Win XP and Win 2K Server Problem

[Daviboysmith]

Hi,

I work for a small company with 11 clients running on a Win 2K Server in a Domain. 8 of the clients are running Win XP pro, 2 are running win 2K pro and 1 is running win 98 SE.

For some reason, Win XP machines cannot connect to the “Shared” folders (or any other network resources shared printers etc.) on the server after 20 min of not using the network. In order to gain access to the shared folder or any network resources, they must restart the computer, just logging off does not work. All computers have the latest upgrades installed. Any help is sincerely appreciated.

 

[Xaqte]

After the 20minute wait, can you ping the server? If so, will the netuse command work?

 

[Daviboysmith]

Yes, I can ping the server, I have not tried netsend.

Thanks

 

[Daviboysmith]

Sorry, I meant Net Use I have not tried it. When I try to access a mapped drive from windows explorer, I get "domain is not available" (something like that)

Thanks a lot

 

[Xaqte]

not netsend, netuse
i.e. netuse \\server\share
try netuse /? for more info on command line

 

[Daviboysmith]

I will be doing some trouble shooting tomorrow (Sat), please forward any tips that you think might help me resolve this issue of gather more infomration that you need to better understand the situation.

Thanks

Dave

 

[dognamedmoses]

I have heard in several forums that windows xp and 2k have a power saving feature on their network cards (try device manager / network adapters / properties)

which turns them off after a time. Seems like a dumb feature to me, and I haven't run into any problems with it. But It could have something to do with yours.

Good Luck.

 

[meastaugh1]

Yep, that could be it. In device manage, select the properites of the network card, power management, then uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power".

 

[Daviboysmith]

Thank you all for responding. I have tried disabling "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" feature last week, but I am experiencing the same problems. Is there any software that I can use to check the signal strength across the network? Also, I have noticed that some of the domain policies do not propagate across to windows XP machines, but all policies are applied on Win 2K Pro machines, is there a new policy in Win XP that I need to enable to accept group policies from a WIN 2K domain?

 

[musicom]

try to change the properties of your DHCP-Server, which can be set to disconnect after 20 minutes.
Greetings Andy Zoeller
Seligenstadt/Germany

 

[Daviboysmith]

All Computers user static IP addresses, DHCP is disbled.

Dave

 

[dognamedmoses]

David, this is going to seem obvious,

but do you have enough CAL's on your server? 11 is kind of an odd number of Clients for a win 2k. I'm sure you do, but I just thought i'd throw it out there..

Some things to try...

Try to isolate the problem by hooking your XP machine directly into the server (if possible) and not the switch...

When the 20 minutes has expired, go to command line and do an ipconfig /all - if you post what comes up, someone in the forum might be able to help you further.

Double check all network settings

A question - is your 2k server managing your domain?
A question - are your xp boxes pro? if so, are they set to "domain" or "workgroup" mode?

Keep us updated...

 

[Firm]

From the registry key:
HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\Kerberos

Add the following key:
Parameters

under the Parameters key, add the following value:
MaxPacketSize

with REG_DWORD of 1

This helps speed up traffic by using TCP instead of UDP.

Reboot.

Hope this helps.

By the way, restrict anonymous should be set to 1 under the Lsa key. This turns off null sessions.

Firm.

 

[Daviboysmith]

Hello Guys,

I have finally figured it out, I think. Under Local Group policies in Win XP there is an entry for "MS Network" Disconnect session after at certain time, this was set to 15 min by default". This policy is new in Win XP and does not exist in Win 2K server. I am monitoring the XP machines, so far everything seems to work fine. I'll keep you guys updated.

Dave