Local Network hiccup

Topic

New Reply

[RetiredGeek]

I have 4 machines linked with a local network operating with a Verizon DSL modem/router.  My primary machine is a W10 Desktop that is Ethernet linked to the modem/router.  A Windows XP desktop is also using Ethernet to the modem/router.  I have W10 and Vista laptops that connect through the Wireless side of the modem/router.

I keep several continuing Excel files to maintain on going data.  I save the data on each of the four machines.

Periodically when I attempt to save one of the files to the W10 laptop – I am not able to access it and get the error pictured. 

If I reboot the W10 machine I am good to go.

• This topic was modified 2 years, 9 months ago by RetiredGeek. Reason: Moved attachment into message to make easier reading

Reply | Quote

Replies

It may be a DNS issue.
When you get the error, try this command in a Command Prompt window: ping chuckw10
If the command fails, you have a DNS issue, if not, try opening the file again.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

Paul T wrote:

It may be a DNS issue.
When you get the error, try this command in a Command Prompt window: ping chuckw10
If the command fails, you have a DNS issue, if not, try opening the file again.

cheers, Paul

the ping attempt fails.

My real question is why the object of the attempt is failing, repeatedly.  Rebooting the machine gets it cooperating properly – for a while, and then it goes on the fritz again.

Reply | Quote

WSmmi16 wrote:

My real question is why the object of the attempt is failing, repeatedly. Rebooting the machine gets it cooperating properly – for a while, and then it goes on the fritz again.

Have you tried rebooting the router instead?

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

Reply | Quote

bbearren wrote:

WSmmi16 wrote:

My real question is why the object of the attempt is failing, repeatedly. Rebooting the machine gets it cooperating properly – for a while, and then it goes on the fritz again.

Have you tried rebooting the router instead?

Because of Verizon issues, the router is rebooted much too frequently.

Reply | Quote

I suggest that you access computers by IP address rather than by name. Its simpler and more bullet proof. That a reboot fixes your problem, points a finger at Windows. The less Windows does for networking the better. This has been true for decades.

The static IPs can come from either the router or by individually configuring each computer. If the latter, tell the router not to have DHCP give out the IPs you are using.

Have you considered buying a NAS? With some work you can get a NAS to make its own backups, perhaps to an external drive plugged into it or off-site.

Get up to speed on router security at RouterSecurity.org and Defensive Computing at DefensiveComputingChecklist.com

Reply | Quote

Sometimes a file sharing connection can become disconnected. This can happen when a PC you are trying to reach goes to sleep or the idle connection times out. So you have to refresh the remote connection and/or wake the “sleeping” PC. It’s possible to check if a file sharing connection is disconnected (net use). In that case, the connection can often be re-established.

******

Sometimes a PC on a LAN can disappear altogether from another, even though it should be reachable. Instead of rebooting, you can try a Disable/Enable sequence to the Network Adapter on either one PC or both, to see if they come back into view of each other. Your WiFi network connection to the Verizon router can hang, and toggling the WiFi network adapter on the PC can fix this. Microsoft’s network discovery can be re-executed by this toggling on both Ethernet and WiFi. Then accessing PC’s by name can work.

******

If the “ping chuck10” keeps failing, you can ping by IP address from each machine and see if that works. Sometimes that’s all it takes to get file sharing working again. An IP ping can complete host discovery.

******

With DHCP, IP addresses assigned to a PC can vary. If that happens, you can use static IP addresses. The Verizon router does not seem to change host IP addresses that often, in my experience. Easy enough to test this with above experiments (plus using ipconfig /all).

Connections between PC’s can be by IP address or by computer name (or by DNS name).

******

If ping by IP address does not work from both PC’s, and both local PC’s can browse the Internet, the next step is to ping each PC by MAC address. The Verizon router sometimes puts devices into separate VLAN’s and they cannot see each other anymore, through normal means. To test this ping by MAC address case, you should use the same type of network connection for both PC’s: all WiFi or all Ethernet.

*******

Peer-to-peer LAN file sharing has been a royal pain with Windows since day 1. Perhaps using a cloud service for sharing files would be easier for files that don’t require high security. Or use a local server or NAS.

Windows 10 22H2 desktops & laptops on Dell, HP, ASUS; No servers, no domain.

1 user thanked author for this post.

WSmmi16

Reply | Quote

The ping fails because your PC has lost its DNS information (DNS maps computer names to IP addresses).
If your PC does not know the address it asks the local DNS for the address.
The local DNS for most home users is the router provided by/connected to the ISP.

In this case it seems the local DNS has forgotten the machine called chuckw10. Rebooting the router will do this.

You can re-register with the DNS by running the command “ipconfig registerdns” on each machine.

cheers, Paul

1 user thanked author for this post.

windbg

Reply | Quote