Solve your XP network headaches

Solve your XP network headaches

By Brian Livingston

My readers have discovered some severe problems with Windows XP exhibiting maddeningly slow printing and file copying on a mixed network with Win 2000 and Win 9x machines. Fortunately, we’ve also diagnosed some causes and found some cures.

First, let’s emphasize that these slowdowns are not related to the problem caused by installing patch MS03-013 on Win XP with Service Pack 1, as reported in the May 8 issue of Brian’s Buzz (see “XP, IE, and OE patches cause their own problems“).

Microsoft on May 28 released a corrected patch that cleared this up, as I reported in the paid version of my June 5 issue (see the section entitled “Microsoft officially corrects the XP patch slowdown problem“).

By contrast, the type of XP network slowdowns that we’re discussing here are described by reader John Meyer:

• “File copies between Win 98/Me and Win XP machines are slow when the copy operations are initiated on XP, but fast when initiated on a 98 machine.

  “This problem is well documented in the microsoft.public.windowsxp.network_web newsgroup. No one has yet found a cure.

  “All you need is a Win XP machine (SP1 doesn’t alter the problem) and a machine using Win 95/98/98SE/Me. If you copy files using Windows Explorer on the Win 98 machine and you copy from the 98 computer to the XP computer, you get normal, fast performance. If, however, you use Windows Explorer on the XP machine and copy the same files – and copy them in the same direction (i.e., from the 98 to the XP machine) – the performance is 1/3 to 1/4 what you get in the other direction.

  “Dozens of people have reported this problem. (By the way, this is a different problem from the slow browsing problem, where it takes XP a long time to ‘discover’ computers on the network. That problem can be fixed with a Registry change.)

  “Things that don’t fix this problem: Changing protocols (NetBEUI or IPX instead of TCP/IP); turning off NetBIOS over TCP/IP; setting the NIC on either or both machines to half duplex; defeating XP’s firewall; and deleting stored passwords on the XP machine.

  “The one thing that has been reported to work, but isn’t an option for many of us: upgrading both machines to XP. If the Win 95/98/Me computer is upgraded to XP, the problem goes away.”

Well, far be it from me to recommend that everyone pay Microsoft to “downgrade” to XP. Instead, reader Alan Chattaway describes how he fixed the problem with a useful, free tool he recommends:

• “The network used to work well when first set up, but after one of the XP upgrades, printing from Win XP to the printer attached to Win 95 took five minutes to start. File transfers out of XP were equally slow and if the file was large they often died, leaving a message saying the destination PC was no longer there.

  “I had researched every site Google could find that offered tips on this topic. Many tips concerned ‘opportunistic record locking,’ Registry changes, etc. Nothing helped.

  “My son – who until recently was a sys admin in another city – visited last week and downloaded and ran Ethereal, a free packet sniffer he recommends. He discovered Win XP was re-sending packets repeatedly, as if collisions had been detected – resulting in packet floods, packets arriving out of order, and general chaos.

  “But Ethereal reported no actual collisions! As a test, XP and Win2K machines were removed from the network and connected to each other with a crossover [cable]. Everything was then perfect. File transfers that used to take 28 minutes (if they ever finished) now took 55 seconds.

  “The evidence (especially the last test) pointed to a problem in the network hub – but a problem that didn’t exist prior to Win XP receiving the fatal update. We rushed out and bought a switch to replace the hub. Bingo! Problem solved in all directions for all nodes.

  “As all nodes could surf the Net and ping each other at acceptable speeds during the time the problem existed, I believe the hub had not developed any defect. Its design simply didn’t anticipate something Microsoft did to XP in one of the free upgrades.

  “The other big lesson is this: I had assumed there were no traffic-related problems on the network because the Task Manager graph never showed the network more than 1.5% busy while problem files were transferring. But after the hub was changed to a switch, peak traffic fell to undetectable levels. I just didn’t realize 1.5% was high enough to be a problem!”

That’s a nightmare, but one with a happy ending, although it took a real effort. If you’re interested, a good review of a slightly earlier version of Ethereal with technical tips on its use is online at Sys Admin magazine.

To send me more information about this, or to send me a tip on any other subject, visit WindowsSecrets.com/contact.

Readers find more problems with Windows Update

The June 5 issue of Brian’s Buzz reported that Microsoft’s popular Windows Update feature has a problem with its SSL certificate. If a PC’s system date is outside the date range in which the certificate is valid – as commonly occurs when a new PC is being put together for the first time – Windows Update blithely states that no upgrades apply to the machine (“Windows Update finds no updates, but it’s only a matter of time“).

Aside from the time problem, readers have found a wide variety of other causes of this strange behavior. Here are some of their diagnoses and a few simple corrections (Microsoft, take note):

• “I had the exact same problem with Windows Update not showing any updates for one of my three computers at home. But I sync them all to the same NTP server. I checked the times and dates, and they were correct on all three computers – but only one had this issue.

  “The solution was that I had to clear out the Cache SSL Certifications in IE, then close the browser and re-open it. Once I did that, Windows Update started to work again. There is no mention that it could be a SSL cache issue anywhere I could find on the Microsoft support Web sites.

  “To clear the cache, go to the Tools menu. Then click on Internet Options, go to the Content tab, and click the button called Clear SSL State. Then close the browser and re-open it.

  “By the way, Windows Update keep a detailed text log file about everything, and when this problem occurs it does show an error message that you can search on.” –Jeffrey Litterick

• “The problem with ‘no updates found’ and the ‘800A138F’ error also manifests itself if port 443 (https) is blocked by a firewall. Reading your article got me to dig around and find the answer to the problem in the Windows Update log file.” –D. Dugan
• “I’ve been dealing with the ‘Windows Update finds no updates’ problem for months. My system clock has been correctly set the whole time. I used to delete the Windows Update version 4 software that was loaded onto my computer, but that wasn’t a consistent solution. I finally found out that when Windows Update tells me that there are no updates, all I have to do is hit Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1’s ‘refresh’ button [F5]. Then Windows Update reloads and behaves correctly.” –Scott Beatty
• “In some situations, with certain firewalls (not home firewalls, mainly corporate systems), you’ll try Windows Update and get ‘nothing.’ However, if you change the http:// to https:// [in the Web address line] and ‘scan’ again, out pour the updates you need and all is well. The rest of the update process is fine. This workaround has to be done for every update.

  “Also, there is a switch in the Registry to disallow Windows Update. If set, you also get the ‘nothing’ message.” –Joe Gill

And, just to show that the system clock is still making people tear their hair out, here’s another example of the “new PC” scenario:

• “On June 12, I got the ‘Windows finds no updates’ message for a Windows 98SE PC. This was a PC that I had just built. I knew it needed many updates. I found the answer in your newsletter. My system date was set to 6/12/2011. Reset the date and all is OK. This fix has paid for my subscription.” –Jay Pugh

I’m sending a certificate for a free book, CD, or DVD of the reader’s choice to everyone who sent me a comment I printed. Thanks for your support.

Windows Server 2003 bonks Windows 95, 98, and Me printer drivers

Microsoft announced on June 8 that installing Windows Server 2003, either the standard or the enterprise edition, can have the effect of disabling printer drivers that work fine under Windows 95, 98, and Me.

Fortunately, there’s a workaround for many printers. Look in the PrinterWin9x folder of the Server 2003 CD for compatible printer drivers that may solve your problem. More info

Other significant bulletins:

• A trick to get into Win 98 safe mode (which isn’t otherwise available on a Win 2000 dual-boot machine)
• Tweak the Registry to run older versions of Terminal Server on XP and Server 2003
• Certificate Services on NT Server can’t be upgraded to Windows Server 2003

Hotmail Popper 2.0 improves control of your throw-away e-mail accounts

Even the most sophisticated corporate mail adminstrators often sign up for free accounts at Web-based e-mail services such as Hotmail.com. If you don’t want to use your company’s domain name in some sensitive correspondence, a free address that you can simply throw away when you’re finished with it can be a great convenience.

The problem has always been that messages can’t ordinarily be retrieved from Hotmail using standard POP3 e-mail programs, with some exceptions such as Microsoft’s own Outlook Express. The free Hotmail Popper, published by Boolean Dream Inc., solves this for Outlook 2000, Eudora, Netscape Communicator, and others.

The new version 2.0 of Popper offers several sophisticated options:

• Configurable address. Change the IP address Popper uses, if desired, so you can make it accessible to multiple users on your internal network.
• Configurable ports. Change Popper’s default ports so you can use it even if different POP or SMTP servers are already running on your computer.
• Get Hotmail’s Inbox and others. Instead of retrieving only Hotmail’s Inbox folder, you can also configure Popper to retrieve any other folder – including the Bulk Mail folder, which Hotmail is notorious for directing legitimate e-mail to.
• Support proxies. You can specify any proxy server that your network may use to control Internet access.

For more information, see www.boolean.ca/hotpop.

How to avoid Microsoft Passport for security bulletins

The May 22 issue of Brian’s Buzz reported that Microsoft had to shut down for a few days the ability of its Passport users to change their passwords (see “Passport flaws let anyone control passwords“). The hiatus was necessary because anyone could change any Passport user’s password and take over the victim’s account after a Microsoft code change that took place in September 2002.

Several readers reported that they try not to use Passport, even though it’s difficult to avoid since Microsoft is requiring it for more and more unrelated services. One tipster, however, reveals a way you can get critical Microsoft security bulletins without a Passport registration:

• “Personally, I refuse to use any Microsoft service that requires a Passport account and have for several years now. (Once upon a lonely time I had a Hotmail account, but I haven’t accessed it since Passport was introduced and was required to change user preferences.)

  “Having said that, there are some Microsoft services that can be quite useful, among which is the Microsoft Notification Service. I’ve found a URL where you can sign up for this service without obtaining a Passport account [click here]. All that’s required, naturally, is a valid e-mail address!” –Joseph Fee

XP fix also corrects unreliable CD-Rs
My April 24 issue reported that installing SP1 for Windows XP can make it impossible for users to read removable media (“XP Service Pack 1 hoses CD-ROM and floppy-disk access“). Now we learn that the fix I described also helps recordable CDs that were burned on one machine suddenly become readable on other machines:

• “After reading your article on April 24 about Windows XP SP1 and problems reading CD-ROMs, I wondered if KB 811840 might be the solution to a problem I was encountering as well. Sure enough, it was.

  “I was having a problem with some machines at work that couldn’t read a CD-R that other machines had no problem with. Some files on the CD-R wouldn’t copy, with Windows returning the following error: ‘Data Error – Cyclic Redundancy Check.’ Even though the KB article didn’t mention that error, I thought it was worth a shot. Sure enough, after editing the Registry (very carefully), no more error message. Thanks for the tip!” –Bob Sydejko

Another reader found a problem and a fix that’s definitely related to XP, although not necessarily to SP1:

• “I just upgraded a user from Win 98 to XP and got a message I had never seen before when starting the 3M Report Viewer. The message I got was ‘Object Expected on Line 1.’ After reading some, I found that this is apparently not an uncommon error that appeared with a number of other products – not just 3M’s – after the upgrade.

  “After further research on Google Groups and further trial, I found that when I deleted the following key:

  HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Dream Company

  “(what in the heck is this key, anyway?) the problem was solved.

  “3M support had told me that the problem was only resolvable by reformatting the hard drive and reinstalling XP from scratch. I only had an upgrade copy, so this was unacceptable. Good thing I didn’t listen to 3M tech support.” –David Howell

Regarding the processor idle states that are the root cause of the XP problem, there’s an interesting technical paper about this:

• “Intel has an article available that covers these states in detail, including their interaction with USB devices [click here]. If your system is not a laptop, chances are you will not have this problem, as these states are used to extend battery life. Your PC’s BIOS may also support disabling these states.” –Jim Stuart

My thanks to all the readers who sent in their suggestions about this kind of problem.

Register now for the 3rd Annual Nigerian E-Mail Conference

You’re sure to learn business tips aplenty at this fall’s Nigerian E-Mail Conference, scheduled for the Abuja Sheraton Hotel (photo, left) in Nigeria’s new capital city. The conference’s Web site describes many valuable workshops, including “Those Pesky E-Mail Headers” and “Grammatical Errors: What’s the Optimal Number?” It’s all a put-on, of course, engineered by the J-Walk humor blog of prolific author John Walkenback. Guaranteed to offend all Nigerians. My thanks to reader Maurice Fuller for helping me find this. E-Mail Conference site