W2K Lan - 1 machine lost access to network drives

Here is a strange one: We are using 7 machines on a peer-to-peer LAN, all running Windows2000 Pro. The machine in question (call it "P4 ") just lost access to the shared folders on another machine. Everybody else can still see them. "P4" still has internet access just fine, as do the others. P4 can ping to the other machines, but THEY CANNOT PING TO P4. .... The workgroup name is still the same, usernames and passwords match, IP addresses are in same range (set dynamically by our router). We use Zone Alarm and it does have permissions set for our IP range.... What gives? Any ideas? TIA- Greg.

 

Greg - this is one of those 'impossible' things that seems to happen from time to time. It really should not be possible but .....

Things I'd try (and pretty much in this order)

- totally remove the firewall from the PC. Not for long but just long enough to see if that is the problem. It may appear to be configured correctly but just behaving badly.

- force-set the speed & duplexing on the network card to whatever the fastest possible is but do fix it at that setting. If you are connecting via switch, probably 100Mbps full-duplex. Hub and 10Mbps half duplex.

- remove and reinstall networking on the PC. Delete the NIC from device manager, shut down, remove the NIC, boot up, shut down, reinstall the NIC and all networking services.

As a side note, if you are using a router/switch for internet connection for the PCs, you might want to consider one with a firewall built in and get rid of the software firewalls on all the PCs on your LAN.

 

Thanks Newt, I will try your suggestions. GG.

 

Newt-- guess what, it was the software firewall (zone alarm). You were right. I have always have good luck with Zone Alarm, but **** happens. At some point we will reinstall it, but for now, my employees have work to do. Thanks again. GG.

 

Greg - ZA (free and paid versions) are getting more and more knocks on here and other forums. I'm not sure what exactly is going on but if you plan to stay with software firewalls, you might want to look for another option.