Q: What's the Microsoft
Browser Service? How do I set up a peer-to-peer network with Windows 95
workstations and a Windows NT Server running SQL Server so the Win95 machines
can see the server and each other? The protocol is TCP/IP, and I'm considering
adding a router with systems on the other side of the router attached to the SQL
server.
The Microsoft Browser
Service is a list of available network resources. The types of browsers are
master browsers, backup browsers, and nonbrowsers. A master browser is a
computer that collects and maintains a list of available network resources; only
one master browser exists on the network. The master browser assigns backup
browsers, which are computers available to take over the browser service in case
something happens to the master browser. Nonbrowsers are computers that never
participate in the browser service. By altering the NT Registry, you can
determine which computers participate in the browser service. Start the Registry
Editor (regedt32. exe in the \system32 directory), and go to the key
hkey_local_machine\system\currentcontrolset\services\browser\parameters.
MaintainServerList REG_SZ
Range: yes, no, or auto
When the range value is Auto, the default setting, the computer for this
Registry entry contacts the master browser, which decides whether this computer
can be a backup browser.
If the range value is No, this computer will never participate in the
browser service. If the range value is Yes, this computer becomes a backup
browser and attempts to contact the master browser for a current browse list. If
the backup browser can't find the master browser, it forces an election among
the other backup browsers to select the master browser and is a candidate to
become the master browser. Every time a computer that can become a browser comes
on line, the master browser shares its resources with the backup browsers,
making the systems go off line and come back on. When the machines come back on,
the system updates the browser priority to include the new machine.
Before Win95, the browser service set a priority for determining which
computers became browsers: NT Server was first, NT Workstation was second, and
Windows for Workgroups (WFW) was third. Now, NT and Win95 argue over who will be
first in the browser priority. So don't configure a Win95 machine as the master
browser because NT will always want to be the master browser. Go to Control
Panel on the Win95 computer, double-click File and Print Sharing for Microsoft
Networks, and go to the Advanced properties dialog, as in Screen 1. Highlight
Browse Master and disable it. Regardless of the types of machines in your
network, a Primary Domain Controller (PDC) always has first rights to be the
master browser.
In most cases, browser conflicts don't occur. However, when conflicts
happen, you have to set the following parameter to No in the Network Section of
system.ini on the WFW computers:
MaintainServerList=<yes, no, or auto>
If this value is Auto, the default setting, the WFW computer is a browser.
If you want Win95 machines on the other side of a router to see the NT
server when you're using Explorer or Network Neighborhood, set up one Win95
computer as a backup browser. This computer's lmhosts file needs to include a
#dom entry pointing to the master browser (usually the same as the PDC) and to a
backup browser (see the Registry setting above) on the other side of the router.
You can substitute an NT workstation for a Win95 machine as a backup browser for
the other Win95 machines. For name resolution, routers create barriers on remote
networks, and the only way to overcome these barriers is to use Windows Internet
Name Service (WINS) or, in the absence of WINS, lmhosts.
Q: How can I make new
installation floppies?
If you use Explorer in NT
4.0, go to a command prompt, change to the CD drive, and insert the NT
installation CD. Change to the I386 directory of the CD-ROM, and run winnt32 /ox
if the OS is NT or winnt /ox if the OS is DOS. Screen 2 shows the various
installation switches and their meanings. Note the addition of numerous options
in NT 4.0.
Q: Do you know of any
problems with using Service Pack 4 (SP4) for NT in a Novell NetWare environment?
Don't place SP4 on a
NetWare volume and then run update. Doing so replaces certain NetWare command
line utilities with the Microsoft equivalents. This replacement can be fatal.
Q: I recently upgraded
to NT 4.0. When I log on locally, everything works fine. When I log on to a
domain, the interface appears and the system crashes. Inevitably, the SCSI
driver (DAC960) is the culprit. I've changed NICs but the problem persists.
What's going on?
You have a conflict between
the new DAC060 driver and the network redirector or server service. To fix this
problem, open the computer and remove the NIC. Boot NT, and rename the DAC960
driver. Copy the July 1995 driver to the \system32\driver directory. Shut down
the system, replace the NIC, and reboot.
Previous
Register
