1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Networking issue with Windows 7 and XP

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by F8L, Dec 8, 2011.

  1. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

    Joined:
    Aug 14, 2006
    19,011
    4,081
    50
    Location:
    Grass Valley, CA.
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Ok, I know we have computer geeks in here that may be able to help me. :)

    I perform the IT operations at my work and we have a new Windows 7 machine to serve as our server. With all of our Vista and Windows 7 machines there are no problems. We have 3 Windows XP machines and they connect to the network fine but about once a day or sometimes more the users will get a cannot connect to the server type of error. It seems to only happen with the XP machines.

    Any advice on how to fix this? Since one of the machines belongs to my boss this is of utmost importance! :)
     
    #1 F8L, Dec 8, 2011
  2. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2005
    15,232
    1,563
    0
    Location:
    off into the sunset
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I don't profess to be a computer expert, but my experience is that it's best for all networked machines to be using the same operating system. People have told me it shouldn't be a problem, but for some reason it often seems to be.

    I'll leave it for the true experts to offer a solution.
     
    #2 hyo silver, Dec 8, 2011
  3. wick1ert

    wick1ert Senior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2009
    1,311
    183
    2
    Location:
    Delawhere
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Do the computers ever "go to sleep" during the day? It's possible to be a power setting that disconnects the network when they sleep if that happens.

    My network at home seems to be fine, although now both my regular laptop & desktop run Win 7 and only my very infrequently used netbook runs XP.

    Otherwise, I really don't have a clue from this information.
     
    #3 wick1ert, Dec 8, 2011
  4. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

    Joined:
    Aug 14, 2006
    19,011
    4,081
    50
    Location:
    Grass Valley, CA.
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    The computers do utilize the sleep mode but when the disconnect happens it is when the user is currently working on something so sleep mode should not be enacted during this time.
     
    #4 F8L, Dec 8, 2011
  5. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

    Joined:
    Mar 24, 2008
    4,003
    944
    118
    Location:
    Los Angeles Foothills
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Justin go into Network Network Connections, Right Click Local Area Connections, Click on Properties, Open TCP/IP Propertries and see if it is set to Automatically Detect Network Connection, if it is, you might want to set your network to a specific string of I.P. Addresses, I.E. 192.168.1.1 Make sure the last octet is different computers. The SubNet Mask should be 255.255.255.0. I find with my home network, 4 DTV DVR's, & computers, 2 TV's, and 2 WiFI Routers, if I make a specific network address, rather than, the automatic detect settings, things tend to communicate with each other much better, and nobody drops out. I have Win 7, Vista, XP, and XP Pro all working with each other with NO PROBLEMS!
    Hopes this helps you out!
     
    #5 KK6PD, Dec 8, 2011
    1 person likes this.
  6. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

    Joined:
    Aug 14, 2006
    19,011
    4,081
    50
    Location:
    Grass Valley, CA.
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Ok, I set the I.P. address to static. I just chose a random number for the last octet since .1 was already in use. I chose .8 instead and it still connects to the server just fine. Now I just have to sit back and wait to see if the boss gets booted from the network in the next few days. :eek:

    Thanks for the help, you guys. :)
     
    #6 F8L, Dec 8, 2011
  7. TheForce

    TheForce Stop War! Lets Rave! Make Love!

    Joined:
    May 30, 2005
    3,461
    537
    0
    Location:
    Wheelersburg, Ohio
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I dont know much about how windows does dhcp but you may want to check that your .8 assignment is out of the dhcp range or your server might try to assign a .8 ip to another PC and then you will have an ip conflict.
     
    #7 TheForce, Dec 8, 2011
  8. wick1ert

    wick1ert Senior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2009
    1,311
    183
    2
    Location:
    Delawhere
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Typically, the router will see that an existing device already has that IP address assigned to it, and choose the next number up. At least, that's been my experience.

    However, if you are going to manually assign, I do agree that it might be better to choose a higher number just to be safe.
     
    #8 wick1ert, Dec 8, 2011
  9. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2006
    11,324
    3,591
    1
    Location:
    Northern VA (NoVA)
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    ...not sure but XP is becoming a pain for me because various major web sites (Target, my bank) no longer compatible with XP/Windows Explorer 8 anymore, apparently they need Windows 7/Windows Explorer 9.
     
    #9 wjtracy, Dec 8, 2011
  10. eagle33199

    eagle33199 Platinum Member

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2006
    5,122
    268
    0
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Two
    Really? I just went to target.com (XP and IE 8 here at work), and had no problem. I'm thinking something else is up with your computer...
     
    #10 eagle33199, Dec 9, 2011
  11. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2006
    18,058
    3,074
    7
    Location:
    Northern Michigan
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    That only works if the fixed IP device is alive at the time DHCP makes the assignment. If the device is powered down, as soon as it comes back on line there will be a conflict. Fixed IP addresses should never be assigned to a dynamically controlled block.

    Tom
     
    #11 qbee42, Dec 9, 2011
  12. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

    Joined:
    Aug 14, 2006
    19,011
    4,081
    50
    Location:
    Grass Valley, CA.
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    I'm still waiting for the boss to be in the office long enough for the error to occur. As it sits I just assigned the static IP and I'm crossing my fingers. Upgrading 3 computers to Windows 7 would be a pain because of the changes to Outlook. I am deathly afraid of losing his contact information that has been built up over 10yrs. lol
     
    #12 F8L, Dec 9, 2011
  13. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2006
    18,058
    3,074
    7
    Location:
    Northern Michigan
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    I support networks with mixed OSs: Linux, Windows 7, Windows XP, and some proprietary equipment. Windows XP and Windows 7 will work together if everything is configured properly. Of course XP doesn't support some of the newer security bits, but that won't knock a machine off of the network.

    If you are worried about losing contact information, then it is time for a backup. Computers can die at any moment. Buildings burn. People steal office equipment. Get that beast backed up.

    Tom
     
    #13 qbee42, Dec 9, 2011
  14. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

    Joined:
    Aug 14, 2006
    19,011
    4,081
    50
    Location:
    Grass Valley, CA.
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Agreed. Thanks for reminding me about the Outlook backup. The server where we store all of our important data is running Carbonite for its main backup so all of our data is backed up continually (if you open a file and alter it then save it Carbonite immediately backs it up on their sites located on both coasts). I also back everything up on external hard drives that I swap out every couple of weeks. I am awaiting the return of two previously broken internal hard drives for additional backup. I don't play around when it comes to backup redundancy! :D
     
    #14 F8L, Dec 9, 2011
    1 person likes this.
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)