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Compatability problem?

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15 replies

by daz'n'ash

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I have a client who is having problems with his LAN. He is running a stand alone server with 6 computers networked from it.
The Problem: Random lockups. I am told that at random times the network freezes totally and the only way they have been able to rectify it is to reboot his server.
Systems: The server box runs 128MB Ram, 434 MhZ CPU with Win98.
4 other computers networked from this server box also run Win98. 2 of the computers run Windows XP Home and Win XP Pro.

Could there be a compatibility issue between win98 and XP?

15 replies

by opatzg9

I'ld have to think the most likely suspects are the nics or xp home. Make sure all patches for xp home have been applied as well as all the new drivers for the nic cards for their operating systems.

by tduval

Anyway, check network cards drives.

When you say network freeze, do all the stations freeze, or only one at a time ?

If only one stations, whereever could it be, look for station troble.

by Member 32254067

should not be a compatablity issue that i have ever seen while networking these two OS.. Make sure Software on both machines are up to date and take a look at network continuity.. Have you montired network traffic to see if somthing is setup incorrectly? say port speed or nic speeds?

by Ryan Boudreaux140

If they are running any applications off of the server box they may want to consider maximizing the RAM. With only 128MB of RAM they may be taxing the system especially if there are applications running off the server for the clients PC's. If all 6 clients are hitting the server at once with hard disk read or write requests it could be locking the server due to maximizing the resources.

Hope this helps!
ET

by daz'n'ash

Agreed, this certainly is the only option left for him. He finally saw that for himself.

by ann777

This is a P2P network (peer-to-peer); his "server" is not a server OS. What is more, his "server" is a 433 MHz computer?

If the other computers are WinXP Home and Pro, then I suggest that he upgrade his server hardware.

The other computers sound as if they are trying to access a computer that is much older than they are... and that can be the problem right there.

Get the Mhz and RAM specs of the WinXP computers and if they are indeed trying to access the 433 MHz machine simultaneously, that machine is going to be the bottleneck.

by armylanman

You haven't mentioned the physical layout of the network.. Are they on a HUB or Switch? If a hub is having a problem, it will lock all ports, or if even one PC is having a problem on a hub the "whole" network will lock up.. A switch would prevent this. Normally a busy network connection will only hang a machine if the machine is actively using the network at the time. Either the network itself is having a problem (bad hub or possibly bad NIC on one of the PC's) or the server resource is boggingdown the works.

Remedy: Try a Switch if using a HUB. You can find 8-port switches fro $40.

Or as already been suggested.. Beef up the "server".

ALM.

by daz'n'ash

Anna777, Elvis Tie, I agree that the harware is inadequate for the kind of use it is getting. I will most certainly be suggesting this to my client. I will soon post my response to this.

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