connection problem to LAN for 2 win 7 PCs at the same time

[TCTLi]

Hi All,

I'm new to this forum and would like to get help from you guys.
I have a LAN running Windows 2000 Advance Server in the office and have 15 users and it has been running fine including one Dell PC running Windows 7 64 bit professional. Recently I bought another Dell PC with Win 7 64 bit home premium. It can access the internet but could not connect to the LAN despite using different user names created in the Server. When unplug the network cable from one of the Win 7 PC, the other one can connect. That means the 2 PCs cannot connect simultaneously.
Your help is much appreciated.

 

[FliGi7]

Are they both getting the same IP (is one set up for static IP and the other for DHCP)?

 

[TCTLi]

I don't think so as the setting is DHCP

 

[FliGi7]

Are they both getting proper and non-conflicting DHCP leases for IP and DNS?

BTW, if it can connect to the internet, that infers it is connected to the LAN, so I'm not sure what you mean by your statement above that it's not connecting to the LAN. Can you explain that more?

 

[TCTLi]

Sorry, I mean only one PC can logon to the server and the other one cannot

 

[FliGi7]

What server are you referring to? Do you mean only one at a time can connect to the domain?

 

[TCTLi]

The server is running Win 2000 Advance Server, all users are connecting to the server as a member of the same workgroup. (not logon as a domain member). All users are of Windows XP except the 2 PCs with Win 7. All Win XP users and only one Win 7 user can connect to the server at the same time.

 

[FliGi7]

Ok, but what are they connecting to/for? What is the server providing to the users that requires them to connect to it? Is it for shared folders? Is it a web server?

 

[TCTLi]

It is for shared folders. I guess it is something to do with the compatibility between windows 7 and windows 2000 server

 

[FliGi7]

Ok, so I think we're getting to something here. So the issue is with mapping a network drive on the 2000 machine to the Win 7 machine. I surmise the issue lies in the local policy in Win 7 for whether or not to send/use the LM hash for mapping a share. Windows 7 wants to only use the most secure NTLMv2 hashes for doing so, but that causes issues in older OS'es that don't use this policy.

The below articles should help you get it all sorted and fixed:

Windows 7 can't access Share in a workgroup
File sharing between Windows 7 and earlier versions of windows - Microsoft Answers
Share Files and Printers between Windows 7 and XP - How-To Geek
How to make Windows 7 work with older Windows versions for networking and file sharing.