NET SEND TO USER NAME -VS- COMPUTER NAME

Addendum to the question.  When I NET SEND myself from another system, the message is reported to have been delivered successfully, but it never pops up.

The $ should signify that it is a "hidden" account.  Do you actually log in with MIS-003 or another username?  Try to net send to the actual account you are logging in as.

No, I login with my user name, dcrowe, and the command "NET SEND DCROWE TEST MESSAGE" reports that message was sent successfully, but nothing pops ups.  From the same system to my computer "NET SEND MIS-003 TEST MESSAGE" does work.

can you ping between these 2 systems?

Yes on the ping question.

is the messenger service on on both workstations?

Yes, I can NET SEND both workstations and get pop-ups on both systems.  I just can't use my login name to receive a NET SEND message.

My guess is that something is wrong with your username (login name) resolution....usernames should authenticate via the domain controller and then become registered in your global catalogue (GC), whereas the computer name is registered by ip address in WINS or DNS.  Without the global catalogue working properly, I don't believe you'll get the Net Send <loginname> message.  

Are you in a domain environment or a small workgroup?  ie, do you havea  domain controller/global catalogue, and if so, is it registering any error?

cheers,

aquilius

This is kinda what I was thinking that something wasn't right with the DNS.  However, I haven't found the problem.  I am on a domain.

Here's a good link describing the GC and what it does inside of your network....

http://www.cramsession.com/articles/files/placement-of-w2k-gc-serve-9192003-1052.asp

btw, did this feature ever work for you?

cheers,

aquilius

Thanks for the link.  I read the article but didn't really see anything that directly applied.  I should add that this problem does not exist for other users on my network.  Meaining, I can NET SEND to them by their login name, and also by their computer name.

Well, your DNS shoudl be working fine, since your computer name resolves okay when you net send to it, but net sending <username> shouldn't be touching the dns server directly.....it will eventually, but first AD is referencing the GC in order to figure out where the <username> is logged in, *then* it will reference DNS to figure out the ip of that machine, and then the message would flow out to that session.  At least, this is how I understand it.......

Do you know which machine in your network is the GC server?  If so, browse to that machine's event log and see if anything is registering....don't know if you'll find anything or not, but it never hurts to look.  

To narrow things down, I would try to net send <yourusername> on a seperate machine, to any other machine on your network that you log into (leave this new machine out of it).  Is that successful?  If not, then we know there is a higher level issue.

cheers,

aquilius

ah...thanks for the update...let me think on this a bit and I'll get back to you shortly if somebody else doesn't get to it first.

cheers

are you sending a net send dcrowe teste..dsfdfj   from a different computer while logged on with the same user account?
Are you logged onto any other machines with the same account?

No, the one I normally try from is my SQL server which is right next to my desk, however I have a separate domain account name that I use to log into it.  I have also tried from other users accounts without success.

This new machine, is it a member of the domain?  Did you get any error messages when loggin on?
have you tried a reboot?

Answering Aguilius ... definitely not logged into two different systems.  Looked in WINS and my username is registered and active, as is the computer.  

Answering Kabaam ... yes on new system, yes on domain, no to any errors when logging in, yes on reboot.

Brain storming some other things to check (though I know you mentioned you checked some of them already):

-You are in the same domain as the machine sending the message or you have set the domain options correctly (and you're not logged into the new machine as the local machine, but rather you are on the domain).  -The machine your sending the message from can see the machine that you are sending the message to.  -The "Messenger" service is not stopped or disabled on your machine.

http://www.amset.info/windows/netsend.asp

That's all I have time for for now...more later if I can get back to it....

cheers,
aquilius

From the command prompt I typed in NET SEND DCROWE /ADD and received the following message back.

A duplicate message alias exists on the network.

More help is available by typing NET HELPMSG 2297.

I would open your domain controller via computer management (if you have more than one, you'll need to open them all up until you find the one your account authenticated on), then browse to Shared Folders, then look at the folder SESSIONS, and see where else in the organization you might be logged in.  

aquilius

I have one and only one session according to my PDC.

Hmmm, I can send one to myself at this console, but while it seems to be delivered, none of the other systems actually receive it.
I got the exact same error when sending from one of the other systems. But I figure that's just me. I have two switches and a hub betwixt... 8-) ( Don'Ask... at least it's an intelligent hub!)

If net name <newmessagealias> results in "A duplicate message alias exists on the network" then another machine has <newmessagealias> in it's local message table. Trick is, to find which machine!

Use Netmon to view the network traffic while you issue a: net name <messagealias>. In the Netmon capture look for a NBT BROADCAST "NS: Registration req. for <messagealias>" (your registration request) followed by a NBT reply "Name Active Error, Owner Addr. xx.xx.xx.xx" (denied already in use response). The IP address is the remote machine that owns <messagealias>.

You can then check why this machine has your alias in it's message table! To list the message alias table on the remote machine go to it and use: net name and to remove it use: net name /delete


iD

I agree that this should work, however, I'm a new employee to this company.  I've only worked here for less than two weeks.  I have only logged on to two systems using my userid the entire time I've been here.  One is the system I have before me that is a brand new Dell, the other is an old box that we currently use for our MS-SQL server.  I've checked the NET NAME on both systems, and neither have my alias assigned.  I did have an operator name in SQL named DCROWE, but have deleted it.

The answer is:  ENABLE NETBIOS OVER TCP/IP in the WINS settings.  I had the default setting of USE NETBIOS SETTING FROM THE DHCP SERVER.