Viewing Other PCs on LAN

Hi

On my W2000, it takes a long time to display the available PCs on my LAN. It also takes equally long time to display the shared resources of a selected PC.

However, if I were to used the Run function, with the following command:
\\computer_name\drive_name\

The display is almost instantaneous!

Unlike my W98 on other PCs on the same LAN, the network neighbourhood can easily access other computers.

For your info, my LAN consists of W98, W2000 and XP PCs with fixed IP addresses. Every PC has been set under the same workgroup.

Anyone has any idea what is wrong?

Thanks for any guide.

 

Its a name resolution issue

Populate the HOSTS and LMHOSTS file on the PCs and all should be well

 

andyo

would you elaborate a bit on what you mean by...

"Populate the HOSTS and LMHOSTS file on the PCs and all should be well "

?

i have a couple of machines networked behind a linky BEFSR41. i'm sharing the cable modem internet connection fine, but having some difficulties getting the file and print sharing to function fully.

the prob i'm having may be related to what you have noted.

thank you



mark

 

Each of the PCs will have two files, hosts & LMHosts (no extensions) that can be opened/edited with any text editor like notepad.

You can place entries in there telling the PC all about your LAN. Since it will check these files first when trying to find a PC on the LAN, it will speed you up quite a bit.

There should be a couple of files with the same names but with a .sam extension that have all sorts of examples you can follow.

For example, if you have PCs named mypc1 with IP address 192.67.14.02 and mypc2 192.67.14.03 your hosts file could consist of only the following

192.67.14.02 mypc1 #optional comment but not required
192.67.14.03 mypc2

 

Hi
Thanks for the tips.

The HOSTS and LMHOSTS solves my workgroup viewing problem.

However, when I click on a specific PC to view the available shared resources such as harddrive, printers etc. my W2K will show its torch light icon for at least 30-40s before the contents are shown.

Any idea what is causing this problem?

 

Describe your LAN. Especially the hub/switch you have and the NIC settings for speed and duplexing. Also the number of systems you are running. And if you use any protocol(s) other than TCP/IP.

It is very possible that a speed/duplexing negotiation session has to complete before you get the connection. Easy enough to fix (and good to fix even if not the cause of this specific problem) but gotta know what stuff you have.

 

Hi Newt,

The following are my LAN setup:
a) D-link 16-port Switch 10/100
b) Compex RL100ATX 10_100 PCI Fast Ethernet NIC
c) NIC Line Speed - AutoDetect
d) Full Duplex Function - AutoDetect
e) IP - fixed
f) Binding - IPX/SPX, BetBEUI and TCP/IP
g) Protocols - IPX/SPX, NetBEUI and TCP/IP
i) CAT-5 UTP cable

Hope these info is sufficient!

Thanks.

 

Is there any reason why you need NetBEUI and IPX ? (TCP/IP is a given)

If you dont need these then remove them as both are prone to broadcasting, thus causing newtwork performance problems.

NetBEUI is a actually a good choice if all you want to do is link two PCs (no Internet) as it requires zero configuration, however its not suited to the Internet as its non-routable.

Autonegotiation of both speed and duplex could be a problem also. I'd try settin everything to 10Mbps Half and see if performance improves, the gradually build up through full duplex and then 100Mbps half and then full.

Autonegotiation can be a real problem when different vendors kit is involved

Hope this is useful

 

OK
I'll try that out.

Thanks a lot.