Computer names in Network not displayed intermittent

[MVD100]

When selecting Network in Windows Explorer the devices list is often empty. Also, when trying to open a file or save to a location in Office apps, the network server is not visible. I can ping a Name or IP on the LAN without a problem. I can also type in \\servername\folder no problem.

My SBS 2003 is providing DHCP, DNS and WINS with the LAN NIC as the IP address for DNS and WINS on a dual NIC server. DNS Forwarders on SBS only shows ISP DNS IP addresses.

I first noticed this with Mac computers and I thought it was a Mac thing. Often they take several minutes in the Finder to resolve server name and folders. Now I notice the same thing with Windows 7. XP does not seem to have the same problem. IPCONFIG results the same for Win 7 and XP.

Any thoughts?

 

[ShackDaddy]

I don't think Windows7 will automatically use WINS, so you may need to manually force it to do so. It may not even have the right services enabled (in the Network and Sharing Center Screen) to browse the network properly.

Another possible problem is that you are running two NICs and your server is registering the IPs of both NICs in DNS and WINS. If you aren't running ISA, I would recommend bringing it down to a single NIC. If you have to run with dual NICs, then configure DNS and WINS on the external NIC to not use NETBios and to not register with DNS. You may also need to go into WINS Admin and DNS admin and configure the server to not listen on the external NIC. As much as possible, you want the external NIC to not be participating in any listening or advertising except for specific services like HTTPS and SMTP.

Lastly, make sure that the Browser service is enabled on the server. There was a period of time (which hasn't really ended) in which the Browser/Messenger service were both shut off to lower the attack surface of the server and make it harder to hack.

Are you sure that DHCP is handing out the server's IP for WINS, and you have the right node-type set on the DHCP options? WINS is going to be the core of a healthy network browser environment in a Windows 2003 domain.

In general though, I never worry about the browsing environment. As long as everyone has mapped drives to the resources they need, they rarely need to browse the network for things.

Dave Shackelford MVP
ThirdTier.net
TrainSignal.com