[RESOLVED] Network acting werid

I setup a network for a client. Four computers running windows 98. I have a 5 port switch, 3com nic, cat 5 cable. One computer is set as server, 800 mhz PIII, 128 mb ram. I have all lights on switch showing 100mbps connection. The network has been running fine for 6 months. Then all of a sudden. All drives on all machines are shared. When I try to look at a workstation from the server the computer acts as if it is looking for it but never gets there. But I can go to the workstations and see the server with no delay. I can ping the other workstations from the server no problem. I have double checked all network settings in control panel. Can someone help.

Whats ths OS on the "server"?

This is really just a cop-out answer, but l guess it is worth mentioning anyway.

lt sounds like you have Windows98 running as your server, and it has had about 6 months uptime..?

1) That's not the best idea...if you can't afford to shell out for NT, get a free UNIX...it will save you some real teeth-grinding in the long run.

2) Windows98 is reeeally not designed to have 6 months of uptime...and allowing it to do so could cause all kinds of bizzare problems my boss has so accurately labeled "Microcisms" https://forums.windrivers.com/

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BreakWindows
All your stupid catch phrase are belong to us.

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<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by BreakWindows:


1) That's not the best idea...if you can't afford to shell out for NT, get a free UNIX...it will save you some real teeth-grinding in the long run.

2) Windows98 is reeeally not designed to have 6 months of uptime...and allowing it to do so could cause all kinds of bizzare problems my boss has so accurately labeled "Microcisms" https://forums.windrivers.com/

</font>

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Agreed. Windows 98 is a poor server (and workstation, for that matter) operating system. It uses NetBEUI for file sharing by default which is one of the slowest and oldest network protocols. It also sometimes has trouble initializing on the network in a peer-to-peer set up. The ONLY situation where 98 might be a useful server OS would be on an internet proxy server in a mixed OS environment (i.e. Win98, NT and 2000 in the same network). This would enable Internet Connection Sharing without having to mess with rights and priviliges issues. Otherwise I would never use 95 or 98 as a file server in a P2P network.

My advice would be to try to get them to cough up the $$$ to buy an NT or 2000 server license and some NT or 2000 workstation licenses. If you run NT, they will need MS Proxy Server to share internet access (or a 3rd party solution). If you run 2000 (at least on the server), then you can share the connection through ICS. This setup would also require at least some occassional support that your average office "techie" user would probably not be able to provide.

A secondary solution would be to get them to agree to shutting down all machines on a regular basis to allow them to reinitialize on the network. Even if it is only a quick 'shut-down-and-restart', it will help. After about 15 minutes all machines should recognize each other and be able to access the shared folders/printers.

Unix is also a great solution. However, this too might require support since most users are lucky enough just to figure out how to turn the damned thing on. I would only do it if I knew I had the time to administer the network for them.

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"All my life all I ever wanted to be was a gangster" -Goodfellas

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<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by BreakWindows:

1) That's not the best idea...if you can't afford to shell out for NT, get a free UNIX...it will save you some real teeth-grinding in the long run.

2) Windows98 is reeeally not designed to have 6 months of uptime...and allowing it to do so could cause all kinds of bizzare problems my boss has so accurately labeled "Microcisms" https://forums.windrivers.com/

</font>

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I disagree, Windows 98 will work fine as a server in many small network situiations.

But, you should designate only one of the computers as the server, and share DRIVES only on that computer. Do not spread shared data files all over the network! It also works best if only the TCP/IP protocol is used, with each computer having its own assigned IP address.

I do agree that you should restart the machine you have designated as the server at least every couple of days, and defrag that machine often.

We have had several small networks(3-5 computers) working this way for several years with very few problems, until everybody tries to share everything.

Also watch out for some proprietary internet services, SUCH AS AOL, as they will cause trouble with p to p networks. LOL

Try setting the "Typical role of this computer" properties to network server.

System Properties>Performance tab>File Systems button.

That might help.

By the way, NetBeui is the fastest protocol, not the slowest. It's not commonly used because it is non routable.

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"Any" key? What "Any Key?"

[This message has been edited by b4uc1i81 (edited March 21, 2001).]

I agree for small p to p networks 98 is fine. The recommendation is no more then 10 pc's on a p to p. I use 98 for this. I don't use NetBui even though it is the fastest (And I believe TCP/IP is the oldest)it also has a tendency to chatter a lot over the network. Ease up on the shares and reboot every couple of days. If they can't do this then they need to spend the $$$ for NT. Hope this helps

We use TCP/IP p-to-p in our remote offices. There were a few quirks with it such as, all machines had to be in the same workgroup as the domain. Also we had to do some different things in the DUN settings. But it works better than our old p-to-p software (LANtastic).

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OS/400...At least it's not Microsoft.

Dogwood, you said the server all of the sudden can't see the workstations but the workstations can see the server. How does this affect the network, is this causing problems? You didn't really say what negative affect it has on the network, if the stations can see the server still i would assume they could access it and all that good stuff.

BTW NetBEUI was designed for a network this size and is the faster protocol for a network this size. 98 works fine as a "server" in this environment, its only 4 computers, before you can say switch it to NT you should first ask, what does it do as a server. Before my comapny went to 2k server we had a 98se computer that was the "server" for a 12 station LAN and 5 station remote LAN and hosted a microsoft access database on it abd data storage that was used by all stations all day long without a hiccup if i rebooted once a week. Is it worth the money to buy a server OS for a four computer network? I wouldn't prescribe Unix/Linux unless someone knows how to use it. Sorry if I stepped on anyones' toes but some of you that work for companies that have the money to spend need to realize that there are companies that don't have the money/controlled by people that don't know how to spend the money.

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Soylent Green is People!!!! Its made of People!!!!!

HAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
that is funny as hell....
98 as a server
BRAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

**** - might as well invite the hackers to come over and play....
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

who's f@cken idea was that???
genius.....

also of note - 98 does not use netbeui as the defualt print/file share... that was 95.
98 uses a variant of netbios, which MS uses to this day (part of ms tcp/ip)

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<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by kannibul:
HAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
that is funny as hell....
98 as a server
BRAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

**** - might as well invite the hackers to come over and play....
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

who's f@cken idea was that???
genius.....

also of note - 98 does not use netbeui as the defualt print/file share... that was 95.
98 uses a variant of netbios, which MS uses to this day (part of ms tcp/ip)</font>

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You apparently don't read the replies to the posts........but, thanks for the helpful reply, I'm sure that fixed the problem https://forums.windrivers.com/ https://forums.windrivers.com/

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Soylent Green is People!!!! Its made of People!!!!!

Thanks for all the suggestions. I am running windows 98 first edition as server. I would like to go to NT but unless the donating elves show up it won't happen. The program that is used on the network is restrictive. It allows P-to-P, TCP/IP only, no NetBeui,and no IPX at all. It wants "Windows Logon" from the Primary Network Logon drop down list. It wants a standard class C IP address for each computer. But it wants DNS Configuration and Gateway tabs left blank.
I tried only sharing the servers' hard drive. And thought for a little while eveything was fine, but now the server is saying that resoures are dangerously low.

NT Workstation is good for up to 10 connections (Microsoft's own words)and it is more stable than win98. It makes for a much more stable environment.It should be a cost effective solution. For internet connection sharing given a choice I would not run MS Proxy server. It's way overkill and pricey for a network such as that. Sygate by Sybergen (or Syaccess for more controls and multilinking multiple modem connections) is very easy to set up and use.

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What's the differance between 'twisted' and 'torqued' anyways?

I'm confused as to what you are doing here. You mentioned a program running on the network. What is it? What are you using your "server" for? Why are you geting system resources error? Is the HDD out of space?

Also, have to say that running 98 as a server is a bad idea unless you are just using it as a file sharing PC only. I ran one once to share an internet connection and never had more headaches in my life. Win 9.x will just drop network connection for no reason, settings change for no reason, etc. It just blows. My soloution to the exacht problem was to reinstal winblows whenever it happened. I had my internet connection sharing die every 2 months or so and no amout of tinkering would help. Win 98 just isn't meant to be a networking monster. Listen to BreakWindows - he knows what he's talking about.

Since you don't have any more $ though it seems a fine idea to use what you have.

Post more information though. Note you nic setings, all ip settings etc. hardware being used, etc.

Quote:

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Originally posted by kannibul:
HAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
that is funny as hell....
98 as a server
BRAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

**** - might as well invite the hackers to come over and play....
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

who's f@cken idea was that???
genius.....

also of note - 98 does not use netbeui as the defualt print/file share... that was 95.
98 uses a variant of netbios, which MS uses to this day (part of ms tcp/ip)

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Everybodies needs are different, if you check back read the following posts after yours you would see that the software will not run on nt, not everybody just uses ms office and internet explorer.
Also win98 is fine for a network with up to 10 machines, like others say reboot once a week. I have many customers who have win98 networks because the software dictates having win98
Just my $.02
Also check under the permformance tab in system properties to network server, this will allocate more resources
:cool:

Whoops forgot to help Parrot, All the small networks I support most run win98, for some reason windows just will drop shares and/or lose drives that are mapped, especially if the machine is rebooted or a program locks it up, just like you said for 6 months it was fine, well have to check what has happen over the last 6 months (maybe a virus or a newly installed program) Had a customer who installed McAfee antivirus software then his real estate software would no longer work

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Originally posted by Dogwood:
Then all of a sudden. All drives on all machines are shared.

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I don't understand if you are saying that users are sharing their drives, or if you think you have a virus...I think network.vbs shares your drives like that...

Good point sebass54, I've seen that virus before creates all kinds of havoc