File Sharing Problems

I'm having some very weird problems with a new Win2k machine on my network. For some reason, it is having a problem sharing files with other computers on the same domain. It would be fairly easy to diagnose except for the fact that it works sometimes but not others. I was accessing files across the network just fine and then 20 seconds later it gives an "Access is denied" message. It works fine when connecting to other NT based Windows, but it denies access when connecting to a Win9x machine. It can still browse the network and see all of the shared folders, it just can't access any of them. Does anyone have any ideas about why this would be so sporadic in sharing files from a Win9x machine to a Win2k machine?
Thanks!

 

Which PCs are having the problem - the 9x ones or the 2K one?

How many shared folders do you have in total? We recently had to shorten some share comments on our main file server because there were so many and they were so long some 9x machines were getting confused - sometimes. Which sounds a bit like your problem.

Our quick fix was to remove all comments from personal shares.

 

It's actually the Win2k pc

The Win2k pc is actually the one having the problem. All other computers can access the Win9x machines just fine and the rest of my Win2k pc's can access them as well. It's just this one that we're having a problem with. There are only 2 - 3 shared folders on each pc and none of them have any share comments. This one would be a whole lot easier if it weren't so sporadic. One minute they're shared and working fine and the next you're not allowed access. But the Win2k pc can still access the rest of the WinNT based shares on our network just not the Win9x. Is there any particular service that controls network compatibility with Win9x machines that anyone knows of? Thanks!

 

This sort of one-off problem would make me suspect the 2K load.

How difficult would it be to blow the thing away and reload from scratch?