XP Workstation loses drive connections to Server 2003
I have a Dell PC running XP Pro.
This PC has no issues getting onto the Internet
this PC has no issues pinging the server and the server has no issues pinging this PC
just recently the PCs drive connections keep disconnecting or stay disconnected. When you go into my computer and try to click on any of the drive mappings pointing to the server, the error “an error occurred while reconnecting, the network path cannot be found” displays
I tried deleting the user's account on the server and re-creating it
I tried logging onto the PC as an administrator and it also failed trying to connect to the server
it appears if I go through network neighborhood advises server
when I rebooted PC and I logged back in again, I immediately get a notification in the bottom right tray stating network drives can be connected.
- I even went into the network adapter settings and disabled the power saving mode.
This seems so strange. Should I performed my system restore and go back three or four days?
I checked the network card settings and nothing out of the ordinary stood out.
Any input would be appreciated
This PC has no issues getting onto the Internet
this PC has no issues pinging the server and the server has no issues pinging this PC
just recently the PCs drive connections keep disconnecting or stay disconnected. When you go into my computer and try to click on any of the drive mappings pointing to the server, the error “an error occurred while reconnecting, the network path cannot be found” displays
I tried deleting the user's account on the server and re-creating it
I tried logging onto the PC as an administrator and it also failed trying to connect to the server
it appears if I go through network neighborhood advises server
when I rebooted PC and I logged back in again, I immediately get a notification in the bottom right tray stating network drives can be connected.
- I even went into the network adapter settings and disabled the power saving mode.
This seems so strange. Should I performed my system restore and go back three or four days?
I checked the network card settings and nothing out of the ordinary stood out.
Any input would be appreciated
SOLUTION
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ASKER
Yes, I tried both commands
here is more information
- there are two other machines on the network that have no issues connecting to the network. They are both running Windows 7 and they can connect to the network drives.
-This is a peer to peer network there is no domain involved.
here is more information
- there are two other machines on the network that have no issues connecting to the network. They are both running Windows 7 and they can connect to the network drives.
-This is a peer to peer network there is no domain involved.
If there is no domain involved, I would probably set the DHCP settings to static, so make sure each computer is being assigned the same LAN IP every time. Is that the case?
How are you mapping the drives? Are you using Netbios name like: \\server\someshare or an ip address like \\192.168.1.100\someshare ?
is Netbios enabled over TCP/IP?
is Netbios enabled over TCP/IP?
ASKER
This is a very simple basic network. There is a Verizon Gateway router connected to a switch and the server NPC are connected to the switch. The Gateway is set as DHCP.
- The server has a static IP address of 192.1681.50.
- The Verizon Gateway is 192.1681.1.
- This particular PC is picking up a DHCP address of 192.168.1.8
I just checked again and I was mistaken, the server cannot thing the PC and the PC cannot thing the server. Both the server NPC can paying the router/gateway
both the server NPC can connect to the Internet
- The server has a static IP address of 192.1681.50.
- The Verizon Gateway is 192.1681.1.
- This particular PC is picking up a DHCP address of 192.168.1.8
I just checked again and I was mistaken, the server cannot thing the PC and the PC cannot thing the server. Both the server NPC can paying the router/gateway
both the server NPC can connect to the Internet
ASKER
Typo error above. I was using voice activated software
I meant to say the server cannot ping the PC and the PC cannot ping the server
I meant to say the server cannot ping the PC and the PC cannot ping the server
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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Try using empty password.
Try first is it ok to map =using IPs e.g. net use n: \\192.168.1.3\share
if all work then it is dns/ autorsize issue.
Try first is it ok to map =using IPs e.g. net use n: \\192.168.1.3\share
if all work then it is dns/ autorsize issue.
ASKER
There is no firewall running on the server.
I rebooted both PC and server once again to no avail
- the firewall was running on the PC. I disabled the firewall
- I can now paying the PC from the server
- I can now thing the server from the PC.
- And most importantly, I can now map drives to the server and retain them
this is so strange I didn't see anything in the firewall that would've stopped it from communicating.
I reset the firewall factory default settings, rebooted the PC. I'll give you the results shortley
I rebooted both PC and server once again to no avail
- the firewall was running on the PC. I disabled the firewall
- I can now paying the PC from the server
- I can now thing the server from the PC.
- And most importantly, I can now map drives to the server and retain them
this is so strange I didn't see anything in the firewall that would've stopped it from communicating.
I reset the firewall factory default settings, rebooted the PC. I'll give you the results shortley
ASKER
After I rebooted the PC and server again - and the fact that I reset the PCs firewall to default settings, again the PC could not ping the server and the server could not ping the PC.
- As soon as I disabled the firewall on the PC everything is fine again
obviously this took care of the issue. The PC can now access the shared folders on the server without the mapped drives get disconnected.
I've never seen anything like this. I checked and confirmed the XP firewall and confirmed the settings are identical to any other XP workstation I've worked on that is attached to a network and the firewall enabled.
- As soon as I disabled the firewall on the PC everything is fine again
obviously this took care of the issue. The PC can now access the shared folders on the server without the mapped drives get disconnected.
I've never seen anything like this. I checked and confirmed the XP firewall and confirmed the settings are identical to any other XP workstation I've worked on that is attached to a network and the firewall enabled.
Strange indeed. Yet XP doesn't give you much granularity over it's firewall settings. This is another reminder to me when troubleshooting to check firewalls first - as often as I end up there - I should remember that.
ASKER
You are so right, normally this is the first thing I do as well. Sometimes the simplest things don't come to mind right away. Thanks again for your help
In XP go to the Local Area Connection Properties, IP Properties, Click the Advanced button, go to the DNS tab, enter your local domain name in the DNS suffix box.