Microsoft KB Archive/258717

= Configuring Windows 2000 Professional to Work in a Peer-to-Peer Workgroup =

Article ID: 258717

Article Last Modified on 10/31/2006

-

APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition

-



This article was previously published under Q258717



SYMPTOMS
Windows 2000 Professional may have difficulty communicating with other computers that are running Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows 95, or Microsoft Windows 98 in a peer-to-peer workgroup. The issues that might occur include the inability to connect to a shared folder or a shared printer, the inability to browse by using Network Neighborhood in Windows 95 or Windows 98, or the inability to browse by using My Network Places in Windows 2000. Before Windows 2000 Professional was installed, the computer may have communicated effectively with the other workgroup computers.



CAUSE
This issue can occur if all of the computers in a peer-to-peer workgroup do not have a common networking protocol, a common workgroup, and common user names and passwords.

TCP/IP is the default network protocol in Windows 2000, but early versions of Windows 95 and Windows 98 install the NetBEUI and IPX/SPX-Compatible Transport (Nwlink) protocols as the default protocols. Configuration settings on a computer that is running Windows 95 or Windows 98 are not retained unless you upgrade directly from Windows 95 or Windows 98 to Windows 2000 Professional. Therefore, the computer that is running Windows 2000 Professional might not have a common protocol with the existing computers on the network; this lack of a common protocol blocks connectivity. You also cannot browse the network without a common protocol.

Also, user accounts must match on the computers that are running Windows 95 or Windows 98 and the computer that is running Windows 2000 Professional. If the user name is not recognized in the Security Accounts Manager (SAM) database on the computer that is running Windows 2000 Professional, that computer cannot gain access to the shared resources.



RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue, configure the computer that is running Windows 2000 Professional to communicate with the existing peer workgroup by ensuring that all of the computers have a common networking protocol, a common workgroup, and common user names and passwords:  Check the configuration settings of the computers that are running Windows 95 or Windows 98 in Network properties:  Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. Double-click Network. Review the items on the Configuration tab. Note the settings for Client for Microsoft Networks, File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks, the network adapter, modem devices, and protocols such as NetBEUI, IPX/SPX-compatible protocol, and TCP/IP.

Note that peer-to-peer workgroup computers typically use NetBEUI for local LAN communication and TCP/IP for Internet connectivity. Click the Identification tab and note the workgroup that is listed in the middle box. This is the workgroup name that the computers must have in common. Click Cancel.</li></ol> </li> Change the network settings in Windows 2000: <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.</li> Double-click Network and Dial-up Connections.</li> Double-click Local Area Connection. On the File menu, click Properties. The default settings are Client for Microsoft Networks, File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks, and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). Modem settings are listed separately with a connection in the Local Area Connection Properties dialog box.</li> The protocols in the Local Area Connection Properties dialog box must match the protocols that you noted in step 1C (the protocols on the client computers that are running Windows 95 or Windows 98). To add a missing protocol, click Install, click Protocol in the Select Network Component Type dialog box, and then click Add. Click the protocol that you want to add, and then click OK. You might be prompted for the Windows 2000 Professional CD-ROM to install the appropriate files.</li> Click Close, and then click Close on the File menu.</li> Change the workgroup name to the workgroup name that you noted in step 1D (the workgroup name of the computers that are running Windows 95 or Windows 98). Double-click System in Control Panel, and then click the Network Identification tab. Note the current workgroup name (the default name is Workgroup), and then click Properties. In the Workgroup box, type the workgroup name that you noted in step 1D, and then click OK.</li> Windows 2000 generates the following message:

Welcome to the  workgroup.

Click OK. You receive the following message:

You must reboot this computer for the changes to take effect.

Click OK.</li> Quit any programs that are running, and then restart the computer that is running Windows 2000 Professional.</li> Validate connectivity with the other computers.</li></ol> </li> After the connectivity issues are resolved and the computers can browse each other on the common protocol and in the common workgroup, set up common user accounts: <ul> For all of the computers that are running Windows 98, if the correct, matching user names do not exist: <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.</li> Double-click Users.</li> Click Next.</li> In the Add User dialog box, type a user name (preferably a one-word name: for example, type JDoe for John Doe), and then click Next. Type a password for the user account, and then type the password again to verify it. You can also leave the password boxes blank. The user name and password must be identical on the computer that is running Windows 98 and the computer that is running Windows 2000 Professional. Click Next.

NOTE: Passwords are case-sensitive in Windows 2000 Professional.</li> <li>Select any personalized settings for the account, and then click Next. Click Finish.</li></ol> </li> <li>For all of the computers that are running Windows 95, if the correct, matching user names do not exist: <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> <li>Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.</li> <li>Double-click Passwords.</li> <li>Click the User Profiles tab.</li> <li>Click Users can customize their preferences and desktop settings. Click to select the Include desktop icons and Network Neighborhood contents in user settings and Include Start Menu and Program groups in user settings check boxes. Click OK to save the settings. Restart Windows 95 when you are prompted to do so.</li> <li>When the computer restarts, you are prompted to log on. Type a user name (preferably a one-word name: for example, type JDoe for John Doe) and password. You can also leave the password box blank. The user name and password must be identical on the computer that is running Windows 95 and the computer that is running Windows 2000 Professional.

NOTE: Passwords are case-sensitive in Windows 2000 Professional.</li></ol> </li></ul> </li> <li>After you set up a user name and password on the computer that is running Windows 95 or Windows 98, create the same user name and password on the computer that is running Windows 2000 Professional: <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> <li>Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.</li> <li>Double-click Users and Passwords.</li> <li>Click the Advanced tab. In the Advanced User Management section, click Advanced.</li> <li>Click the Users folder. The current users are displayed in the right pane.</li> <li>On the Action menu, click New User.</li> <li>In the User Name box, type the user name that you created in Windows 95 or Windows 98. Type the same password (the password is case-sensitive) in the Password and Confirm Password boxes, or leave these boxes blank if you left them blank for the Windows 95 or Windows 98 user account.</li> <li>Click to clear the User must change password at next logon check box. You may want to click to select the User cannot change password check box so that users cannot change the passwords at a later time. Click Create.</li> <li>If you receive an error message that indicates that the password does not meet the password policy requirements, click OK, and then make the password longer (use eight characters, and consider also using numbers). After you type a longer password, click Create again. If you modify the password in Windows 2000, you must also modify the password where that password is used in Windows 95 or Windows 98.</li> <li>After you create a user account for each user who logs on to the network from a computer that is running Windows 95 or Windows 98, and then create a user account for the user of the computer that is running Windows 2000 Professional, click Close. Review the user accounts that you created, and then close the Local Users and Groups dialog box. Click OK in the Users and Passwords dialog box to close it.</li></ol> </li></ol>

For typical work, log on to the computer that is running Windows 2000 Professional with a user account that has typical user privileges. Log on to the computer as an administrator only when you are performing specific administrative tasks. This limits the damage that a computer virus can cause under the user account's security permissions.

<div class="status_section">

STATUS
This behavior is by design.

Additional query words: straight win2000hotds kbfaqw2kds

Keywords: kbenv kbnetwork kbprb KB258717

-

[mailto:TECHNET@MICROSOFT.COM Send feedback to Microsoft]

© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.