nt network folders come and go on win95/98 machines 2

[joeblough]

On win95/98 machines users cannot access shared files and directories here and there on the server (4.0 w/ sp5). It seems pretty speratic (sp?). The NT Workstations can see everything fine- no problems there, but the windows machines will see and be able to access folders one day and then poof! I get a call, &quot;I can't get into this or that folder!&quot; sometimes the same one. I am baffled. <br>
<br>
PLEASE any help will be much appreciated,<br>
<br>
blake

 

[DougP]

Well the first thing is that when you map a drive on a '9x box you MUST check the Re-Connect at log on check box or they will not get the connection back when they log on later.<br>
And I suspect that they don't access that drive all the time so it appears that poof it's all gone when in fact it was gone the very next time they logged on.<br>
NT is designed to RUN connected to NT so the re-connect at Log-on is always checked by default.<br>
I Hate '9x boxes for several reasons that being one of them.<br>
NT is without a doubt the only thing to use in a Business Server environment. Connecting to Printers and Server drives is a snap. but in '9x its a mess. And they hang up. I got rid of all of them and built NT boxes myself.<br>
Keep in mind NT is happiest with 128 meg RAM on PII /PIII<br>

 

[joeblough]

The network drives aren't the problem- if I go through network neighborhood, browser or even find-file or folder it WILL NOT APPEAR! wierd. and it (as always) makes me look bad. I can go to other machines (95/98/nt) and it will be there.

 

[BruceP]

There appears to be a two-fold problem here. I assume first that all machines are on the same subnet / local lan segment. It seems that first, the Win95 client machines may be winning browser elections, thus causing incomplete browser information. To disable this, do the following on the client machines:<br>
<br>
Run Regedit and locate the 1st reg key you need to edit:<br>
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\VNETSUP<br>
Change the MaintainServerList param to zero, and then click OK.<br>
Locate the 2nd reg key you need to edit:<br>
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\VNETSUP\Ndi\Params\MaintainServerList<br>
Change the MaintainServerList param to zero, and then click OK.<br>
Restart the computer.<br>
<br>
This will ensure that no 95/98 clients win browser elections.<br>
<br>
The next thing you need to address is locating a master browser (PDC, by default).<br>
<br>
Here is an outtake from technet that should help:<br>
===========================================================<br>
A networked computer running Windows 95 or Windows for Workgroups 3.11 needs<br>
entries in the Lmhosts file to indicate which computer is the PDC of the domain.<br>
These Lmhosts entries are not necessary on Windows NT-based computers, which use<br>
the NetGetDcName application programming interface (API) to identify the PDC.<br>
<br>
The Lmhosts file is located in the C:\Windows folder on computers running Windows<br>
for Workgroups 3.11 or Windows 95. If you want to browse for resources on remote<br>
Windows NT-based domains, you must add the \0x1b entry for the PDC of each<br>
remote domain to the Lmhosts file.<br>
<br>
For example, the PDC (master browser) of the domain named GOTHAM has the NetBIOS<br>
(network basic input/output system) name of BATMAN. BATMAN uses the IP address<br>
of 193.177.60.22. Add the following lines to the Lmhosts file:<br>
<br>
193.177.60.22 BATMAN #PRE #DOM:GOTHAM<br>
193.177.60.22 ''GOTHAM \0x1b'' #PRE<br>
<br>
When you designate the domain master browser by specifying the sixteenth<br>
character of the NetBIOS domain name, it is absolutely imperative that the<br>
NetBIOS name of the domain occupy 15 characters before you specify the NetBIOS<br>
suffix. There must be a total of 20 characters between the quotation marks (15<br>
characters for the NetBIOS name, and 5 characters for the NetBIOS suffix). Use<br>
spaces after the NetBIOS name so that the length of the domain name plus the<br>
spaces is 15 characters.<br>
===========================================================

 

[joeblough]

whoa!! what a great response! quite unexpected- and VERY APPRECIATED! I will give it a go. thanks.<br>
<br>
blake

 

[NumberFive]

And he isn't kidding on the 128mb ram...Oh, MAN, do they get cranky...I'd really suggest 256 though if you've got two or three people using the same Access database...