The procedure for starting the Networking Troubleshooter depends on which version of Windows you are using:
⻬ For Windows XP, choose Start➪Help and Support➪Networking and the Web➪Fixing Network or Web problems; then click Home and
Small Office Networking Troubleshooter. ⻬ For Windows 98, click the Start button; then choose Help➪
Troubleshooting➪Windows 98 Troubleshooters, and finally click Networking.
⻬ For Windows Me, choose Start➪Help➪Troubleshooting➪ Home Networking Network Problems. Finally, click Home
Networking Troubleshooter. Windows 95 also came with a network troubleshooter, but it was not as
thorough.
Time to Experiment
If you can’t find some obvious explanation for your troubles — for example, the computer is unplugged — you need to do some experimenting to narrow
down the possibilities. Design your experiments to answer one basic ques- tion: Is this a network problem or a local computer problem?
Figure 17-1:
The Windows XP
Networking Trouble-
shooter.
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Here are some ways you can narrow down the cause of the problem: ⻬ Try performing the same operation on someone else’s computer. If no
one on the network can access a network drive or printer, something is probably wrong with the network. On the other hand, if the error occurs
on only one computer, the problem is likely with that computer. The wayward computer may not be reliably communicating with the net-
work, may not be configured properly for the network, or the problem may have nothing to do with the network at all.
⻬ If you can perform the operation on another computer without prob- lems, try logging on to the network with another computer using your
own username. Then see whether you can perform the operation with- out error. If you can, the problem is probably on your computer. If you
can’t, the problem may be with the way your user account is configured.
⻬ If you can’t log on at another computer, try waiting for a bit. Your account may be temporarily locked out. This can happen for a variety
of reasons — the most common of which is trying to log on with the wrong password several times in a row. If you’re still locked out an
hour later, call the network administrator and offer a doughnut to soften the bad news.
Who’s on First?
When troubleshooting a networking problem, it is often useful to find out who is actually logged on to a network server. For example, if a user is unable to
access a file on the server, you can check to see whether the user is logged on. If so, you’ll know that the user’s account is valid, but the user may not have
permission to access the particular file or folder that he or she is attempting to access. On the other hand, if the user is not logged on, the problem may lie
with the account itself or with the way the user is attempting to connect to the server.
It’s also useful to find out who’s logged on in the event that you need to restart the server. For more information about restarting a server, see the
section, “How to Restart a Network Server” later in this chapter.
The exact procedure of checking who is logged on depends on which server operating system you’re using. The following paragraphs describe how to
find out who’s logged on to Windows NT 4 Server, Windows 2000 Server, or Windows Server 2003.
⻬ For Windows NT 4 Server, choose Start➪Program Files➪Administrative Tools➪Server Manager. Double-click the server in the list of available
servers, and then click the Users button. This brings up the dialog box shown in Figure 17-2.
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⻬ For Windows 2000 Server, right-click the My Computer icon on the desk- top and pick Manage from the menu that appears. This brings up the
Computer Management window. Open System Tools in the tree list, and then open Shared Folders and select Sessions. A list of users who are
logged on appears.
⻬ For Windows Server 2003, you can bring up the Computer Management window by choosing Start➪Administrative Tools➪Computer
Management. You can immediately disconnect all users in Windows NT Server by clicking
Disconnect All. In Windows 2000 Server or Windows Server 2003, right-click Sessions in the Computer Management window and choose All Tasks➪
Disconnect All.
How to Restart a Client Computer
Sometimes trouble gets a computer so tied up in knots that the only thing you can do is reboot. In some cases, the computer just starts acting weird.
Strange characters appear on the screen, or Windows goes haywire and won’t let you exit a program. Sometimes the computer gets so confused
that it can’t even move. It just sits there, like a deer staring at oncoming headlights. It won’t move, no matter how hard you press the Esc key or the
Enter key. You can move the mouse all over your desktop, even throw it across the room, but the mouse pointer on-screen stays perfectly still.
When a computer starts acting strange, you need to reboot. If you must reboot, you should do so as cleanly as possible. I know this procedure may
seem elementary, but the technique for safely restarting a client computer is worth repeating, even if it is basic:
Figure 17-2:
Who’s on a Windows
NT server.
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