Win95 takes up to ten minutes to see WinXP machine

Glaanieboy

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I just got a broadband router, with a 4 ports switch. Attchaed there is a Windows XP HE computer and a Windows 95 computer. Internet sharing via the router works with no problems, as soon as one of the machines are booted up, it can go to the internet with full speed. This goes for both machines.
Now I want to share some folders through the switch. I shared one folder on my Windows 95 machine and my Windows XP machine sees it with no problems and the down/upload speed is always around the 10 Mbps (the network card in the W95 machine is a 10 Mbps, so my network is good). The other way around, share a folder on my WXP machine and then browse to it with W95 goes wrong. The first five to ten minutes after booting, Network Neighborhood doesn't see the WXP computer at all, while the connection with the router is still present, since internet still works. In the meanwhile WXP still sees the W95 computer and I can down/upload files from it.

Is this a glitch in Windows 95? I downloaded every W95 update I could find, but I guess a patch for this problem (???) wasn't one of the updates. I haven't got any other computer to test it with, so I am a little stuck on this one.

I first thought it could be my network cards, since the one in W95 is an (on-board) 10 Mbps and the one in WXP is a 10/100 Mbps. I know that network cards take some time to switch from 10 to 100 Mbps, full to half duplex etc., but since the one in W95 is the bottleneck, I assume that I should have problems in WXP, since that network card has to adjust to the slowest one in the network.
My second thought was the router. It has a built-in 10/100 Mbps switch, maybe it's blocking some information, since my WXP machine sends out signals with 100 Mbps and W95 only can receive 10 Mbps. But, why does it work then after 10 minutes with no problems?
My third thought was the user-level sharing. Since WXP is accessed with username X, and W95 is 'accessed' with username Y, that could give problems. W95 logon is set to 'Windows Logon'. This setting couldn't be it, since after 10 minutes everything works fine.
In MS Knowledge Base I couldn't find an answer, also searching other forums didn't come up with a solution.

Summary:
  • Two computers, W95 based with 10 Mbps on-board and WXP based with 10/100 Mbps card.
  • Internet and network on a broadband router with built-in 4 ports switch.
  • Accessing W95 computer from WXP works fine, the other way around can take up to 10 minutes. Internet sharing works like a charm, so nothing wrong with the router.
  • Are my network cards the bottleneck, since W95 computer has a 10 Mbps and WXP computer has a 10/100 Mbps? Wouldn't that give problems at the WXP side, since that card has to switch back?
  • W95 and WXP are both accessed with two different usernames, but also that couldn't be the problem, because after 10 minutes the sharing works ok on both sides.
  • My router just couldn't be the bottleneck because after some time, everything works fine.

Here's a list of my LANsetting:
W95 based Compaq Deskpro with on-board AMD based 10 Mbps network.
WXP based Packard Bell Platinum with Sweex 10/100 Mbps network card.
Internet shared with Jransbridge High Performance Internet Router (Ark SOHO-IS104 Broadband Router 4PSW W/L).
 
got a simple solution. upgrade your win '95 machine to xp. :p

btw, why the hell are you still using that pos os?
 
The Network neighbor hood in windows 9X is unreliable. Just because a computer does not show up in it does not mean that you can't access it. Instead of waiting for network neigborhood to find the other computer/share by itself I suggest right clicking on the network neighborhood icon and choosing search for computer.
 
Originally posted by rettahc
The Network neighbor hood in windows 9X is unreliable. Just because a computer does not show up in it does not mean that you can't access it. Instead of waiting for network neigborhood to find the other computer/share by itself I suggest right clicking on the network neighborhood icon and choosing search for computer.

Guess I have to live with it. Thanks anyway
 
Originally posted by koko
got a simple solution. upgrade your win '95 machine to xp. :p

btw, why the hell are you still using that pos os?

It's a Pentium 120 with 32 MB of RAM and a 1 GB harddisk. That's why. I also thought of linux, but my sister (11 years) is the one that has to use the thing and then I have to use a graphical shell, which is rather difficult with a machine this old.
 
Originally posted by koko
got a simple solution. upgrade your win '95 machine to xp. :p

btw, why the hell are you still using that pos os?

95 is not all bad.I have 3 machines w/xp and 98.One machine w95.That 95 is faster than ANY xp that I have ever seen.And I tweak them all to the max through the registry.

Granted xp is the fastest out of the box.But once the tweakin has begun,xp just dosen't hold a candle to a 9x os. ;)
 
Originally posted by kitct
Granted xp is the fastest out of the box.But once the tweakin has begun,xp just dosen't hold a candle to a 9x os. ;)

Exactly right :)
 
add the NetBIOS and IPX/SPX protocols to the network connection on the Win95 box.

Go into the IPX/SPX protocol settings, and tick the option "Enable NetBIOS over IPX/SPX". Reboot the 95 machine.

Should work fine then :)
 
if you like regular crashes then keep using it

if you think how much xp has improved to 95 (7-8 years)

then youll notice that it is 95 that cant hold the candle
 
Originally posted by koko
got a simple solution. upgrade your win '95 machine to xp. :p

I'm sure it's something even simpler than that. Are you sure you have at least a portion of your XP drive formatted with FAT32 to let Win95/98 see it? Windows can't access an NTFS drive you know:p I bet that's why that pc can't see XP but it works the other way around. Hope that helps
 
Everything works fine now, it seems Network Neighborhood didn't refresh that often, if I type in \\computername\share in the run window, everything works fine.
But, now another problem pops up, Windows 95 locks up when I browse to a folder on my WinXP machine. At first it is very slow to make a list of the files contained in the folder. And then, after a few seconds, the thing just hangs. I learned that when you want to make sure your computer isn't responding at all, just press the Num-Lock key a few times and see if the light changes. The light didn't change, my mouse didn't move at all.
I am gonna try out some of the tips I got from you (making a FAT32 drive, and putting my shares on that drive and enabling IPX/SPX). I will let you know what works and what doesn't.
Understand me correctly, it is difficult to upgrade my machine, since the system specs don't allow it (120 MHz, 32 MB RAM). I can't simply put more RAM in it, since it is an Compaq Deskpro and it only allows Compaq memory. Unix/linux isn't a solution also, since my sister is the one that has to work with it, and I haven't got enough knowledge of Linux to install it in a way that every nitwit knows how it works.
 
Originally posted by kitct But once the tweakin has begun,xp just dosen't hold a candle to a 9x os. ;) [/B]

what the heck are you smoking?

how long does it take before you have to reboot 9x machines? 15....20 minutes?

i've had my winxp pro ftp server up for 5.2 months - zero reboots and running smoothly.

try that with win95 or win98! :p
 
Originally posted by koko
what the heck are you smoking?

how long does it take before you have to reboot 9x machines? 15....20 minutes?

i've had my winxp pro ftp server up for 5.2 months - zero reboots and running smoothly.

try that with win95 or win98! :p

erm... I had a Win98 computer (now upgraded to XP) running accidentaly for 6 weeks with various apps on the background (Seti@home, KaZaA, Winamp, MSN Messenger). No lockups, I had to power down only, because my cheap ass PSU was complaining.
 
holy (*!& 32MB RAM? That might be your problem there:p But seriously though, did you check your file system? Right-click on your XP C drive and if it says NTFS, that's your answer there. Windows 95/98 aren't going to be able to see NTFS. And if it's FAT32, you need Win95 OS2 at least to be updated from the FAT16 format. Looks like it's time to upgrade that Deskpro...:blink:
 
Originally posted by ntguru50
holy (*!& 32MB RAM? That might be your problem there:p But seriously though, did you check your file system? Right-click on your XP C drive and if it says NTFS, that's your answer there. Windows 95/98 aren't going to be able to see NTFS. And if it's FAT32, you need Win95 OS2 at least to be updated from the FAT16 format. Looks like it's time to upgrade that Deskpro...:blink:

Not completely true. Why does Win95 list the files and folders on the WinXP machine? Yes, it does crash but I don't think I can find the problem in the file-system. But I will try it though, Windows does more strange things. I am going to create a FAT32 partition (it is Win95 OSR2, so it must go well) in my WinXP machine and put some files on there, just see what it does.
 
:happy: you're right, I forgot about that. Maybe the the combo of NTFS + Share permissions only give the Win95 box list directory permissions. Anyway, here's what I would also check:

-drop IPX.SPX, you're running tcp/ip, that's all you need.

-Windows file and print sharing should be turned on on the XP box and 95 box. (If you're running XP Pro I think Simple Sharing should be sufficient, but then again I've never used Pro that way!)

-Both PCs should be in the same workgroup.

-use Client for Microsoft Windows to log on, not Windows Logon.

-Manually put in both PCs in host and LMhost files with preloading option #pre.

-And most important, make sure file systems are compatible.

Here's some good links to M$ site that might be relatedFAT16 info

PC Hangs after installing FAT32

Win95/98 doesn't support long file names
I think you're getting closer to the issue
 

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Also Hi EP and people. I found this place again while looking through a oooollllllldddd backup. I have filled over 10TB and was looking at my collection of antiques. Any bids on the 500Mhz Win 95 fix?
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