Solved Win 7 Pro Network problem

[BoloMarkIII]

Win 7 Pro Network problem (Solved)

I have a small network with 3 Win 7 Pro computers and 4 XP Pro computers and a NAS.
Everything was fine until about 2 weeks ago when 1 Win 7 Pro box stopped reading the network.

All comps are mapped to the NAS and all have File and Print sharing turned on and are also connected to a network printer.
All other computers can see the 1 box in question shared folders and can write to it.
This 1 offending box still has its connection to the network printer through a local tcp port pointing to the printers IP.
This is the only thing working This 1 box lost its mapped connection to the NAS and in the "NETWORK" window nothing shows up.
Also in the network window the address bar does NOT show the progress bar scanning the network.
Trying to connect to either the NAS or other computers with names (\\NAS) or IP (192.168.1.22) does NOT work.

I have gone over all network settings dozens of times and many reboots with no joy, and have tried many fixes suggested from searches done on the problem.

I am stumped now and seeking help.
I am new to this forum but I have been networking computers for over 10 years. I think I know what I am doing and yes I have turned on network discovery and all that in the "network and sharing center" advanced settings.

 

[chev65]

I have a small network with 3 Win 7 Pro computers and 4 XP Pro computers and a NAS.
Everything was fine until about 2 weeks ago when 1 Win 7 Pro box stopped reading the network.

All comps are mapped to the NAS and all have File and Print sharing turned on and are also connected to a network printer.
All other computers can see the 1 box in question shared folders and can write to it.
This 1 offending box still has its connection to the network printer through a local tcp port pointing to the printers IP.
This is the only thing working This 1 box lost its mapped connection to the NAS and in the "NETWORK" window nothing shows up.
Also in the network window the address bar does NOT show the progress bar scanning the network.
Trying to connect to either the NAS or other computers with names (\\NAS) or IP (192.168.1.22) does NOT work.

I have gone over all network settings dozens of times and many reboots with no joy, and have tried many fixes suggested from searches done on the problem.

I am stumped now and seeking help.
I am new to this forum but I have been networking computers for over 10 years. I think I know what I am doing and yes I have turned on network discovery and all that in the "network and sharing center" advanced settings.

I'm almost afraid to ask but which A/V software are you using on these machines?

 

[BoloMarkIII]

all boxes run AVG antivirus.

 

[roban]

I suppose you've powered down your modem, router and any switches then powered up starting with modem then router and lastly switches.

 

[BoloMarkIII]

Of course tried that several times including turning on computers one at a time and I have reset advanced settings many times ( turned of all settings like network discovery reboot turn back on reboot ) uninstalled nic drivers and reinstalled with reboots. and tried all system restore points. Nothing works no joy.

In the network window address bar when I type either name (\\nas) or IP (192.168.1.10) what I type in after I hit enter just highlights and goes nowhere
I am real close to reinstalling windows been fighting this for over a week.

The other 2 Win 7 Pro boxes on this network have basically the same setup and the same hardware and have no problems and can see and write to the bad boxes shared folders.
I installed this offending box a little over 6 months ago and it worked flawless till about 2 weeks ago about the time of the last windows update. But doing a system restore to before update brought no joy.

When I first started using Win 7 Pro I thought the way it automatically saw everything on a network was fantastic and still do. This box has lost its mind and remindes me of XP and the way it can loose its mind also.

I work on computers for a living, all I do all day is fix Windows thats why my own personal computer I run Linux. I usually dont post in forums I just search them for clues to my problems this box is causing my hair to fall out.

 

[chev65]

all boxes run AVG antivirus.

Before uninstalling Windows I would definately try uninstalling AVG first. It's been known to cause similar problems with Windows 7, many times in fact.

 

[BoloMarkIII]

Tried that no joy.
My apologies to the mods if my post seem like rants.
I consider myself an expert networking tech and this is problem is damaging my self esteem.

 

[chev65]

Tried that no joy.
My apologies to the mods if my post seem like rants.
I consider myself an expert networking tech and this is problem is damaging my self esteem.

It happens to the best of us BoloMark, not ranting at all, in fact I'm curious what the problem is and what the fix might be.

Have you tried restoring the system to an earlier point in time using system recovery?

Have you attempted a repair install from the Windows CD?

 

[brady]

The fact that it just simply "stopped working" 1 day is what has me confused... Anything installed/uninstalled to the offending machine?

Any network related updates on the nic card or security updates sent to the machine via wsus?

I generally don't read the majority of replies to the thread since they tend to modify pure thought....

are you able to ping (ip and fqdn) and tracert the NAS device from this machine?

 

[BoloMarkIII]

The fact that it just simply "stopped working" 1 day is what has me confused... Anything installed/uninstalled to the offending machine?

Any network related updates on the nic card or security updates sent to the machine via wsus?

I generally don't read the majority of replies to the thread since they tend to modify pure thought....

are you able to ping (ip and fqdn) and tracert the NAS device from this machine?

My first thought was a wonky windows update and yes i tried all my restore points no joy.
And yes I can ping the NAS's local network IP and other computers IP's in command prompt.

 

[BoloMarkIII]

Have you attempted a repair install from the Windows CD?

DOH (slaps head) Had not thought about a repair install I will try that tomorrow gunna go home and have a couple of stiff drinks and relax thanks to all wiil report if repair install works.

 

[chev65]

Have you attempted a repair install from the Windows CD?

DOH (slaps head) Had not thought about a repair install I will try that tomorrow gunna go home and have a couple of stiff drinks and relax thanks to all wiil report if repair install works.

Sounds good BoloMark, it's worth a try I'd say. Something went outta wack in your system it seems and repair installs are good for fixing that sorta thing.

 

[BoloMarkIII]

I am happy to report that doing a repair install (followed tutorial on this site for repair install) fixed the problem. As soon as I logged in first thing I did was open Network and all computers and the NAS showed right up in the window and the mapped drives connected right up. joy joy

 

[chev65]

I am happy to report that doing a repair install (followed tutorial on this site for repair install) fixed the problem. As soon as I logged in first thing I did was open Network and all computers and the NAS showed right up in the window and the mapped drives connected right up. joy joy

Glad to hear it BoloMark, those repair installs has saved me a few times in the past so figured it might be worth a try. I'll mark as solved.