3 Win2000 SP4 Workstations and one XP Pro SP2 happily chugging along in the same workgroup – all wired & connected via SMC switch, a Linksys DSL router connected to that same switch .
Out of the blue, while they all can get on the internet – they are having workgroup problems. One Win2K Workstation sees all the others, another only sees the Win2K Stations, and the XP can’t see anyone. When trying to ping from one Workstation to another, I am getting no replies from the XP, nor from the Win2K workstations when pinging from XP, and there are also no replies between some of the Win2K workstations. Resetting the Switch & router, nothing chages. Introduced another new XP Pro SP2 into the workgroup – the two XP’s now see each other but no one else, and there are no replies when pinging from Win2K Systems or vice versa.Determined that the XP’s are communicating via the NW Link IPX/SPX NetBIOS Compatible Transport Protocol or the NWLink NetBIOS I turned those on in one of the Win2K workstations and it then communicated with the XP’s. I turned all off except for TCP/IP – and basically was unable to ping or to connect any of the PC’s (Win2K or XP) within that workgroup UNTIL I ASSIGNED STATIC IP’S TO ALL –
Then all my connections and file shares worked – What happened – why the computers can’t see each other when the IP’s are dynamically assigned from the router