its contents.
I haven

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