Hi Posted this in the Win7 networking forum, but was advised this is a server config issue - not sure how, but here goes... I have a Windows 2008 R2 server with RRAS. Its also my DHCP, WINS and DNS Server. With any notebooks which are part of the domain, when I connect to the VPN, all the network shares are available via their UNC paths as normal. With my Windows 7 Ultimate machine at home, which has never been part of a domain, I can ping all the servers ok, by name, but I cant browse any of the server shares. The PPP adapter seems to have NetBios over TCPIP disabled, I dont know how to fix this.... see below: Windows IP Configuration Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : cjdesktop Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : siag.local jameson.local PPP adapter SIAG VPN Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : siag.local Description . . . . . . . . . . . : SIAG VPN Connection Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 10.3.3.131(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0 DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.3.2.2 10.3.2.4 NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : jameson.local Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 802.11n Wireless LAN Card Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-05-B4-07-A9-1D DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::5ad:e83c:ae68:d663%13(Preferred) IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 80.1.1.103(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, 11 January 2011 9:22:31 PM Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, 13 January 2011 9:22:34 PM Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 80.1.1.1 DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 80.1.1.1 DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 318768564 DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-13-13-F4-E6-6C-F0-49-55-43-58 DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 80.1.1.1 NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 6C-F0-49-55-43-58 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes How can I fix this, so that I can browse the file shares on my company network server, when connected via VPN? Thanks Chris

Hello Chris, According to the ipconfig, it seems that the NetBISO over Tcpip is disabled in VPN adapter connection. Please make sure that you have both enabled the "NetBISO over Tcpip" and "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks". By default, it is disabled in VPN adapter connection. To enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP on Windows 7: Click Start, and then click Network. (click Start, type ncpa.cpl into the search box for Windows 7 or Vista, hit ENTER). Click on the Network and Sharing Center Click Manage Network Connections. Right click on the Local Area Connection select Properties. Select Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4) Click the Advanced button under the General tab. Click the WINS tab. Click Enable NetBIOS Over TCP/IP. Click OK and Exit the settings. Configure File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc739330(WS.10).aspx Brent Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread. ”

Hello Brent, Yes all this is enabled - you can see that in the ipconfig provided. (Note the lan cable is not connected, I use the wireless connection on my PC). The technote note you sent me to, is for server 2003, as I said, I'm running server 2008 R2. But File and Printer Sharing is turned on, on the server I can confirm. I access the RRAS through our Router with NAT forwarding set for port 1723 and protocol GRE to the RRAS Server. Any more ideas, on how to get the NetBT to enable on my PPP Adapter? Thanks Chris.

Hi Chris, Please make sure that the "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks" and "Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP" is selected (PPP adapter SIAG VPN Connection) on the Windows 7 computer, as shown in the following figures. Brent Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread. ”

Hello Brent, Yes that is set, as per your images. That setting is being ignored, or being deliberately overridden by the os at some other point, or is failing to set. Not sure which. I do get the following message in the event log, whenever I try to connect: Event 4311, NetBT Initialization failed because the driver device could not be created. Use the string "000000000100320000000000D71000C011010000010000C001000000000000000000000000000000" to identify the interface for which initialization failed. It represents the MAC address of the failed interface or the Globally Unique Interface Identifier (GUID) if NetBT was unable to map from GUID to MAC address. If neither the MAC address nor the GUID were available, the string represents a cluster device name. Any more ideas? Thanks Chris

Hi Chris, Please check the following article: Event ID 4311 — NBT Connectivity http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd379893(v=WS.10).aspx Brent Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread. ”

Hi Brent, Had already checked that one out. If you check it, it only applies to 2008 Server, not Win 7. And I followed the instructions anyway, but it didnt make any difference. Chris

Hi Chris, Does this issue exist on all clients or just some of them? You can try to compare with working Windows 7 computer using registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NetBT\Parameters BrentPlease remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Hi Brent, This is only occuring on my standalone Windows Ultimate machine at home, which is not part of a domain. Another symptom is that the VPN connection, never actually appears in the Network and Sharing Center. So I never set whether the network is public, home or work. I'm thinking that if the connection is set to "public" then NetBT will be disabled. I saw another report of this in the forum, but with no answer. Chris.

Try putting the FQDN of the server when browsing your file share, e.g. \\myserver.siag.local\docs BB

Hi BB, I don't have any issues with name resolution, a ping using either the machine name or the FQDN works ok. Thanks anyway, but thats definitely not the issue. I'm now convinced this is a bug with the network Sharing centre function and that I cant get the VPN connection to ever appear there, and therefore cant set it to a "work" network type. There are a number of reports of this in many forums, and never an answer. Chris.

Hi, I have similar issue with a Win-7 domain laptop. when VPN is connected it can connect shares on 2008 server via FQDN or IP address but not with standard machine name i.e. \\machine\share. A laptop with windows XP works fine on same settings. Anybody knows the answer?

I have the same problem, but with windows 7 and SBS 2003. Can ping, use exhcange, Team Foundation etc. but cannot browser the network. Not via FQDN or IP. XP/Vista machines have no problem browsing the network.

Check your Windows 7 firewall. Add File and Print protocol. Maybe another inbound/outbound ports?