File Sharing on a Domain - Windows 7, SBS 2008, and XP Pro
Hi All, I'm having a rather strange issue. We have recently set up a domain with SBS 2008. (About 25 computers) Most computers are running Windows 7, but some are running Windows XP. One of the Win7 machines acts as a file server. This machine can be accessed by SBS and by other Win7 computers prefectly. The problem lies with the few WinXP computers. Sometimes they can access the Win7 file server with \\computername. Other times when you try the same thing, it instantly throws an error. I would attached a screenshot, but it is working at the moment... :-S The error is (from memory) "Cannot find computer on network" Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance. EDIT: I forgot to mention that when I cant access the Win7 file server, I can still connect to it from the WinXP computers via RDP and other TCP services. So it seems like it is something to do with just the file sharing. Possibly something o do with the firewall? -Leo
March 29th, 2010 1:32am

I think I have found the solution from here . Click the start button and type secpol.msc in the search function. Browse to "Local Policies" -> "Security Options". Now look for the entry "Network Security: LAN Manager authentication level" and open it. Click on the dropdown menu and select "Send LM & NTLM - use NTLMv2 session security if negotiated". Apply the settings. In the Advanced sharing settings page of Network and sharing center, you need to have it set as Work/Home profile. Try -Enable network discovery -Turn on file and print sharing -Turn off password protected sharing -Use user accounts and passwords to connect to other computers The other settings such as encryption I have set as use 128 bit encryption. Please check related policies. 1. Enter “gpedit.msc” in the Start Search box. (I had to do this in the group policy of SBS) 2. Open “Computer Configuration”/Windows Settings/Security Settings/Local Policies/Security Settings. 3. In the right pane, enable the following policies: Network access: Allow anonymous SID/name translation Network access: Let Everyone permissions apply to anonymous users Also please disable the following policies. Network access: Restrict anonymous access to Named Pipes and Shares Network access: Do not allow anonymous enumeration of SAM accounts Network access: Do not allow anonymous enumeration of SAM accounts and shares I also compleatly disabled Windows Firewall. I did this because i am already behind a gateway firewall, and the rest of the network is locked down tight. I'll keeo you all posted on how this turns out.
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March 29th, 2010 2:54am

Hi Leo, When the issue occurs, please check if you can ping the Windows 7 computer or access the share folder with “\\IP Address\folder” from the Windows XP computer In addition, please also try the following: 1. Adjust the number in the Limit the number of simultaneous users to box in the sharing properties of the share folder. 2. Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP in Windows 7: 1) Go to “Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network Connections”. 2) Right-Click on the connection and choose Properties. 3) Click “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Version 4” in the list. 4) Click Properties, and then click Advanced. 5) On the Advanced TCP/IP settings windows, go to “WINS” tab. 6) Under NetBIOS setting, click “Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP”, and then click OK. In addition, you can also enable this on the Windows XP computer. Hope this helps. Thanks. Nicholas Li - MSFT
March 30th, 2010 1:11pm

Move the file shares to the server. With 25 workstations you may be running into the connection limit (10) for Windows client OS'. Kerry Brown MS-MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
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March 30th, 2010 5:34pm

Hi Leo, When the issue occurs, please check if you can ping the Windows 7 computer or access the share folder with “\\IP Address\folder” from the Windows XP computer In addition, please also try the following: 1. Adjust the number in the Limit the number of simultaneous users to box in the sharing properties of the share folder. 2. Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP in Windows 7: 1) Go to “Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network Connections”. 2) Right-Click on the connection and choose Properties. 3) Click “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Version 4” in the list. 4) Click Properties, and then click Advanced. 5) On the Advanced TCP/IP settings windows, go to “WINS” tab. 6) Under NetBIOS setting, click “Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP”, and then click OK. In addition, you can also enable this on the Windows XP computer. Hope this helps. Thanks. Nicholas Li - MSFT I'll give this a go and let you know. It is working again at the moment.
April 1st, 2010 1:27pm

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