Access to LAN disappears
Windows 7 x64 UltimateI have a small LAN using a workgroup. I have it defined in Windows 7 as a Work Network.Every now and then Windows 7 is uable to see anything on the LAN. It still sees the router as I can access the internet.When this happens if I attempt to access a mapped drive that is on another machine explorer grinds on and on but can't open the drive. Most of the time it will hang.If I open a cmd window and try to change to the mapped drive it will hang and Task Manager cannot kill it.Once Windows 7 losses its access to the LAN I cannot succesfully logoff. I suspect it is hanging trying to close a network connection.Any suggestions on how to trouble shoot this would be appreciated.Additional information. When the problem occurs I have tried shutting down my firewall and anti-virus but that does not seem to help.
October 4th, 2009 11:50am

Please check related settings: 1. Open Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Network and Sharing Center.2. Click “Change advanced sharing settings” in the left pane. 3. Please be assure that Network Discovery is enabled. If the issue persists, please let us know if you could access other computer after entering “\\computername” or “\\IP address”. Additionally, please enter the following command in “cmd”. ipconfig/all > %userprofile%\desktop\ipconfig.txt Then, on Desktop, please open the generated file “ipconfig.txt”, paste the content into your next post.Arthur Xie - MSFT
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October 6th, 2009 11:12am

My network settings had Network Discover enabled.Once the system losses connectivity using \\computername\share hangs also. I have not tried using IP address but will the next time the hang occurs.I have attached a copy of the output of ipconfig /all below. I have also setup a recurring hourly task to append that information to a text file so there will be a before and after set of information the next time a hang occurs.I am about to replace the BlueTooth driver with an updated version but I think I had the network hang problem before the current driver was installed.Also, there aren't any VMs running when the system hangs. I very rarely have a VM running.Windows IP Configuration Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : NYW7-0010 Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No Ethernet adapter Bluetooth Network: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Bluetooth LAN Access Server Driver Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-02-72-A2-6D-51 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-23-54-9C-4F-6F DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.106(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, October 06, 2009 2:41:59 PM Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, October 07, 2009 2:41:58 PM Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1 DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1 DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 167.206.251.130 167.206.251.129 167.206.251.130 167.206.251.129 NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled Ethernet adapter VMware Network Adapter VMnet1: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter for VMnet1 Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-50-56-C0-00-01 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.129.1(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled Ethernet adapter VMware Network Adapter VMnet8: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter for VMnet8 Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-50-56-C0-00-08 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.175.1(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled
October 6th, 2009 10:23pm

You may temporary disable the anti-virus, then firewall to test the issue. I also suspect that the Ethernet network adapter driver is not compatible with Windows 7. I suggest that you try to upgrade the driver via Windows Update, or from the motherboard’s manufacturer. If the issue still occurs, I suggest that you temporary disable the Bluetooth adapter from BIOS and check the result again. Additionally, please check the settings of the Ethernet network. What is the DNS server setting?Arthur Xie - MSFT
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October 7th, 2009 5:29am

>You may temporary disable the anti-virus, then firewall to test the issueThat was the first thing I tried.>Ethernet network adapter driver is not compatible with Windows 7The driver files are: RT64win7.sys and RTNicProp64.sysThey are designed for Windows 7 x64.>temporary disable the Bluetooth adapterAs I mentioned, I am about to try a later version of the Bluetooth driver. I have boot drives for different operating systems and am involved with a tight timeframe for completing a project so it may be a few days before I can do this. In addition, I now have three different sets of instructions for installing the latest, Windows 7 x64 compatible, Bluetooth drivers for my Bluetooth adapter:1. Do not plug in the Bluetooth adapter until after installing the driver and rebooting.2. Plug in the Bluetooth adapter before installing the driver.3. Start the driver install with the adapter unplugged and plug it in when instructed by the driver installation process.I have asked for a clearification and am trying to figure out if they can come up with a fourth, different, installation process. The manufacturer's technical support group will have to be really creative to achive a fourth one that is completely different from the first three but I have faith that they will be able to do so.>What is the DNS server setting?I do not think this is a problem as I am able to acces the internet when I cannot access the LAN. The DNS servers were listed in the ipconfig output above:DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 167.206.251.130 167.206.251.129 167.206.251.130 167.206.251.129Please do not take anything I have say as being critical of your attempts to help. I have being involved with PCs since the beginning of time (and have a copy of Windows 1.0x on a 5 1/4 inch floppy and an OS from further back) and am very appreciative of any suggestions as I have found that the solution to a computer problem is usually something simple that you've overlooked and everybody is afraid to mention it because it is so simple. (I will now digress.) I remember a manual that said if you are having a problem with your machine look for this device at the end of a wire (a picture of a plug) and put it into this device (a picture of a socket). Significantly cut down on support calls.
October 7th, 2009 6:40am

I uninstalled the Bluetooth driver and installed one from the vendor's site that was designed for Windows 7 x64 bit. I was able to use it to synch my Palm Treo 650.The system hung again. I tried to reference a mapped drive by typing I:\Machine\Common\Hardware\Palm into the run window. That hung solid enough so Task Manager could not cancel it.I had setup a desktop shortcut using \\<IP Address>\Share and that was able to get to a share on the XP machine. Meanwihile I could not kill the run window using Task Manager. I then tried a shortcut setup to map to \\<Machine Name>\share. That also hung. I tried to open my computer but it refused. I was able to capture ipconig /all but, asside from some time stamps, it looked the same as when I uploaded a copy.I tried to log off but the system hung with the Windows background and logging of displayed on the screen.This is becoming annoying as I would really like to migrate my workload from an XP Pro SP3 machine to the Windows 7 Ultimate machine since the former is slowe and has only 2GB of RAM whereas the Windows machine is faster and has 8GB of RAM but can't if it is going to require rebooting once a day. The XP Pro Sp3 machine is up for weeks at a time and has not had an unscheduled reboot in a long time.The Bluetooth adater is not controlled by the bios. It is a USB BLuetooth adatater. I can try leaving it uplluged for a few days if you thnk that iwlllHelp
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October 9th, 2009 3:32am

Where did you download the Ethernet network adapter? Please let us know the address.Arthur Xie - MSFT
October 9th, 2009 6:53am

Where did you download the Ethernet network adapter? Please let us know the address. Arthur Xie - MSFT http://support.asus.com.tw/download/download.aspx?model=M3A78-EM&SLanguage=en-usYou will get a popup asking for the operating system. Selected Windows 7 64 bit and hit the Search button. In the results click on LAN.
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October 9th, 2009 8:54pm

OK. I have the problem again but the network interface is not dead yet. I have two desktop shortcuts setup to access the same network share: \\<Machine Name>\I$ \\<IP Address>\I$ If I open the one using the machine name I see dllhost.exe start and end but no window opens with the share showing. If I open the one using the ip address I see dllhost.exe start and end and the share open in explorer. I can ping the ip address and get a response and I can ping the machine name and get a response. If I open the RUN window and put in \\<IP Address>\I$ and press OK the share opens in explorer. If I open the RUN window and put in \\<Machine Name>\I$ and press OK nothing happens. If I open My Computer the green status bar keeps pumping. It goes all the way through to about half way through the X button. I can stop it by pressing the X button. If I doubl click on the mapped drive I get the spinning circle but it does not show anything in the top status bar -- no green at all. I can still close the explorer window. Now if I open My Computer I get the spinning circle but no green in the status bar and none of the drives show up locall or mapped. I openned a cmd windows and ran Net Use. It shows the mapped drive as "Reconnecting I:" \\<machine name>\I$ I can still ping the machine name and get a response. I tried to edit the shotcut that pointed to \\<Machine Name>\I$ and it hung when I pressed OK. I assume it is trying to check the shortcut target. If I try to close it I get a dialog box that says that Windows Explorer is not responding and do I want to resart it, close it or wait for it to respond. I opened a cmd window and tried Net Use I: /DELETE. It hung but I was able to close the cmd window. However, when I openned another cmd window and entered Net Use it hung. The shortcut with the ip address no longer works. It opens and instance of explorer but all it shows is the top portion with the buttons and status bar (but no activity indicated -- no green). The rest of the window is pure white and the spinning circle mouse pointer is shown. I have complete internet access. Anyting that uses explorer on the Windows 7 machine now hangs. For example, Task Manager\New Task\Browse... I powered up my laptop and it resumed from hybernation. I open My Computer and double clicked on the I$ entry under Newtwork Drives and it opened the link.I have FaxTalk Messenger Pro running on the Windows 7 machine to handle faxes and voice mail. It is will working -- that is it still answers the phone. I have to reboot the Windows 7 machine -- let me know if there is any additional infromation you would like the next time it hangs.
October 9th, 2009 9:59pm

I had issues using those same DNS servers. Try and manually configure something like 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.2 as the DNS servers in the PC and test that
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October 23rd, 2009 4:09am

I had issues using those same DNS servers. Try and manually configure something like 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.2 as the DNS servers in the PC and test that I am a little confused. The problem I am having is within the LAN. It is between a Windows 7 machine and an XP machine on the same Linksys router. The external DNS are not involved.
October 23rd, 2009 4:27am

Where did you download the Ethernet network adapter? Please let us know the address. Arthur Xie - MSFT I updated the driver via Windows Update:Microsoft driver update for Realtek RTL8168C(P)/8111C(P) Family PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.20)Installation date: 10/18/2009 9:20 PMInstallation status: SuccessfulUpdate type: OptionalThis driver was provided by Microsoft for support of Realtek RTL8168C(P)/8111C(P) Family PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.20)I also uninstalled VMWare.C:\>ipconfig /all Windows IP Configuration Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : NYW7-0010 Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No Ethernet adapter Bluetooth Network Connection 2: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)#2 Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-02-72-A2-6D-51 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8168C(P)/8111C(P) Family PCI-EGigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.20) Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-23-54-9C-4F-6F DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.102(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Friday, October 23, 2009 4:05:34 PM Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, October 24, 2009 4:05:34 PM Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1 DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1 DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 167.206.251.130 167.206.251.129 167.206.251.130 167.206.251.129 NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled C:\>The problem is still ocurring.
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October 23rd, 2009 11:23pm

I am experiencing the same problem. This happens when I am downloading a large file and seems to be when download speeds are fast (2 MB/s +). Out of a sudden my network adapters will disappear. They don't show in network tab of task manager and if I try to open up hardware manager or just about anything the system just hangs and does nothing. I also noticed my ram usage spikes to 90% or more. I can't even shut down without pressing the reset button. I have updated my Marvell network drivers to the latest driver posted on the Marvell website, and the issue still occurs. I disabled ipv6, still nothing. Windows 7 x64 Asus P5Q-E Intel Q9450 This is what my ipconfig /all looks like. I don't know what these tunnel adapters are, but they show media disconnected. Windows IP Configuration Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Scott-PC Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Marvell Yukon 88E8056 PCI-E Gigabit Ether net Controller Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-22-15-1B-42-04 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Marvell Yukon 88E8001/8003/8010 PCI Gigabit Ethernet Controller Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-22-15-1B-53-1C DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.112(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, October 24, 2009 2:19:58 AM Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, October 25, 2009 2:19:57 AM Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1 DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1 DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 208.67.222.222 208.67.220.220 NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled Tunnel adapter isatap.{6D07A2E3-4EA9-4713-B391-0CBBCAA12149}: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Tunnel adapter isatap.{B9058BD5-D04B-47CE-8814-FE0EDF6905AD}: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2 Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 11: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
October 24th, 2009 12:54pm

Any update on this problem? I am still hanging every so often -- like right now.I would really like to move my machines to Windows 7 but if I can't get this resolved I am going to have to nuke the testmachine and rebuild it using Windows XP -- at least I know that works -- and wait for Windows 7 SP2.At least give me a hint as to what to look at when the problem occurs. There must be some way to do problem determination in Windows 7.
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October 25th, 2009 2:02am

This seems to be a common problem mostly among people who have Asus motherboards with Marvell network adapters. Check this thread http://www.sevenforums.com/network-sharing/9075-ethernet-connection-drop-49.html Might just have to wait for updated drivers to fix this issue.
October 25th, 2009 7:34am

This seems to be a common problem mostly among people who have Asus motherboards with Marvell network adapters. Check this thread http://www.sevenforums.com/network-sharing/9075-ethernet-connection-drop-49.htmlMight just have to wait for updated drivers to fix this issue. I do not have the problem described in that thread. I have a hang in Windows 7 x64 connection to a drive on an XP Pro SP3 machine. The connection shows in Net Use as reconnecting. When this happens I can still access the internet which means the network connection itself is not hung. I can also access the XP Pro machine by using its IP address -- again indicating that this is not a network connection problem. However, any attempt to use a browse function (i.e. an open file dialog box) hangs as it goes through the Windows 7 x64 connection code). It appears that Windows 7 x64 lets the connection to the XP machine go inactive when it is not referenced for some period of time. Then when an attempt is made to access the mapped drive Windows 7 x64 tries to reconnect and hangs while enqued on a resource that stops all other browsing from working. It is the reconnection process within Windows 7 x64 that is hanging -- not the driver. Now it would appear that this is an interna DNS problem -- that Windows 7 x64 resolves the IP address wrong for the machine name (i.e. discovery is confused). But when the hang occurs I can ping the machine name, the address is resolved correctly and I get the responses from the XP Pro SP3 machine.NEW INFORMATION INDICATING THAT NAME RESOLUTION HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PROBLEM.Earlier today I thought I could get around the problem by mapping the drives via the XP Pro SP3's IP address instead of its machine name thus avoiding problems with name resolution. So I did that.While I was writing the above I decided to check something on the Windows 7 x64 machine.It has a network hang again. Net Use shows it reconnection to the \\<iPAddress>\ShareI have two shortcuts on my desktop -- one points to the share via \\<Machine Name>\share and the other via \\<IP Address>\Share. At this point I can open the first one -- using the machine name -- and access the share. The second one -- using the IP address -- doesn't work. So what every is causing the network hang enques on the URL and blocks all accesses via it. Somewhere in the reconnection logic Windows 7 x64 gets confused and hangs.I still have internet connectivity and can browse the web from the Windows 7 x64 machine. Is there someway to stop Windows 7 x64 from letting the connection go into a state where it has to reconnect? I have everything in power settings set never to go off except the monitor. Is there anything equivalent for mapped drivers? Do I have to setup a recurring task to issue a dir for the mapped driver every ten minutes?BTW, I started with the defaultWindows 7 x64 driver and then installed onefrom the ASUS web site.Finally, WindowsUpdate said ithad an optional update of the driver which Iinstalled.
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October 26th, 2009 12:16am

Any resolution to this issue? I had almost the exact same issue (but it was shares on my domain controller, not another workstation, and I had been using zonealarm 9.1x as my firewall, but other than that, everything esle the same (different hardware). I found I could reproduce the problem at will instead of waiting for something to timeout, by opening up the server computer management console (you can get the same on xp through the administrative tools control panel Computer Management ("%SystemRoot%\system32\compmgmt.msc")or if you have your "my computer" icon on your desktop, right click manage), then find the shared folders +, then sessions, right click on the session to your win7 box, and select disconnect.Had to uninstall zonealarm, I am hoping they fix it...With windows firewall only, the problem does not happenBob
November 6th, 2009 5:15am

I saw that someone posted your original post on the Zonealarm forum. I answered there, but am reposting my answer here as well...Good luck trying to get this resolved, I have been trying for since August, and I sent many reports using the beta feedback form, and through followup e-mails to the 9.x beta team, still no resolution as of version 9.1.008.000. I have been a zonealarm pro user going back too many years to remember, but over ten anyway, and I hope this gets resolved soon, I am hoping that if enough people complain about it, it will. You should install the latest version just in case, but as soon as the problem happens again, report it directly to tech support.Download links: (taken directly from http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en...or-updates.htm (bottom of the page))ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite: http://www.zonealarm.com/zasuitedownload/ZoneAlarm Pro: http://www.zonealarm.com/zapdownload/ZoneAlarm Antivirus: http://www.zonealarm.com/zaavdownload/Free: http://www.zonealarm.com/zadownload/Good luck, and post if they find your problem Bob
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November 6th, 2009 8:59pm

I have had this exact same problem for a couple weeks now: Windows 7 Pro x64, internet access is fine, LAN with drive maps to Windows XP Pro SP3 goes to lunch, Zone Alarm Pro, and need to remove power to reboot. I was running a Marvell Yukon ethernet adapter on my Asus P5E motherboard but I purchased a Netgear GA311 because I thought it was a driver problem. The problem persisted with the new network card. I have now uninstalled Zone Alarm and, if memory serves, the problems started around the time I installed it. I know I did not have these problems running the x86 RC without Zone Alarm. I should know if Zone Alarm was the culprit by tomorrow. I have to reboot several times a day.
November 7th, 2009 4:46am

I saw that someone posted your original post on the Zonealarm forum. I answered there, but am reposting my answer here as well... I posted it. Then the moderator made a snide response and then deleted all of the resposes I made after that (with one exception which probably was posted when he was sleeping).I tried reporting it via chat during the day and that failed.I installed 9.1 and it did no good. I then tried the chat again while I had the failure but they were closed. So I clicked on the link to send them a report (which I thought would be better than a live chat anyway) and all it did was return me to there regular contact page -- the support form has appearently been removed from their web site.At this point I can avoid the problem by making sure that I disconnect all mapped drives after using them. I assume that ZA will eventually fix the problem and I really don't have time to wait for "live" support to actually be alive.
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November 7th, 2009 9:27pm

I have uninstalled Zone Alarm and I am using Windows Firewall now. Everything is working well and I have no problem connection to or maintaining my Windows XP Pro network drives. Thank you so much for helping me isolate this problem. I was hard powering down my computer 3 times a day. I read the snide moderator post on the ZA forums. It was very unprofessional imo. Marvell never responded to my polite request for information about this problem. I sent an e-mail to their customer support and it seems to have been consumed by a black hole.
November 8th, 2009 3:00am

Yar windows 7 firewall rulez it!!!!congratulations for making the right choice Genghiskhen!!Regards,RR
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November 8th, 2009 3:07am

I saw that someone posted your original post on the Zonealarm forum. I answered there, but am reposting my answer here as well... I posted it. Then the moderator made a snide response and then deleted all of the resposes I made after that (with one exception which probably was posted when he was sleeping).I tried reporting it via chat during the day and that failed.I installed 9.1 and it did no good. I then tried the chat again while I had the failure but they were closed. So I clicked on the link to send them a report (which I thought would be better than a live chat anyway) and all it did was return me to there regular contact page -- the support form has appearently been removed from their web site.At this point I can avoid the problem by making sure that I disconnect all mapped drives after using them. I assume that ZA will eventually fix the problem and I really don't have time to wait for "live" support to actually be alive. I have had the same problem with the moderator on ther, he is a real jerk...Bob
November 9th, 2009 3:01am

I have uninstalled Zone Alarm and I am using Windows Firewall now. Everything is working well and I have no problem connection to or maintaining my Windows XP Pro network drives. Thank you so much for helping me isolate this problem. I was hard powering down my computer 3 times a day.I read the snide moderator post on the ZA forums. It was very unprofessional imo. Marvell never responded to my polite request for information about this problem. I sent an e-mail to their customer support and it seems to have been consumed by a black hole. I don't think the lan card drivers are the issue, I have all intel cards with the newest drivers, I have tried 4 versions of the drivers over the last few months, I alway grab the newest version for my lan cards on the intel site (they update the drivers pretty regularly..), and I still have the problem, many others I have seen in various forums, all have different hardware, the only common issue is zonealarm, (and possibly the x64 windows 7, I can not recall if I have seen any issues with the 32 bit windows 7, but I could be mistaken...)I even went so far as to make a full backup of my data and do a complete from scratch clean install of windows 7 ultimate x64 (to be sure it was not some other software causing it), nothing but clean install and clean install of zonealarm, same issue...I removed zonealarm completely, and restored all my data andI am back to windows firewall again for now. I will wait ntil the next bug fix release to try again...Bob
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November 9th, 2009 3:09am

Marvell never responded to my polite request for information about this problem. I sent an e-mail to their customer support and it seems to have been consumed by a black hole. Marvell did contact me and the representative apologized because it took him a while to get to my ticket. I shared the information in this thread with him. He was polite, helpful, and appreciative. I must revise my previous comment about Marvell: I am pleased with Marvell's customer service.
November 11th, 2009 8:27pm

Marvell never responded to my polite request for information about this problem. I sent an e-mail to their customer support and it seems to have been consumed by a black hole. Marvell did contact me and the representative apologized because it took him a while to get to my ticket. I shared the information in this thread with him. He was polite, helpful, and appreciative. I must revise my previous comment about Marvell: I am pleased with Marvell's customer service. Too bad it is not a Marvell problem. It appears to be a ZA problem and they don't seem terribly interested.
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November 12th, 2009 10:34am

I don't believe this is a ZA issue only.I have had trouble with Windows 7 systems seeing XP systemsand even other W7 systems since I first started testing W7. Some days I will turn on my laptop and my main PC and they can both see each other on the network, other days, like today, they cannot see each other. Attempting to connect via \\computername makes no odds and everything I try seems to result in failure. At that point I give up and take a break, then when I come back all is fine. This IS a windows 7 problem. Sometimes it is just a network discovery issue and attempting to connect via \\computername works. Other times nothing works, except maybe a reboot of both machines...which means it is not anything to do with the LAN, especially if the LAN is using DHCP.I also have reported this problem on a few forums and never get a response that works 100%. I can understand that people not getting the issue find it hard to put it down to a W7 fault, but when the configuration of all hardware is correct and unchanged from boot load to boot load, what else could it be other than the OS?So once again I spend my time looking for answers and rebooting instead doing my damn work.I hate those Mac adds that criticize Windows because Macs are expensive pieces of ____, I've own one. But the last one where PC says that W7 has not of the problems that Vista has is true...it doesn't, it comes with a whole new bunch of problems.Life Is...
November 12th, 2009 9:47pm

Oh look, I rebooted my main PC and suddenly everything exists...retarded!Life Is...
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November 12th, 2009 9:51pm

I don't believe this is a ZA issue only. There may be other connectivity problems associated with Windows 7. However, the one I experienced is different from yours. I do not have any problem in seeing the XP machine or connecting to the XP machine. The problem occurs when the connection is left open and inactive for a period of time.What is interesting is that only the way the connection was setup is blocked. So for example, if the XP drive was mapped using \\ComputerName\Share and that connection hangs you cannot access the share using \\ComputerName\Share but you can access it using \\IP Address\Share. If the drive was mapped using \\IP Address\Share and the connection hanges you cannot access the share using \\IP Address\Share but you cann access it using \\ComputerName\Share.If you look at the middle of the thread BobG9638 reported that he was able to reliably reproduce the problem with ZA installed and that the problem did not occur after he uninstalled it and started using the built-in Windows firewall. So, for this specific problem it would appear that it has been confirmed as a ZA problem -- not a Windows 7 problem.My work around is to only connect to the XP machine when I need something and to unmap the drive as soon as I am finished with it. I do not need to leave the drives mapped so this works for me. It is obviously not a general solution.
November 13th, 2009 12:24am

Sometimes it is just a network discovery issue and attempting to connect via \\computername works. Other times nothing works, except maybe a reboot of both machines...which means it is not anything to do with the LAN, especially if the LAN is using DHCP. I have and continue to occasionally experience this problem. It is an inconvenience. Actually, accessing the remote XP machine via \\computername always works for me even though it sometimes does not appear in the network neighborhood. The problem that most of us in this thread have with a network task hanging and forcing a hard power cycle has gone away since I uninstalled Zone Alarm last week. Prior to uninstalling I was crashing 2-3 times a day. I actually took to powering my computer down at night because it was always hosed in the morning. The only thing in my configuration that changed was Zone Alarm so I am very confident in saying it was the problem. I keep two XP network drives mounted on my Windows 7 x64 machine all the time and I am able to access them reliably (100%) now.
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November 14th, 2009 1:05am

I've been having similar problems. After screwing around with my setting for days on end, I stumbled across this URL: http://tinyurl.com/yla6jpu I can say with certainty that my network is working perfectly without any visable problems. I am unsure, however, that by following the procedures outlined in the above URL reduces my network's security to the outside world or not. Perhaps someone could enlighten me. :-) I hope this is of some use. :-) ...Glenn
November 14th, 2009 1:55am

ALCON, SabermanI have this exact issue as well -- I have this on every Win7 machine on my home lan using my workgroup. I have 3 built from scratch win7 x64 ultimate Shuttles XPC with Marvel network chips, a older Shuttle XPC that was upgraded from aVista ultimate 32bit to Win7 32bit ultimate and a Thinkpad laptop (different Lan chip on this one intel based).All lose ability to communicate on the LANafter some variable amoutn of time -- I first though it was linked to going to sleep and waking up, but it will happen just sitting there after some time..When it happens - any attempt to explore/browse network shares or machines on the network hangs the explorer hard.. to get back to full normal operation I have to reset to reboot the machine..Whilethe LAN can not be access -- doing internet based actions continue to work email web browsing, etc.I have tried new lan drive -- static IP addresses - turning offIPv6, etc without luckThis is a bad windows 7 bug that makes it tough to use windows 7The updated shuttle is also reunning VMware workstation - so it has somevirtual adapters, but the problem occurson all windows 7 machinesI have 3 servers on my home network -- a windows 2003 box and a box running windows 2008 with hyper-V that has a runn VM with WHS in itThe servers do not have this issue - nor did the Vista machines I updated to windows 7I'm not seeing much in a way to stop or fix this problem so far..any luck.........steve
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November 14th, 2009 2:53am

I have this exact issue as well What are you using as a software firewall on the Windows 7 boxes? Please provide the name and version.
November 14th, 2009 8:07am

I've been having similar problems. After screwing around with my setting for days on end, I stumbled across this URL:http://tinyurl.com/yla6jpuI can say with certainty that my network is working perfectly without any visable problems. I am unsure, however, that by following the procedures outlined in the above URL reduces my network's security to the outside world or not. Perhaps someone could enlighten me. :-) The problem described at the URL you listed has nothing to do with the problem this thread addresses. This thread addresses a problem that occurs after a connection is made to an XP machine and the connection is left idle for a while. The URL you listed addresses problems in initial connections.
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November 14th, 2009 8:15am

standard wndows firewall that isin win7i have a real hardware firewall connected to my cable modem that n turn connects to a gigabit switch where the networked devices attach
November 14th, 2009 3:41pm

standard wndows firewall that isin win7 i have a real hardware firewall connected to my cable modem that n turn connects to a gigabit switch where the networked devices attach I am wondering how many pieces there are to this puzzle. I too have a gigabit switch between my external router and the rest of my LAN. Our configurations are stunningly similar.
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November 17th, 2009 9:07pm

I do not know -- I still have not found a fix at this point.. it is a windows 7 client issue - I have no problem if I restore a xp or vista image to one of my client PC'sI have a lot of stuff on my home network both wired and wireless -- 5 client PC's and 3 servers (1 windows 2008 standard, 1 Windows Home Server, and 1 windows 2003 standard) + connected media products like DirecTV HD DVR's, a TIvoHD, a Sonos music system with 4 components on the net, and a Denon receiver, and I intermittently attach my Bluray/ DVD players to update their firmware, and an Iphone. So I have lot's of network time..This issue is new to the RTM Win 7 client -- it did not happen with the RC beta I had on a machine for months..sad -- it is very annoying and the only fix is rebootI probably will open a MS help ticket with my technet subscription soon -- I not having much luck getting solution on the net and in forums at this point..I have tried many many fixes to no avail..steve
November 18th, 2009 1:43am

All lose ability to communicate on the LANafter some variable amoutn of time -- I first though it was linked to going to sleep and waking up, but it will happen just sitting there after some time..When it happens - any attempt to explore/browse network shares or machines on the network hangs the explorer hard.. to get back to full normal operation I have to reset to reboot the machine..Whilethe LAN can not be access -- doing internet based actions continue to work email web browsing, etc. When you hang can you still access the hung share by using \\ip address\share instead of \\machine name\share? Also, if you can open a CMD window try a Net Use command. If it runs I think you will see that the system is attempting to reconnect to the share(s). If the connection is inactive for a certain period (which I do not know) they system seems to drop the connection but retain the credentials needed to reconnect. Normally the reconnect is transparent although there might e a slight delay due to the reconnection process. Windows 7 cannot complete the reconnection process and the resource is hung. Any attempt to enumerate the connections -- like using a file browser -- hangs when it hits the locked resource.Someone earlier in the thread said the problem went away when they uninstall ZA's firewall and switched to the built-in one. But you have what sounds like the same problem without having ZA installed. It's beginning to look like a generic Windows 7 problem.
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November 18th, 2009 2:24am

I've now used my Windows Live ID for the first time just to contribute to this thread! I do not have a fix, but I have additional info to contribute. I've been fighting this problem for a few months as well.I'm aPC geek with experience in all computing areas, and this problem is a doozy. I have 3 Windows 7 Pro x64 computers, and 2 XP computers (but I will keep this discussion on the Win 7 PCs). Two of the 3 are Gigabyte motherboards with Realtek Ethernet drivers, and these two are hardwired through a Gigabit Linksys router (which hits a cable modem). The 3rd is an older AMD 939 PC using a wireless N card. They all use one of the Gigabytes as a central file server. This issue happens so often that file sharing is a joke. It is easier for me to flash drive the files I want between the computers.I too have tried tweaking every service (IPv6 on/off, discovery options, homegroup configs, setting files to a "general" type, disabling the Remote Differential Compression services) and all settings on the network adapters and router. The problem is definitely explorer and file-system based. Even when the problem isn't happening, my browsing in the massive shared directory structure isnot very snappy. My other software programs that rely on communication and the internet are not at all impacted, including browsing, games, TVersity with PS3, etc.Additional data:1) I've been using Comodo's firewall and it causes the exact same happenings, so ZA isn't to blame. Disabling the firewall has no impact. Have not tried fully uninstalling it, but assume it will not help. I will remove it fully tonight to verify.2) Usually I see a timeout when I'm on one of the computers trying to use the share pointing to the file server PC. For the first time last night, I went to the file server to investigate some more, and I couldn't even open "My Computer" on the host! All other windows/tasks operating fine, but nothing but rotating blue circle pointer for anything on the local file system. I had to CtrlShft Esc and end process on explorer. It aborted and desktop disappeared,but the hung explorer.exe never disappeared from the task list. It stayed and would not go away. Full reboot was in order.3) I've been reading that Windows 7 doesn't share indexing over the network. I've not done enough research on this before talking, but I have tried indexing the sharedfolders and not indexing them, and it didn't seem to make a performance difference.Curious about:1) Does this issue ever occur in "Safe Mode with Networking" between the computers? Gonna test that tonight.2) Is the size of the shared file system the culprit here (being overall number of files and folders)? I'm going to create some very small shares to see if they fare any better.3) I wonder if remote printing is also impacted when it gets in a hung state like this. Also want to test that.4) If you have multiple shares between different computers, do they all behave and timeout independently, or when one goes do they all start to freak?
November 18th, 2009 9:33pm

I do beleive you are describing the problem well -- acces to acces is totally unaffected during these hangs -- email / web etc..reboot is only fix I beleive it is windows 7 RTMbug.. it did not happen with RC that I used for months..very annoying......still no fix in sight
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November 19th, 2009 2:31am

on a given win7 pc - when it tanks -- all access to shares and other machine on the lan tank via explorer... I have shares on three servers 1 2008, 1 windows home server and 1 windows 2003.. my shares vary from a few hundred gigs to 5-6 terabytes raid shareshas anyone started a trouble incident with MS??
November 19th, 2009 2:41am

on a given win7 pc - when it tanks -- all access to shares and other machine on the lan tank via explorer... I have shares on three servers 1 2008, 1 windows home server and 1 windows 2003.. my shares vary from a few hundred gigs to 5-6 terabytes raid shareshas anyone started a trouble incident with MS?? Unless you have a corporate support agreement with MS you have a couple of choices in reporting bugs: 1. Post in an MS forum 2. Give them your credit card so you can pay for reporting the bugIf you have paid fora subscription that allows youa few free support incidencesyou can burn one (that you might need later for your business) to reporta bug.Microsoft does has not yet developed the equivalent of BugZilla or at least has not made it freelyavailble to its customers.Please forgive me if I sound a little bitter but I am a Registerd Microsoft Partner and have an MSDN Professional Subscription and I still cannot find a bug reporting form anywhere that I don't have to pay forand I have hit some really interesting ones -- besides the one this thread is about.
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November 19th, 2009 6:46am

I did verify that when the share problem starts, remote printing also hangs. This problem is something with the sharing connectivity. Just like file browsing, to get the printing to work again, I had to bounce the spooler service on the hosting PC to get the prints to go through. That did work and I didn't have to do a full reboot. I've setup multiple shares on my other computers for multi-directional testing, but as the problem varies depending on usage during the day, I only encountered the print spool problem since my last message. As I learn more, I'll post. Thx.
November 20th, 2009 7:37am

if no break thru.. I use one of the 2 incident support calls I have with my technet plus subscription after thanksgiving
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November 20th, 2009 10:35am

I have an HP DV7-3063CL Windows 7 Ultimate install and after a period of time I can only see the Vista Laptop on my lan and lose connection to the XP machines and my NAS drives. If I reboot the laptop they are all accesible again for a period of time. Once in awhile I will be downloading or streaming from one of the NAS drives and it aborts. When it aborts I can no longer see the shares on NAS or XP PC's. I too have tried most everything listed in the above posts to no avail other than rebooting the laptop. My issue seems to have started recently after some of the Critical Updates have installed. I am using Microsoft Security Essentials and Windows Firewall. I have experimented with Windows Firewall and the Firewall on my Actiontec Q1000 DSL modem turned off and have had no success. My Vista laptop and XP Desktops never lose access to any of the shares. This is getting to be very annoying.
February 26th, 2010 11:25pm

if no break thru.. I use one of the 2 incident support calls I have with my technet plus subscription after thanksgiving Did you get anywhere? I am still having the problem. In fact right now I do not have access to my XP machines.
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February 27th, 2010 8:30am

I finally fixed this issue in my case. It ended up being my stupid Realtek Ethernet drivers on my Gigabyte motherboard, model GA-MA790FXT-UD5P. Maybe my motherboard is bad, but I tried multiple Realtek drivers from different release times, and they all behaved about the same. The connection would work fine for a while, and then die or have rediculous pauses in it. I played with the advanced settings for days to no avail, hoping to find the silver bullet to resolve the issue. My particular MB has 2 ethernet ports on it, and they both behaved the same way. Funny enough, one of the other PCs I'm using also has a Gigabyte MB with Realtek Ethernet (only 1 port though), and it was fine with the same drivers... TOTALLY different model and revision of MB though. I had a spare PCI Gigabit Broadcom card, and am using that now with zero problems since. If you have any spare hardware around to try this if your problems are similar to mine, please give it a go and reply for the benefit of others. Thx.
July 27th, 2010 1:23am

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