[RESOLVED] Windows waits for other computer on network

I have a small, 2 system network. I was going to tell this long drawn out story about how this problem occurred, but never mind... The ROOT of the problem is that my Main computer *hangs* during boot up, until I turn on my "Slave" computer, and then like magic, continues to boot like nobody's business... It's as if the Slave computer MUST be running (I don't even have to login to the network with it) for my Main computer to complete its boot cycle and bring me to the "Log In to Network" dialog box. If the Slave computer is not turned on, my Main computer will wait patiently in the middle of its boot cycle until I start it up. If I go over to the other computer and turn it on, I will have the network login dialog box on my Main screen before I walk back and sit down.

When I use the selective prompt method of booting (the 4th menu item in that list that you get at the prompt "Windows didn't boot properly. Choose Boot in Safe-Mode to start Windows with a minimal set of drivers."), the Main computer stops right after loading "vpaec.vxd", and continues once the other computer is turned on.

This is only a recent development (within the last 72 hours).

Any ideas why? Any ideas on how to correct this? Thanks.

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Gotta go... the paranoids are out to get me...

Are you using shares on the second machine? What protocols are you using? NetBEUI or TCP/IP - if NetBEUI change the main machine to browse master and regardless set the Microsoft client settings to quick logon - this will not require the second machines mapped shares to be online when you boot, and the machine will not connect to them until you try to use the shares.


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Death is lighter than a feather - duty heavier than a mountian.

Thank you for the reply... I probably shouldn't have edited my story as much as I did. Some information I should have provided...

This is what happened- I installed one of those tech utilities listed last week on the windrivers.com home page called SmartOS- after evaluating it, I decided that although it worked fine, it wasn't necessary- I then uninstalled it.

At re-boot, I got a White dialog box that said "Cannot find C:/SmartOS/Launch.exe. You must re-install Windows." It then shut down.

Okay- so I inserted my WinME disc and re-installed- after everything was finished, I double checked /My Computer/Properties/Device Manager, and found that the older drivers I was using(like the Win98 driver for my network card)
were NOT affected- that is, they were not replaced with WinME drivers (which is GOOD).

The ONLY change is that between before and after is that I have to turn on the backup system for Windows to finish booting- I don't even have to leave the 2nd computer on- All I have to do is switch on the computer just long enough to see the drive light on my main system to light up. I can shut down the other system before it POSTs.

I DID have quick logon prior to the "incident". When I didn't, I would get a dialog box that said "Shared drive XX not available...etc..."

Some other information:

1) Not using NetBEUI- Just TCP/IP and IPX, the second protocol for some LAN game compatibility.

2) Although probably not an issue, I'm NOT using Internet Connection Sharing (only have a phone connection- I'll start to use it once I get cable internet).



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Gotta go... the paranoids are out to get me...

Problem solved!

Going into the My Network Places/Properties Menu, I clicked on the "D-Link DE-528 Ethernet PCI Card" listing and then clicked "Properties". There were three tabs: Driver Type, Bindings, and Advanced. In the Advanced Tab, there's was only one item in the list provided- Line Speed. There are 4 values associated with it: AUI/10Base5, BNC/10Base2, TP Full Duplex, and TP Half Duplex.

At the time, it was set to "TP Half Duplex." By changing it to "TP Full Duplex", I am no longer required to have the Slave computer turned on to boot the Main computer.

Thank you cyberhh, for trying to help me.

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Gotta go... the paranoids are out to get me...