Jump to content
Compatible Support Forums
Sign in to follow this  
Hordsak

Win2k, browsing computers with win92, slow.

Recommended Posts

I have all the network up and running on ipx, for my local file sharing etc.. but when I click on my brothers computer (win98se) with my win2k machine, it just sits there with a flash light pointing on a folder for about 20-30 seconds, before it show's the shared drives. Win98 doesen't do this. Is there a fix? I'm using netbios over ipx. Thanks

Share this post


Link to post

I have had this problem as well. People will probably say to remove any unnecessary protocols, try different protocols, etc., but it makes no difference. The one thing I haven't tried is with logging on to a domain. The setup where i experienced the problem was on a workgroup. I am guessing that being on a domain would fix, or at least help this.

 

The only possible lead I have gotten on this is the 'scheduled tasks' share. This share does not exist in win98, but every win2k machine has it. Someone on another forum seemed to think that the delay was caused by win2k looking for this share on the win98 machine, until it times out. I have no idea if this is true, nor do I have any clue how to go about fixing it.

 

Anyone have ideas?

Share this post


Link to post

Hey... just wanted to say a few things about this.

 

The way NT/2000 works with the computer browser is a little bit different than on Windows98. It runs a service called 'Computer Browser' which is pretty much just a list of all computers on a network.

 

The way it works is, any computer that joins the network broadcasts its name. If, at this time, there is no 'master browser,' then all of the computers on the network (NT/2000 systems) have an election to see who will become the master browser. Usually the first computer to elect itself gets the position, unless a domain controller wants to be the master browser, then it gets to do it. (Its quite funny, if you have a messed up NT network, sometimes they fight with each other to see who will be the master browser....)

 

Anyways, lets say our network has three computers, A, B, and C. A is a Win2K Pro system, and B and C are Win98 systems. When the computers start to pop onto the network one by one, the Win98 machines are fine with just searching your entire subnet mask for computers that are on the network. That is why Win98 will do this 'faster' than Win2K. Now, lets say the Win2K computer comes onto the network. This guy is smart, but careful. When you go to 'My Network Places' and start looking in your workgroup, it queries the master browser that is broadcasting that information on the network. Reason behind this, is because with -one- computer doing the talking, it keeps the network traffic down, as well as speeds up loading lists of computers. So, when computer A starts askin for a master browser and nobody answers, he says 'wtf?' and they sends out a broadcast to the network saying 'ok, wtf, who wants to be the master browser... if nobody answers i'll do it.' And, it will wait to see if a computer that is in a 'higher' position than him wants the spot. If not, it uses its Computer Browser service to store/transmit this information, and wins the election.

 

After its done with all this drama, it will be the one that waits and watches for computers to pop onto the network. It will broadcast the list of computers to the entire network every 12 minutes, but could be as long as 30 minute intervals. As computers come online, it sees them and stores their name for the master browser list.

 

Its quite an interesting feature with NT, and if you were to run a network with 50+ computers, it becomes almost critical that this service is running, or you have 50+ computers dazed and confused looking for each other, stirring up all kinds of network traffic.

 

One thing that may possibly speed up your computer lists, if you do not want to have this soap opera election, etc, is to disable the computer browser service under administration tools/services. I have not tried this yet, so I do not know whether or not it will work, but its worth a try.

 

Let me know if you have any questions.

-Laz Peterson (leadfoot)

lpeterson29@earthlink.net

Share this post


Link to post

Thanks for the info, but I think you misunderstand the problem.... It actually comes up with the list of computers fairly quickly. I think all of the master elections happen in the background automatically, not just when you go to 'network places'.

 

The actual problem is when you open the 98 computer to view its shares. That's when it pauses for a while.

Share this post


Link to post

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×