0

I'm looking for generic tips/info on why Windows Explorer would fail to access network locations.

  • A Windows 7 PC can access a network location in another server (unknown OS and sharing network protocol, but most likey Windows SMB), it's even mapped to a drive letter.
  • Some specific programs are run on the Win7 PC (which involve some open/close of UDP and TCP sockets to a Ethernet over USB device that's added to the network, not sure if the USB device is relevant but it's connected to the PC, and assigned a MAC/IP address during this process).
  • After that, the Win7 PC can't access the network location anymore. It can ping the server, RDP to the server, and connect to the internet through the server, but not access the network location.

I don't have other details on the network configuration and setup, or what error message is shown.

I don't have access to the affected PC at the moment, but I'm hoping there are commands or specific entries in the Event Viewer, either in the Win7 PC or in the server, that could be useful to know why it's failing to connect.

  • Any commands to diagnose these issues?
  • Any interesting types of events to check, or how to search for them?
  • Any way I can get a complete configuration snapshot before the programs run, so I can get another snapshot afterwards and see if something in the local configuration of the PC changed?
  • Any particular system calls or networks packets that I should watch out for during the program's execution, that could help me diagnose this? Any better alternatives to Message Analyzer or Wireshark for this?
  • Any other idea why adding this device or running this programs could change something in the network? It seems to happen even after just one run, so I don't suppose we'd be running out of new IP addresses?
ArthurChamz
  • 101
  • 3
  • Hi, can you check the remote server event log please too, and please state why you use a dongle, are you multihomed on the same network ?, thanks – yagmoth555 Feb 20 '19 at 17:47
  • Hello @yagmoth555, what do you mean by dongle? Also, what kind of events should I be looking for? – ArthurChamz Feb 20 '19 at 17:49
  • By dongle I mean the usb adaptor for the network, I ask myself why you have to use one, as usually each computer already got a network adaptor. For the eventlog it's more to check if some error are stated, or if in the antivirus you have a log that the remote computer was blocked in example – yagmoth555 Feb 20 '19 at 17:52
  • The USB device isn't a adaptor to enable networking to the PC. It's an embedded device with an OS that connects to the PC via Ethernet over USB. We program this device when we run the programs, so this device gets assigned an IP address, but only for the USB connection (i.e. it's not an IP visible outside of the USB connection). I'm not sure how they connect from the PC to the server, I'm guessing it's via Ethernet and a regular RJ-45, or WiFi. – ArthurChamz Feb 20 '19 at 17:58
  • Ok, I understand now, then please try a **route print** before plugging the device, and try after, to see if the device changed your routing table inside the Windows 7 – yagmoth555 Feb 20 '19 at 18:01
  • Thanks, I'll try that when we've got access to the PC. – ArthurChamz Feb 20 '19 at 18:06

0 Answers0