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Browser settings Network not IE

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7 replies

by powerstroke

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I have a problem with my network several machines do not appear in the Browse list ie
Network Neighborhood, is there a registry setting to make sure they show up.

My second problem is a mchine that keeps calling for an election. I cannot shut down the browser service on it because it hase a shared printer on it!

Complete answers only please all machines are win nt SP 4 or better running TCP/IP

7 replies

by ishmael

a registry hack for the second part;
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Browser\Parameters MaintainServerList should be set to "no". Are you using WINS?if so, you could try putting static records in the database for the machinesthat do not appear.

by marty2001

The browse list is updated by default every 12 minutes so a switched on PC may not appear for that period. On a smaller network with infrequent changes, you can edit the LMHOSTS file eg
10.0.0.97 servername #DOM:browse #PRE
to load in the master domain browser when the PC boots up.
It sounds like you are not using WINS. It is possible to change the browse list frequency with HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters
add the Announce parameter with atype of REG_DWORD, and set the number of seconds that the browser should wait between announcements. For example, if the default for Announce is 12 minutes, the length of time is set to 720.
Note that the new setting has to be done at all workstations before it will work.

by brian g

Use "net config server /hidden:NO" to make sure the machines aren't hidden. Then make sure they are ALL in the same GROUP/DOMAIN under the "control panel -network"

The second problem with elections is NOT a problem, it is a known "thing" that happens on networks with the browser enabled, completely normal although a bit disconserting.

If you have one machine that is ON all the time and can act as the server then you can use the registry to make it 'Master browser'.
The key;
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet
\Services\Browser\Parameters
\MaintainServerList
and
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet
\Services\Browser\Parameters
\IsDomainMaster
can be set to accomplish this.

Browsing is not connected to sharing of devices. It is not required to have browsing enabled to share a device, you just won't be able to 'point and click' your way to the share. You can still type the computer-name and share-name into the connection whether that be a network drive connection or printer connection. (\\computername\sharename)

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