Error 6118

[clevelandtexas]

I have a small home network at home with 3 computers all running WinXP PRO connected through a switch to my cable modem. We've been running this for three years, 1 year under WinXP. And it is still working great.

However, one of my sons bought a laptop with a builtin NIC and we connected it to the switch and it gets great internet access with no problems.

However...

As the original 3 computers can see each other on the network this laptop is problematic. It also has WinXP PRO. From the laptop the appearance of the other 3 computers on the network comes and goes. Likewise the appearance of the laptop from the other 3 computers comes and goes. In other words access to the internet from the laptop works consistently well but as far as being part of the network the laptop comes and goes. The laptop originally came with WinXP Home but we reformatted the hard drive and installed WinXP PRO and the problem has not gone away. This is a brand new HP laptop and we've only had it less than 24 hours.

We get this error message when we run NET VIEW from the command prompt - Error 6118. The description for the error is the list of servers for this workgroup is not currently available?

Some sources claim a firewall can cause this problem but this laptop has to firewall. The only thing running on it right now is WinXP PRO as we just did a reformat of the laptop.

We reboot all the computers and the problem goes away for a few minutes and then it comes back. All the time the laptop still accesses the internet but has problems keeping its appearance on the network.

Please help, why do 3 computers work well together on the network as the laptop acts wierd?

[YeOldeStonecat]

Any entries in the Event Viewer?

And you DO have the XP firewall turned on?

Sounds to me like a "Master Browser" issue. Does the laptop travel to/between other networks?

[clevelandtexas]

I haven't looked at the event viewer enties.

XP firewall is turned off, this is the first thing I checked.

I checked services and Master Browser is running. In the future the laptop will access different networks, but for now we want to get it working on our home network first.

From what little I know about networking it does appear to be a Master Browser issue to me too. Why the problem on 1 out of 4 computers and how to fix it is beyond me.

[YeOldeStonecat]

On the laptop,

Regedit
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Browser\Parameters set MaintainServerList to False

Becomes a common problem between laptops that travel, or get taken out of networks often.

[clevelandtexas]

Originally posted by YeOldeStonecat
On the laptop,

Regedit
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Browser\Parameters set MaintainServerList to False

Becomes a common problem between laptops that travel, or get taken out of networks often.


I'll try this tonight when I get home. Two questions:

(1) Do we still need Master Browser running as a service on the laptop?

(2) Can you fill in a few details on what is happening and how this registry fix addresses the problem?

Thank you.

[YeOldeStonecat]

This would kill the service.

What Master Browser is....is computers on a network will actually "argue" over who is Master Browser....on peer to peer networks, workstation OS's can keep track of up to 32 computers. Ideally if a domain server is present, it is automatically Browse Master for the entire network. But on peer to peer networks, computers will often quite literally argue back and forth over who's browse master...hence the default workstation setting of "auto" for the above reg key.

The newest OS version usually wins. But sometimes they can't automatically settle down. Hence what's often called "browser delay"....often on peer to peer networks, if you try to browse "My Network Places", you don't always see all the computers right away. A lot of people panic or think the network isn't working because they can't see other computers. That's normal. Leave it sit for a few minutes, or even hours, or even a day...come back, and you'll often see it all. There's a lot of other variables to consider...but that's the core of it.

On a lot of networks I have which have a domain server, and a few traveling laptops...the laptops will often think they are browse master even though they are logged into a domain. This is common, and the above reg edit needs to be done to tell the laptop to "shut up and sit down". Because often the laptop is booted up away from the domain, like on a home network, and gets confused, and tries to be browse master all over again.

Used to be common with Win95 and 98 peer to peers...often had to disable another service called LMAnnounce, which loads if you have the File and Print sharing service loaded.

[clevelandtexas]

Thank you for your explanation. I think I understand what you are saying.

The two or three or four computers for a brief period of time will all appear to be a part of the network and then they begin to "argue" which can effectively give the appearance the network is broken. The problem seems to lessen when there are only two computers turned on. But as soon as the third or fourth computers are turned on then the "argument" begins. The laptop is esentially the spoiled brat that gets things stirred up.

[YeOldeStonecat]

So print out the above registry info and keep it around for future reference....and set 3 of the 4 machines to false....leave one to auto.

[clevelandtexas]

Originally posted by YeOldeStonecat
So print out the above registry info and keep it around for future reference....and set 3 of the 4 machines to false....leave one to auto.

Thanks a lot YeOldeStonecat.

[YeOldeStonecat]

NP, let us know how/if it works for ya! I'm gone for several days, leaving tomorrow AM, won't be back online until Monday.

[clevelandtexas]

Originally posted by YeOldeStonecat
NP, let us know how/if it works for ya! I'm gone for several days, leaving tomorrow AM, won't be back online until Monday.


I'll keep you updated.