Hi guys, We have a small office setup here, we have two Windows 7 machines, three Windows XP machines and one Windows 7 machine that acts as a fileserver (folder sharing and an SVN repository). Every morning, I turn up to work, turn on my Windows 7 machine and the system works fine, but, as soon as one of my collegues turn up and boot up their Windows XP machines, the fileserver disconnects. The only way to get the fileserver up and running is to restart it, this is obviously tedious and irritating. It only happens when an XP machine connects to the network and not when a Windows 7 machine connects. Does anybody have an experience with this sort of issue or have an suggestions to resolve it? Thanks, Simon.

When you say the file server "disconnects", how do you know this? Do you get an error on a client application, for example?

When I go to the mapped network drive i get a message saying the destination is unavailable or something to that effect (the file server has been rebooted so it is currently working). Also if I go to Network, the device no longer appears.

So, in other words, if all the workstations were already booted up, and then you booted the "file server", all would be well?

Correct. But we want to leave the filer server on 24/7 without having to reboot it every morning.

Understandably. When the XP machines "kick you out", are they (the XP machines) able to access the file server correctly (Even though the 7 machines can't)? Also, does it just kick your machine out, or all the 7 machines? I'm just trying to build a picture here, to see if I can offer something constructive.

Understandably. When the XP machines "kick you out", are they (the XP machines) able to access the file server correctly (Even though the 7 machines can't)? Also, does it just kick your machine out, or all the 7 machines? I'm just trying to build a picture here, to see if I can offer something constructive. Also, have you got HomeGroup enabled on the 7 machines?

Yes, I understand you want to get a good picture to offer good advice, its much appreciated. When an XP machine connects, no machines (WinXP or Win7) are able to connect to the file server. The Windows 7 machine are running on 'Work Network' so homegroup isnt enabled.

The plot thickens. Need some time to think about this one. In the meantime, maybe someone else will see this lot and give you an answer sooner.

To summarize, am I right in saying: If the 'clients' are booted before the 'server' all is well. If the XP clients are booted after the 7 server (or the 7 'clients'), the network gets screwed up. We need to investigate exactly what the state of connectivity is between all these computers is when the network is "screwed up". Please can you advise: 1. The number of XP machines 2. The number of 7 machines (including the 'server') 3. The versions of the various O/S's (Home, Professional, etc), especially the server. Check the following (with the network "screwed up") 1. Share a folder on another 7 client and see who can see it. 2. Share a folder on an XP client and see who can see it. 3. Who can ping who. I think it is only possible to troubleshoot this issue when the problem is presenting, not, like now, when all is working.

OK, we have... - 3x Windows XP Professional Workstations - 2x Windows 7 Professional Workstation - 1x Windows 7 Home Premium 'file server'... All it is doing is folder sharing as file storage, nothing more. No fancy server stuff. I will have a play around when it next breaks and find out who pings who and so on. I know that all the workstations can access eachother when the fileserver goes down. As all the workstations (and the fileserver) go through the same router, have fixed IP's and belong to the same workgroup. I completely agree that this problem is going to be difficult to solve when the system is not playing up.

Don't want to be a stick-in-the-mud, but here's my answer: http://download.microsoft.com/Documents/UseTerms/Windows%207_Home%20Premium_English_a0cdb148-2381-47cd-bfc9-9b9102e0cb28.pdf Technically, you can have 5 incoming computers with maximum 20 SMB connections. I have seen the NETBIOS server fail when this is exceeded. To check on your server, type (in an elevated Command Prompt): net config server <Enter> This will tell you what the limits are. I suggest you move your file server functions to one of the Professional machines.