Solving Common Networking Problems - Common Networking Problems

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Windows XP takes a long time to open shared resources on older versions of Windows

Windows XP displays Scheduled Tasks for each computer in a workgroup or domain. You can usually speed up the display of shared resources by disabling this feature.

1. Click the start button and select Run… to open the Run dialog box.
2. Type regedit and press enter to open Microsoft Registry Editor.
3. Navigate to the following key:

HKLM:SOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorer
RemoteComputerNameSpace{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D8700AA0060F5BF}

4. While that key is selected in the left-hand pane, press the Delete key to delete it.

Frequent “Network Cable Unplugged” Notification Balloon

When this balloon pops up it can be pretty disturbing, especially if you’ve been using the network all along.  How do you have a network cable unplugged?

1. Begin by checking your Router or Hub. Check the connection state lights and see if they are correct. This may indicate a failing or faulty router.
2. Next check the network cable. Look for cuts, breaks or bends. Also look for any abnormalities in the insulation that may indicate breaks inside the cable. Check the integrity of the cable terminations, or ends. Make sure that they are securely attached, clean, and fit snugly into all devices. Use a patch cable tester or network probe if available.
3. Download and install the latest drivers for your network card.
4. Manually set the speed and duplex settings for your network adapter. Most adapters use the auto-detect setting. If auto-detection fails for any reason, the “Network Cable Unplugged” error will usually result. Most routers and switches use 100Mb, full duplex. Hubs usually use 100Mb, half duplex. You can find these settings easily:

1.      Open My Network Places and click the View network connections link in the left panel.

2.      Right-click your Ethernet connection and choose Properties to open the Local Area Connection Properties.

3.      On the General tab, click the Configure… button.

4.      Click the Advanced tab and select Link Speed & Duplex in the Property box.

You can browse websites by IP address, but not by URL

This indicates a DNS, or Domain Name Service, failure.  For most people this will mean one of two things. Either your ISP’s DNS server is down or your settings are incorrect. You will need to contact your ISP to find out. You may have also received this information from your ISP when you set up your account.

One computer can ping a second, but the second cannot ping the first

Okay, so you have two computers in a network. One can ping the other fine, but the second cannot ping the first. Typically this is due to improperly configured firewall settings on the first computer. Make sure that the firewall is set to allow ping requests. Disabling the firewall temporarily while you attempt to ping can be a quick way to determine if this is the problem.

Next: Windows Networking Utilities >>
 

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