Networking problem in Windows XP Pro

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Good day to all.

I seem to have a network problem with my laptop which is running Windows XP Pro. It used to work just fine but now something is broken.

This my workplace network: smallish network of perhaps 16 or so computers. Topology is: ADSL modem -> Linksys router -> 24 port switch -> cable to my office -> 8 port switch -> 4 or 5 computers (8-port switch & several computers all in my office).

Most machines in our network are running Windows XP Home or Pro. Three machines are still Windows 98se (legacy software) and I have a brand-new Windows 7 Pro machine sitting under my desk and tied to that little 8-port switch.

Network protocols are both NETBEUI and TCP/IP. That’s also a legacy from when we first changed from our old Lantastic network (coax) / Windows 3.11 to cat-5 / Windows 98se. Everything has been running quite well for a number of years.

Recently, one of my laptops (XP Pro) has lost partial network functionality. Specifically, when another machine tries to access a shared drive on the laptop, that machine can see the folders within the laptop’s shared drive. However, trying to browse inside any folder leads to an error message: “R:Download2 is not accessible. Access is denied”

That laptop has NO problem accessing shared drives on any other computer on the network. It also has complete Internet connectivity. In other words, the laptop can access the shared drives of any other machine on the network but those other machines can’t access the laptop’s drive.

I’ve checked the Windows firewall settings – they are the same as on any other XP computer. Same with network protocol bindings (within the network adapter’s Properties page) and the “Advanced’ tab in the Network Connections page.

The only thing I can recall changing in the past while was un-installing Link Scanner Pro – my license had expired and Link Scanner no longer exists (it was purchased by Grisoft).

I’m not sure where start troubleshooting this problem and would appreciate any guidance.

Many thanks!

dwayne

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It might be becasue the default IRPStackSize is not large enough to accomodate all the shared resources on the laptop you are trying to connect to. The symptoms are that everything seems normal and everything else works and is configured correctly but it just won’t connect. More info on procedure is found at http://www.howtonetworking.com/winissues/irpstacksize.htm

The default is 15 and I found that 21 worked for me but you should also try 18 first if you decide to proceed.

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Thanks for the suggestion regarding IRPStackSize.

I checked: two of the machines that were trying to access the laptop have the IRPStackSize parameter set to 25 (decimal). The other machines trying to access the laptop don’t have that parameter created yet, so I assume they are using the Windows default size of 15 (decimal).

The laptop in question also did not have that parameter created. So: I created the IRPStackSize parameter and gave it a value of 21 (decimal) and re-booted the laptop.

No change: still get “Access Denied” when I try to browse into any of the folders on that shared drive.

Any other thoughts?

dwayne

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Well, I *think* that I solved the problem.

This problem was bugging me because I have recollection of having to fix something similar several years ago. It finally came to me.

How I fixed was to bring up “My Computer” on the laptop, right-click on the D: drive icon, and select “Sharing and Security”. As expected, the drive was shared as “D” with both read and write permissions.

I UN-checked the box marked “Share this folder on the network”, then clicked “Apply”. Waited for the permissions to finish taking hold (quite a long time, actually), then shared the drive again. Clicked “Apply” and waited for the permissions to finish propagating (another long time). In other words, un-shared the drive, then shared it again.

Now it works just fine. All of my other computers can now access folders and files on the laptop again.

I have NO idea how those permissions could have gotten messed up – and it sorta worries me. You know: the old Murphy’s law that says: “Problems that go away by themselves come back by themselves”. I do know that I haven’t done anything that should have messed with file permissions on that machine.

Anyway, problem seems to be fixed now. I hope this might help someone else facing a similar problem.

Many thanks!

dwayne

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That sort of thing can happen when something precipitates a change is drive/partition assignments. I sometimes have it happen when I begin using an eSATA drive and when I reboot, it likes to take over the D: designation in XP, which pushes the drive/partition assignment down one letter in the alphabet until a gap is encountered. The shared location will still show up in any list on another computer but its no longer correctly assigned on the target computer. Your procedure described is exactly correct for resolving that issue. I usually delete the contents of the hidden NetHood folder on the other systems so they don’t continue pointing to the old non-existent location unless the location was returned to what it was previously.

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