JSI Tip 8272. How do I troubleshoot missing computers in My Network Places?

Your domain member computer has computers missing when you open My Network Places. You can ping these computers by name and IP address.

To troubleshoot this issue:

1. Insure that NetBIOS over TCP/IP is enabled on your LAN network adapter:

2. Check that the Computer Browser service is running, and is set to Automatic:

3. Check that the TCP/IP NetBIOS helper service is running and is set to Automatic:

NOTE: If you wish to quickly check to see if the Computer Browser and TCP/IP NetBIOS helper services are running, and set them to automatically start when you restart your computer, run the following BFix.bat file, which uses information from tip 0324, and REG.EXE, either built into Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and newer, or from the Windows 2000 Support Tools. REG.EXE must be located in a folder that is in your PATH:

@echo offsetlocalfor /f "Tokens=*" %%a in ('net start^|findstr /i /L /c:"Computer Browser" /c:"TCP/IP NetBIOS helper"') do ( @echo %%a is started.)call :quiet>nul 2>&1endlocalgoto :EOF:quietreg add "HKLMSystemCurrentControlSetServicesBrowser" /v Start /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /freg add "HKLMSystemCurrentControlSetServicesLmHosts" /v Start /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f

NOTES: See the following:

Q188305 -Troubleshooting the Microsoft Computer Browser Service.

How do I statically map a computer in My Network Places?.