Is there any chance you've had the "Computer Browser" service turned off
on allthree machines, but left on on the fourth?  Most machines don't need
it if they're standalone or on a big network, but the service has to be
running somewhere for Network Neighborhood to get populated....

David Gillett


On 16 Oct 2003 at 23:38, Ian wrote:

> Thanks for the suggestion Mike.  Oddly, this wacky situation wherein my three machines could ping each other, link to the router and connect to the internet, but not see each other's files, righted itself about 10 minutes ago.
>
> I've no idea what caused it to work again, but I'd just patched in a fourth machine that I'm building, and this action seemed to be the catalyst that corrected the problem.
>
> The fourth machine is the last in the line and the RJ45 cable I keep for guest machines was previously hanging loose - maybe the network has to be terminated for it to work?
>
> (Then again it could have been the way I was swearing at it :--))
>
> Ian Porter
> Computer Guys Inc.
> Arrowtown
> New Zealand
> [log in to unmask]
>
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Mike McNeil Computer Troubleshooters Queenstown
>   Subject: Re: [PCSOFT] Network flaky - new virus?
>
>
>   Hi Ian,
>
>   One thing you may want to try is to run the XP network setup wizard again.
>   Perhaps there is something in XP that doesn't allow the network to function
>   correctly without the wizard being run first.
>   regards
>   Mike McNeil
>
>   -----Original Message-----
>   Subject: [PCSOFT] Network flaky - new virus?
>
>
>   My home network consists of 3 pc's, all running XPPro. The Internet
>   connection is via a broadband router.
>
>   Up til recently (date unsure but probably two days back) everything was
>   normal, with each machine seeing the others, all machines connecting to the
>   internet, file sharing OK etc etc.
>
>   Suddenly, the network has become screwed up.  Each machine still connects to
>   the Internet and each machine can ping the other.
>
>   But in Network Places on each machine, there are NO computers visible at
>   all, not even each computer's own files, so no file sharing is possible.
>
>   I've checked and double checked all settings, but everything seems to be
>   normal.  I've turned off Zone Alarm Pro without effect.  Every drive is set
>   for sharing.  I've tried with specified IP addresses (the way it was when it
>   worked) and with Auto-detect.
>
>   All I can put it down to is a virus, but if it is, it must be an
>   undiscovered strain - my virus protection is Nod32 on two machines and AVG
>   Pro on the third - they're fully up-to-date and report no bugs.
>
>               The NOSPIN Group is now offering Free PC Tech
>                      support at our newest website:
>                           http://freepctech.com

               The NOSPIN Group Promotions is now offering
              Mandrake Linux or Red Hat Linux CD sets along
             with the OpenOffice CD...  at a great price!!!
             http://freepctech.com/goodies/promotions.shtml