Error with Computer Browser service

EarlZ · Oct 5, 2009

I already have Server and Workstation running ( Auto )
With the service down, i cant access computers on my network

sup3rsprt · Oct 5, 2009

hmm looks like you may need to do a repair install. basically reinstall Windows over top of itself and see if the problem goes away.

here's a tutorial:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

zigzag3143 · Oct 5, 2009

sup3rsprt said:
hmm looks like you may need to do a repair install. basically reinstall Windows over top of itself and see if the problem goes away.

here's a tutorial:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

I agree with SS. another thing you can try before the repair install is a system file check. this will verify and attempt to repair system files. its run by start>search>cmd>sfc /scannow

ken

EarlZ · Oct 5, 2009

zigzag3143 said:
sup3rsprt said:

hmm looks like you may need to do a repair install. basically reinstall Windows over top of itself and see if the problem goes away.

here's a tutorial:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

Click to expand...

I agree with SS. another thing you can try before the repair install is a system file check. this will verify and attempt to repair system files. its run by start>search>cmd>sfc /scannow

ken

Tried that and there were no problems detected.

If i do a repair install then that would revert some of my "tweaks" back to default values right ?

sup3rsprt · Oct 5, 2009

probably. noone said repair install would be fun

H2SO4 · Oct 5, 2009

EarlZ said:
I already have Server and Workstation running ( Auto )
With the service down, i cant access computers on my network

Sure you can. The "computer browser" just populates the "net neighborhood" list. It's practically useless nowadays. Use UNC instead: \\TargetName\ShareName

Anyway, only one machine needs to run that service on a small (home) network, and it doesn't really matter which machine that is.

For what it's worth, the error is likely caused by registry corruption in HKLM\System\CCS\Services\Bowser. (I didn't mis-spell that just now; Microsoft did, long ago, and it stuck

)

If the machine has been subjected to "registry cleaning", that's usually enough to explain just about any symptom imaginable.

EarlZ · Oct 10, 2009

Sorry i wasnt able to check the thread for some time, i remember that service is needed coz i used to turn that of when i dont need any sharing done.. i access the other computer via //targetname and there are times that i forget to enable the computer browser service..

the repair for Win7 is a bit complicated and long xD

H2SO4 · Oct 10, 2009

EarlZ said:
Sorry i wasnt able to check the thread for some time, i remember that service is needed coz i used to turn that of when i dont need any sharing done.. i access the other computer via //targetname and there are times that i forget to enable the computer browser service..

the repair for Win7 is a bit complicated and long xD

The "computer browser" (CB) service is most definitely not required for accessing other computers via UNC (\\targetname). If that's all you ever do, you can disable CB on every machine on the network and not worry about it.

=======================================
What CB does is to collect periodic "announcements" from machines whose Server service is active: "My name is XYZ and these are my shares...". Whenever a user clicks on Net Neighborhood (or whatever it's called nowadays), the machine finds and queries the winner of a local CB "election" to ask it for the list of workgroup/domain resources.

If you use UNC, that's all bypassed.

Even if you do sometimes require the browse list, only one box on a small network needs to run the CB service. It will automatically win the CB "election" (whenever it's running obviously).

EarlZ · Oct 10, 2009

So why cant i connect to the other computer using \\targetname now ? nothing has been changed on both sides..

H2SO4 · Oct 10, 2009

EarlZ said:
So why cant i connect to the other computer using \\targetname now ? nothing has been changed on both sides..

Ah, the real issue surfaces

What's the error message when you attempt UNC?

Does UNC work if you use the target IP address in place of the target name? (\\192.168.0.5\whatever)

Can both machines ping each other by name? By IP?

Have you tested what happens when you temporarily deactivate all software firewalls on both machines?

EarlZ · Oct 10, 2009

H2SO4 said:
What's the error message when you attempt UNC?

cannot access \\targetname

H2SO4 said:
Does UNC work if you use the target IP address in place of the target name? (\\192.168.0.5\whatever)

I tried \\192.168.1.4 and i get the same error.

This is the the set IP i have for this machine.

H2SO4 said:
Can both machines ping each other by name? By IP?

Yes both machines can ping each other.

H2SO4 said:
Have you tested what happens when you temporarily deactivate all software firewalls on both machines?

Firewall on both ends are disabled. I've rerun the sharing and network set up on the XP machine.. i've also set them to be on the same workgroup.

H2SO4 · Oct 10, 2009

EarlZ said:
H2SO4 said:

What's the error message when you attempt UNC?

Click to expand...

cannot access \\targetname

Is that the entire and exact wording of the error? (At least, the first sentence.)

One of these machines is Win7. What's the other one?

Is the error message the same in both directions?

Can each of the machines access its own shares via UNC? (start, run, \\OwnHostName)

If so, what's the output of this command from both computers? NETSTAT -NA |find "445"

EarlZ · Oct 10, 2009

I've attached a file for the exact error.

My machine is Win7 and my sister's laptop is WinXP.

both machines can access their own shares.

She can access my system via \\targetname

output on my end is attached on the 2nd screenshot.

and on the XP machine its the same apar from the 2nd line it says *:* instead of [::]:0 and it has no listening status

H2SO4 · Oct 10, 2009

Your problem is now in the "mildly unordinary" category. My gut feeling is that the error (0x80070043) is a red herring. This is very unlikely to be a name resolution issue, especially since it fails by IP also.

Did this ever work for you? Can you think of anything notable you may have done just before it stopped working?

Did either of you ever have a non-Windows firewall installed at any point?

If you boot your system to [safe mode + net], are you now able to UNC to the XP system?

EarlZ · Oct 10, 2009

Yes it did work before even way back in vista, i just needed to run the computer browser service.

No additional firewalls added.. she uses windows built-in and ive been using ESS ever since.

Ill try that later.

H2SO4 · Oct 10, 2009

EarlZ said:
Yes it did work before even way back in vista, i just needed to run the computer browser service.

No additional firewalls added.. she uses windows built-in and ive been using ESS ever since.

Ill try that later.

You don't seem convinced, but you'll save yourself some time if you forget about the browser service when dealing with UNC issues. There's nothing to "browse" for. You've already specified the "targetname" for the UNC connection.

Instead, try uninstalling ESS and rebooting. Better still, after you uninstall ESS, boot both machines into [safe mode + net] and test what happens there.

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