My computers can not see anything in Network Neighborhood
Network Issues

Sometimes Windows is unable to browse Network Neighborhood. It will not show any computers under Entire Network including itself. I have only seen this occur if you use Windows 95, 98, or ME, however it may occur with Windows NT, 2k, or XP as well.

If you have several (two or more) computers on a small LAN, but you do not have a DNS server, you may not be able to browse Network Neighborhood (My Network Places on Millenium, 2000 and XP). Windows 98 and newer operating systems have a section labeled troubleshooter in the Help files. You can get to these troubleshooting steps by clicking Start\Help and going to the Index tab. Type Troubleshooters and select LAN.

Make sure that all of the computers have the same network protocols installed. This is important, because Windwos 95 installs IPX/SPX by default, but Windows 98 and newer install TCP/IP by default instead. If you have tried all of the steps in the troubleshooter, and still can not resolve the issue, the following steps may resolve the issue for you.

For Windows 95, 98, and ME

  • Right-click "Network Neighborhood" or "My Network Places" and choose Properties, or open the Control Panel and select Network
  • Select the Identification tab and make a note of the Workgroup and Computer Name
    Screenshot of Network Identification tab
  • Select the Configuration tab
    Screenshot of the Network Configuration tab after selecting TCP/IP for the Network Adapter
  • Scroll down to TCP/IP for your network card. If you only have one Network Adapter installed, you will only have one entry labeled TCP/IP, however if you have more than one adapter including the Dial-up Adapter, AOL adapter, etc. you will have a TCP/IP for each adapter next to the Adapter name. The picture above has TCP/IP selected for a 3COM Network Interface Card (NIC), and also shows that a Dial-Up Adapter is installed, therefore there are two entries for TCP/IP.
  • Select the appropriate TCP/IP entry and click the Properties button
  • Select the DNS Configuration tab and enter the Computer name in the Host Field, and the Workgroup in the Domain field
    The DNS Configuration tab of the TCP/IP properties
  • Click the Ok buttons all the way back out of the Network properties and restart your computer If you have more than one computer that has this problem, you will need to do this for each computer. Make sure that the Workgroup or Domain name for all computers is the same.

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