Can't Browse to W2K/SQL Server

[Nigel_Tufnel]

I've got a W2K server (SP4) running MS SQL Server (SP3). The server has been joined to the domain and I can connect to it with Enterprise Manager and the database applications that I've developed. I can also ping the server by name or IP address. What I *can't* do is browse to it in My Network Places. I've enabled File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks but can't browse to the folder from another computer. However, if I'm working from the server's console, I can browse the rest of the network.

My guess here is that some hotfix or service pack has disabled the service that lets people browse to this server. I tried doing:
NET CONFIG SERVER /HIDDEN:NO
but that didn't help. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

 

[godai73]

If you are able to ping the server by IP and name, can you try to manually map to the server? Can you also do a search for the computer using the Find/Search option under the Start Menu? Does your user account have permission to access the server?

 

[Nigel_Tufnel]

godai73 - thanks a lot for your time and thoughts on this issue. To answer your questions:

"can you try to manually map to the server?"
No - I get "the network path '\\servername' could not be found".

"Can you also do a search for the computer using the Find/Search option under the Start Menu?"
No luck.

"Does your user account have permission to access the server?"
Yes, I'm in the Administrator group. It's just a matter of browsing through My Network Places. I can connect via Enterprise Manager, Terminal Services, through web pages, etc., just not through My Network Places. This hasn't been a big deal until recently. My new backup software requires that I browse to the server through My Network Places and won't let me just enter the server name or IP address.

 

[killians45]

how is the drive mapped? \\servername\c$?

btw, what ver of SQL

 

[Nigel_Tufnel]

I was trying to map the drive like:
\\servername\directoryname
since that format works on other servers. However, that's not really the problem. The problem is that the server isn't showing up in My Network Places.

I'm running MS SQL 2000 sp3.

Thanks for your time, killians45. Any idea how to get the server to start advertising itself to the rest of the network?

 

[HoLoCroN]

Are you using WINS in your domain? Usually when you get the "the network path '\\servername' could not be found" message it is WINS related.

 

[Nigel_Tufnel]

HoLoCroN - thanks for the suggestion. I think you're right but here's the catch: We are running WINS and I've entered the correct WINS info on the server. The network admin (i'm the dba) has looked at my server and can't find anything wrong but still insists that the network is configured fine in terms of how WINS is configured. Do you have any suggestions for how I can proceed to trouble-shoot WINS?

 

[godai73]

I do not know if this will work or not, but will editing the LMHOST file help? I figure I throw out all options and you can try it.

 

[Nigel_Tufnel]

godai73 - yeah, good call. I'm sure that will work since I can ping either by IP# or server name. Maybe updating LMHOST is just what I should do on the backup server. I was hoping to solve the real problem with the server or network but maybe all I can do is treat the symptom but creating an LMHOST entry on the backup server. Especially since the network admin is the only one with access to the WINS server... alas...

 

[Nigel_Tufnel]

actually, editing the LMHOSTS file didn't do it...