connectcomputer doesn't work

Sorry - should have mentioned.  I don't have it written down exactly but it states that it cannot start the networking wizard which I think is \\servername\client\start.htm

DrDave - Sorry for the delay.  I've got the exact error message and more info:

When I click on "Connect to the network now" (it links to)
http://servername/connectcomputer/precheck.htm
I get the following error message:

"The Small Business Server Networking Wizard was not installed. You may not be a member of the local Administrators security group on this computer or your Local Intranet security settings may be set to High. Click Connect to the network now to try again and click Yes when prompted. If the wizard fails to install, contact the person responsible for your network."
 
It also has this link below it:
"Connect to the network now"  (which links to:  http://servername/connectcomputer/start.htm)

Other info:
If I try:
//servername   I can login and see the shared folders.

Here is the ipconfig /all from the workstatioin.  Anything out of the ordinary?


Windows IP Configuration
        Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : remote-db
        Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
        Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
        IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:
        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/1000 CT Network Connection
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-11-11-0C-20-99
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.76
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
        DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.21
        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.21
        Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.21
        Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, February 16, 2008 12:42:29 PM
        Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, February 24, 2008 12:42:29 PM

Any ideas?  I'm increasing the value to 500 as I'd like to get this resolved.......

Sorry for the long delay; I was sent out of town for a week on very short notice.  That ipconfig looks perfectly normal.  Are you logged onto the local Administrator account on the client machine?  Also, as the error says, you might want to check your IE security settings for the local intranet zone.  Alternatively, you can add the server to the Trusted Sites zone.  You may also want to disable IE Enhanced Security Configuration on the client, at least temporarily, to see if that makes a difference.

Again, sorry for the delay.  If you're already gotten the problem resolved, just request a refund of your points.

DrDave - Thanks for following up about this.  It is still an issue I'm working on.  I've tried your suggestions about security on the Intranet and the Internet already with no luck.

I've setup a 3rd workstation from scratch - same problem.  I assume at this point that it is either:
a.  something I'm doing incorrectly on the client (I take all of the defaults in setting up XP pro).....or.......
b.  More likely there is something on the server that isn't working properly or isn't setup.

I've looked in the event viewer and there aren't any errors.  When the server was originally setup I did setup the other machines using connectcomputer.

I've thought about reinstalling the client deployment part.  Would that help?  I'm not sure as I don't know if connectcomputer reaches that far into the server at this point.

I'm open to just about anything at this point.  Thanks for any suggestions you can give me.

Do you have any kind of firewall (including Windows Firewall) or antivirus software running on the clients?  Both of those can interfere with the connectcomputer wizard.

Oh, and you didn't specifically say whether you'd removed IE Enhanced Security Configuration from the clients.  Have you tried that?

DrDave242,
I can say for certainity that there isn't a firewall (including Windows Firewall-I've manually disabled) or anti-virus running on the clients.  These are freshly formatted XP pro installs - nothing else is installed.

How do I remove the IE Enhanced Security Configuration on the client side?  I've allowed http:\\servername  and http:\\server ip  as trusted in both the Intranet and the Internet.

Thanks for hanging in there with me........

IE Enhanced Security Configuration can be uninstalled through Add/Remove Windows Components.  Just uncheck the box for it.

I just checked on my client (XP Pro - fully patched) and didn't see anyplace in the add/remove Window Components to uninstall.  I looked at the server and saw it there - I uninstalled it there.

If I don't see it on the client then can I assume it isn't installed?

Any other suggestions?  This is so frustrating.  

If it doesn't show up in the list, it's not installed.
You know, I just took a second look at that ipconfig and noticed that there is no primary DNS suffix listed.  This is typically provided by the DHCP server, so open the DHCP console on the SBS server and expand the scope.  Click on Scope Options and look in the right pane for an item called "015 DNS Domain Name."  If it's not there, right-click in the empty space in the right pane and select "Configure Options," then scroll down to 015, check its box, and set the correct value, which should be the same as the name of your AD domain.  (IPCONFIG /ALL on the server will give you the appropriate domain name for sure.)  Once the change is made to the DHCP scope, you'll need to release and renew the client's IP address for it to get the new value.  Let me know if that gets you anywhere...

DrDave,  Thanks for staying with me on this.  

I looked at the DHCP settings and it is in there.  I assume it isn't listed in ipconfig because the XP Pro computer hasn't joined the domain yet.  It is still in a workgroup.

Here is the ipconfig of the server.  Maybe that will provide some clue.

Windows IP Configuration
   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : [servername]
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : [domainname].local
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : [domainname].local

Ethernet adapter Server Local Area Connection:
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-19-B9-49-21-22
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.21
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.21
   Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.21

I did connect to the domain manually and the Primary DNS suffix did show the name of the domain.  The workstation still wouldn't run http://[servername]/connectcomputer.

My network looks like:
ISP -> router -> switch-> sbs2003   I've got one nic in the server.  My router has a static ip and the following DNS servers:  192.168.1.21; 208.67.222.222; 208.67.220.220  Should it include the ip of the sbs?  Should the workstations be pointing to sbs or the router for DNS?

At this point I'll try just about anything to get it working.......

The router doesn't need to include the server's IP address as a DNS server, since it's not providing DHCP to the clients.  The workstations should be pointing to the SBS server (and only the SBS server) for DNS.  Let's do some basic testing.  Pick one of the clients and clear its DNS cache with the ipconfig /flushdns command.  Then try pinging the servername (just its NetBIOS name), the server's fully-qualified domain name, and finally just the domain's DNS name.  Do all three of those resolve the same IP address, and do all of them get good responses?

DrDave,

I did find some issues with the DHCP server.  The ip address was provided by the server the but WINS and DNS were manually input.  I think everything looks perfect with the ipconfig.  I'm posting the latest from the server and the workstation:

--- WORKSTATION --
Windows IP Configuration
        Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : remote-db1212
        Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
        Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
        IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
        DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : [domainname].local
 
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:
        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : [domainname].local
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/1000 CT Network Connection
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-11-11-0C-20-99
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.76
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
        DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.21
        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.21
        Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.21
        Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, March 10, 2008 9:56:13 AM
        Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, March 18, 2008 9:56:13 AM
 
 
--- SERVER ---
 Windows IP Configuration
   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : [servername]
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : [domainname].local
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : [domainname].local
 
Ethernet adapter Server Local Area Connection:
    Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-19-B9-49-21-22
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.21
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.21
   Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.21
 
I was able to ping [domainname].local  and [servername]  and each returned the correct ip:  192.168.1.21

I did forget to flush the DNS.  I'll try that next.  Any other ideas?

I did flush the DNS.  I tried setting the IP manually instead of letting the DHCP server do it.  

I'm open to any suggestions at this point.

I'm running out of ideas on this one.  Since this happends to multiple clients which have just received a clean install of XP, I can only assume the problem is on the server, but I'm not sure exactly what is causing it.  In doing a little research, I did find a list of instructions for reinstalling the ConnectComputer page:

A. Go to IIS and expand servername -> Web Sites -> Default Web Site. Delete the ConnectComputer vdir.
B. Rename the C:\Inetpub\ConnectComputer folder.
C. Create new folder named ConnectComputer under C:\Inetpub.
D. Copy all the files from the SBS2K3 media cd3:\SBS\ClientSetup\ClientSetup to the C:\Inetpub\ConnectComputer directory. Make sure to remove the "Read-only" attributes from the files.
E. Right-click on Default Web Site in IIS, choose New -> Virtual Directory.
F. In the Alias field, type in ConnectComputer and click Next.
G. In the path box, browse to C:\Inetpub\ConnectComputer.
H. Click Next through the wizard, the default permissions are the default for ConnectComputer.
I. Once it is completed, right-click on ConnectComptuer and select Properties.
J. Click Remove for the "Application name" under the "Application settings" at the bottom of the Virtual Directory tab.
K. Click on the Directory Security tab, click Edit for "Authentication and access control".
L. Uncheck "Integrated Windows authentication", click OK.
M. Click on the Edit button on the "IP address and domain name restrictions".
N. Put the bullet next to "Denied access" and then click Add.
O. Add 127.0.0.1 and the internal subnet (192.168.16.2/255.255.255.0 is the default). Click OK.
P. Click OK out of the ConnectComputer properties.

These instructions came from http://www.tutorials-win.com/SBS/Error-Client-277543/, although the original poster in that thread had a different issue from the one you're seeing.  Note that I've never tried this procedure myself, so I can't personally verify that it works.

Dr Dave,
Sorry for the long break.  I've found some interesting things though:

I'm sorry for the long delay.  I've found some interesting things though:

1.  I installed this Dell server (from scratch) with Dell's PowerEdge SC Server Install cd v3.2.  It uses Dell's OpenManage Server Assistant.  As part of this install it asked for my install DVD.  I put in my SBS r2.  I always assumed r2 was succesfully installed but now I'm not so sure.  I looked at:  http://msmvps.com/blogs/bradley/archive/2007/01/04/how-to-tell-if-sbs-2003-r2-is-installed.aspx   and none of these are there!  Everything I look at indicates that it is r1.

2.  I used the SBS BPA for the first time and found some interesting things:
a.  It recommends deleting the key:  HKLM\software\Microsoft\smallbusiness   I've got Backup Exec installed.  My research shows that it creates this key.  to my knowlege I've NOT run the transition pack nor will need to for this server.  

b.  It says that the Exchange server does NOT have SP2 installed.  That is something I'll take care of but I assume this isn't part of my problem with the connectcomputer wizard.

c.  It says that I should install MS KB911829 which will resolve OWA issues with Vista.  Again something I will do but assume this isn't part of my problem.

d.  The backup wizard isn't configured.  As stated above I'm using Backup Exec.


The only 3rd party programs running on this server are BackupExec and FileMaker Pro v9 server.

What do you think about the r1 vs r2 thing?

Yep, I'd say you definitely have R1.  Exchange 2003 SP2 is one of the prerequisites for R2, so if that's not on there, that's another sign that R2 isn't either.

I've honestly never seen an SBS install DVD - all of the installs I've done have been with the CD set, so I don't know exactly where to find R2 on that DVD, but it's got to be on there somewhere.  I'm not surprised that the Dell install utility didn't install R2, though; I think it's designed just to install the OS, and R2 for SBS is considered an add-on rather than part of the OS itself.

When I received the box from Dell it came with a shrink wrapped SBS2003r2.  It had a single install DVD and a 5(?) cd set.  I assume you've used the cd set before.  Do you have to install r1 and then run an upgrade program from cd 1 to get r2?  I don't have any spare hardware to test this.

I just looked at my DVD.  It has a directory for cd1-5 plus a cd6 which is the upgrade cd you were referring to.  I just assumed that the DVD would install r2 instead of r1 and then a manual upgrade to r2.  I'll  do the upgrade and see if that will fix my connectcomputer problem.  

Stay tuned........  :)

Thanks for all of your help and advice!

I finally got this resolved.  I paid Marina at smallbizserver.net to remote into the server.  There were some setting in IIS that weren't at the default.

I am awarding the points to Dr.Dave for his tireless effort in helping.