Two of my computer systems run WindowsMe and a third, older machine, runs Windows 95. All three computers are networked together. I can do IP pings between all the PCs and I can access any shareable folders from any of the three PCs to any shareable resource. However, the ‘Entire Network’ browser doesn’t work on one machine. When I open ‘Network Neighbourhood’ on the Windows 95 machine, all three machines are visible in the window. When I open ‘Entire Network’ I see the network icon labelled with my workgroup name. On one of the WindowsMe machines (being used as the ICS server), when ‘My Network Places’ is opened and then ‘Entire Network’, I also see the network icon labelled with my workgroup and, on opening the network icon, all three computers can be seen. However, on the second WindowsMe machine when I open ‘My Network Places’ then ‘Entire network’ sometimes the machine displays a message saying the network cannot be browsed and on other occasions ‘0 Objects’ is at the bottom of the ‘Entire Network’ window. Any ideas what causes this ?

There are a number of things we can try in order to solve your problem. Firstly, disable all internet security and firewall applications (if any - e.g, ZoneAlarm) on the problem computer as these can cause problems if incorrectly configured while running on a network. Secondly, on the problem computer, go into the network properties and ensure that the workgroup name is correct and there are no spaces before, during, or after the name. Thirdly, make sure that the problem computer is running ‘File and Print Sharing for Microsoft Networks’ otherwise the computer will not appear in the browse list. If you need to install this feature you will need to be patient as, after the installation, it can take up to 15 minutes before the computer appears in the browse list.

A fourth option is to try to manually set the Browse Master computer on the network. The Browse Master computer keeps tabs on all of the information on the network. So, when you go into ‘Network Neighbourhood’ you are asking the Browse Master to feed your computer the network information. If the Browse Master setting is ‘Automatic’ then you may get the error, as the computers are trying to sort out between themselves who will be the Browse Master. If you manually set the Browse Master computer, you must set it to be the system most frequently on, as all the ’slave computers’ rely on that computer. These instructions are for Windows 95 and may differ from procedures for WindowsMe. Go into the ‘Network’ control panel and open the properties for ‘File and Printer Sharing’. Under the ‘Property’ heading, click ‘Browse Master’ and note down the current setting before changing this to either ‘Enabled’ (for the computer you wish to be Browse Master) or ‘Disabled’ (for the two computers you wish not be browse master). If this creates more problems than it solves, then go back to the original setting that you noted down. Also, if this does not solve the problem, I suggest you go back to the original setting.

You should be able to access the other computers by going to the ‘Start’ menu > ‘Search’ > ‘Files and Folders’ and then search for the computers. If they are found, right-click on the computer’s name and select ‘Explore’. This may or may not fix the problem by displaying the workgroup in ‘Entire Network’ but you should at least be able to access the contents of the other computers. If none of this works, then the problem could be down to a known bug in WindowsMe. Have a look at the article support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q272/9/91.ASP in Microsoft Knowledge Base.