Win98 Network - Can't See Other Computers

[kcidwx]

I'm connected to my schools network using a 3Com 3C905B-TX card. We are using DHCP with the TCP/IP protocol. There's no gateway address, no DNS configuration and the IP address is obtained automatically. It's pretty simple to set up. I have my workgroup set correctly. Windows asks me to log on when I boot up and all that good stuff. When I click on Network Neighborhood all I get is the "Entire Network" icon. When I click on that it says "Unable to browse the network." My internet connection works fine and I can connect to other computers if I type in the computers name manually. I can search for a computer over the network and it will find it and let me connect to it. Why can't I see the other computers in Network Neigborhood though? I can't see any other workgroups or myself either.

Thanks a bunch!
Jim

[mourikise]

Have you checked the WINS configuration? Maybe it doesn't get configured automatically by the DHCP and you have to put it yourself.

[kcidwx]

The school gave me this two page paper detailing how to setup Windows 98 for their network. It says WINS Resolution should be disabled and DHCP box should be checked.

Everything seems to work fine but I just can't browse the network. I had an ISA card before and it worked fine. I've had this PCI card in for a few months but never tried to browse the network until now. Last night I hit the refresh button about 15-20 times and a few workgroups popped up (not all of them though) and I could see my computer leading me to believe it was going to start working. When I rebooted the computer and tried it again it wouldn't browse the network again.

Thanks!

[ctaylor]

This is a basic question, but one worth asking....

Have the computers had CLIENT FOR MICROSOFT NETWORKS, or CLIENT FOR NETWARE NETWORKS installed?

Without having "client services" installed your "client" computer will not be able to browse the network.

[kcidwx]

It has CLIENT FOR MICROSOFT NETWORKS installed. It has the network adapter installed and the TCP/IP protocol. I also have file and print sharing installed.

[mourikise]

Try winipcfg. It is a small program that will show all info regarding your network settings of your PC. There check if you get all the settings you need from DHCP server or some of them is not correct. For example if there is no WINS server then forget what the paper they gave you said, and configure it manually (if you input the correct one then no problem). Also, try winipcfg on other computers at school that can prowse the network without problems and compare the settings with yours. This last one is the best solution (as long as you have access on a computer at your school).

Hope this helps. Keep us informed on how it's going.

[ctaylor]

mourikise is right.

Run WINIPCFG.EXE from a command prompt and you will be able to see whether your NIC has an IP address assigned to it which is outside of your subnet mask. This should be a moot point with DHCP and a standard NIC, but some other network devices I have dealt with (such as HP Jet Direct ports) would not accept a DHCP address until the "hard IP" on a CMOS chip in the firmware was released.

I agree, it is odd that if you hit the REFRESH button long enough, you will see some workgroups, but that those workgroups will vanish when you reboot the PC. Perhaps there is something wrong with the driver install for the card. Have you tried reinstalling the card? Perhaps even in another PCI slot? Have you tried anothe rcard too?

[This message has been edited by ctaylor (edited 07-25-2000).]

[kcidwx]

I got the WINS numbers and I'm going to enter them in manually and see what happens. I'll let you know what happens. I also have two DNS numbers I'm going to enter also.

Jim

[kirk6677]

hmmmm mabey a bad cable???

[kcidwx]

Replaced the cable (2 weeks ago) and no luck. I will be at the computer on Monday night 7/31 to try the WINS and DNS numbers to see if they work and I'll post the findings. It sounds like the server is supposed to provide this information automatically but just in case I guess you can enter the information and "force" the connection. This is my understanding anyway.

[ctaylor]

When you run WINIPCFG.EXE note the IP address of the problem PC, then try and PING that IP address from another PC with a known good connection. This will tell you whether the machine is reachable via TCP/IP. also make sure that the PC's have the same subnet mask and that only the non-subnet mask portion of the IP address is different.


My thought is that there is something wrong with Windows O/S that prevents browsing. As you can manually reach remote PC's via the UNC path, things should work for you. I would then remove all networking configuration info by removing all network adaptors from the system and reinstall them while overwriting all NIC drivers. If this fails I would reluctantly perform a Windows reinstallation.

Best of luck tonight

[This message has been edited by ctaylor (edited 07-31-2000).]

[jhansen]

I'd give serious thought to reinstalling the NIC drivers. Visit http://support.3com.com/infodeli/tools/nic/3c905b.htm for the latest ones and extract to a folder on your Hard Drive.

Reboot into Safe Mode and delete all your adapters from the Control Panel Network Applet (or Right-click network neighborhood and choose properties).

Reboot and when the NIC gets detected, point the OS to the folder you put the drivers in.

[kcidwx]

I entered in the two WINS numbers and the two DNS numbers and everything works great! I can finally browse the network. Thanks for everyones help with this! One more question, under the DNS tab what should be entered for the "Host" and "Domain" boxes. For the host I just put the name of my computer and for the domain I put in the workgroup.

[mourikise]

This is fine. No need to change anything else. Glad we could help http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif