Networking Problem

[Tahna Los]

So I stand accused of bringing my Daily problems here, eh?

Here we go.

Our LAN network is quite small and quite unique in the sense that it has a lot of redundancies, my boss prefers it that way so that in case something goes wrong, there is ALWAYS a backup.

Description of our LAN

One server which runs Windows 2000 Server edition.[nbsp][nbsp]I presume it is a Pentium III 850 MHz.[nbsp][nbsp]It is labelled as a domain controller.

Several computers, each with two hard drives, each one with a separate operating system.[nbsp][nbsp]One HD has Win98, and the other has Win2000 Professional.

Everything is connected through a hub, the server, computers, as well as the printers.

While we are able to log in to the network on Windows 2000, it appears that we are having a problem logging on to the network using Windows 98 on ALL computers.[nbsp][nbsp]It used to be able to log in under windows 98 to the Win2000 server.[nbsp][nbsp]Now it doesn't, we get a problem saying that it is unable to log on to the network.[nbsp][nbsp]To be exact, the message that we're getting is "The Primary Domain controller was unable to log you on to the network." blah blah blah.

Can you tell me what is wrong here?[nbsp][nbsp]Thanks. :)

[Tahna Los]

Okay, that problem is fixed, but now I have a different one.[nbsp][nbsp]While I can log on to the network, I can see other computers in the network, but they cannot see mine.[nbsp][nbsp]Solutions?

[ubu]

[nbsp] Make sure that all your drives are shared.[nbsp][nbsp]I went through this sill thing a while ago..[nbsp][nbsp]trying to get my network at home running and sharing the LinkSys router I had and broadband.[nbsp][nbsp]Everything worked but I couldn't see my drives from the other computers..[nbsp][nbsp]short story is that I beat myself up when I figured out that I had forgot to share any drive letters on my main computer.[nbsp][nbsp]I felt so silly..[nbsp][nbsp]

Jamie
[nbsp]It's the simple things that we over-look....

[Tahna Los]

For some reason, I can't get the workstations to "share"

The file systems are in FAT32 (to allow Windows 98).[nbsp][nbsp]I know that NTFS allows sharing, but dunno about FAT32.

[Justin]

Sharing is not a function of the file system; it doesn't matter what file system you are running (you can do WFW sharing under Unix systems even).

What you need to do is make sure sharing is installed/enabled.

If, when right-clicking on a drive, you do not see a "Sharing..." option (in Win98) go to Start --> Settings --> Control Panel --> Network. In there you will find an option somewhere (I don't have 98 handy right now) regarding "Allow other computers to share my files" and one for printers as well. Make sure this is checked, and inevitably Windows will want to restart... after that you should be able to share files/folders.

------------------
Justin Nelson
SFE Software (http://www.sfesoftware.com)

[Tahna Los]

Hmmm.......

Okay, so I can still see other people's computers, but the message "The Domain server could not log you on".[nbsp][nbsp]I made sure that the Workgroup and the domain name was the same, yet I am still getting that message.

Since I can still see other people's computers, it is not such a big problem, but I'd like to get it solved.[nbsp][nbsp]Thanks.

[ryount]

Domains and workgroups are not the same thing.[nbsp][nbsp]Pick something else for workgroup, I generally use "workgroup" since it defaults to that anyway.

Check your network setup on your Win9x machines.[nbsp][nbsp]Under properties for Client for MS Networks, make sure logon to Windows NT domain is checked and the domain is correct.[nbsp][nbsp]Also, make sure primary network logon is set to Client for MS Networks.[nbsp][nbsp]The second sounds like your problem.[nbsp][nbsp]If it is set as Windows logon, it will pass the password that was set for the local machine to the NT server which may not be the same (or blank).[nbsp][nbsp]You may have to delete the .pwl files in the windows directory to avoid a double logon into the domain and then again locally.

You will not see the Win9x machines in the domain in network neighborhood.[nbsp][nbsp]You will have to view entire network and go into the workgroup.[nbsp][nbsp]Sharing drives on the Win9x machines is not very secure.[nbsp][nbsp]If you have enough disk space on your server, save files that others need access to on it instead.[nbsp][nbsp]You can make your NT/2000 machines a part of the domain and share those as well.

Hope that helps.

[JohnFC]

When communicating between Win2000 and earlier operating systems, I recommend using Microsoft's Netbeui protocol stack in addition to TCP/IP.

For a good writeup on how protocol stacks interrelate and how that affects security, I recommend the following article on the Shields Up web site:
http://grc.com/su-bondage.htm

John