[jawfin]

Ok, my issues

1. Find Computers via Ctrl + WindowsFlagKey + F gives me the error "The Active Directory Domain Services is currently unavailable."

2. I have a 2 PC LAN here, with mapped network drives to my other PC. They won't open even though I know the network is good because I can use UltraVNC to the other box. Ditto with UNC - I can't open \\jonathan-pc\c (and yes that is the correct share!)

I'm sure this is really the same issue. I don't want/need Active Directories - I just want to access my HDDs on my other PC.

My network is 2 PCs with my modem/hub as my DHCP name server (set IPs to MACs though) - is a class A network in the range of 10.1.1.1 (modem) 10.1.1.2 (me here) 10.1.1.3 (my other PC)

[Melissa]

Like a lot of these Chantelle would be far better to think of an issue here than me but she isnt going to be around for a while

Ill have a go tho

AD is a windows server centralised database.. odd that you get that message , is or was one of the computers registered or joined to a domain?

The vnc is probably a red herring since thats using ip address on third party.

Are both Pcs on a workgroup? Do they both contain personal firewalls and importantly are both IP subets allowed free range i.e 10.0.0.0/8

Can you ping the other PC and can you browse using \\10.1.1.3\c$

Also check that both systems are set to allow file sharing and are visible on the network

[jawfin]

Thanks for getting back to me Melissa

OK, it was my fault, my other computer was booting up to an older Operating System that was on another drive - so I've got my shares/network drives back etc

The network has no domain, just modem assigned IPs as its my DHCP server - and I was VNCing directly through the LAN to 10.1.1.3


So, my initial problem 1 still remains, Find Computers yields "The Active Directory Domain Services is currently unavailable" still.

[Melissa]

Don't understand the reason why its still looking for An active directory network.

can you manually browse your mapped drives or manually connect to the other pc? or even manually find it from control panel..



I ran the AD error in Expertsexchange and the results were a bit mixed..

Have you got or had issues with a wifi printer by any chance?

[jawfin]

Lets see, I can manually add drives and browse them etc, via UNC and "net use z: \\jonathan-pc\c" etc

Never had a wifi printer

But here's the odd thing, my old PC was also running Vista - and it also gives the same error with "Find Computers" >< But as I know my computer names and IPs and share names, i dont actually need the Find Computer - but it is odd !

[Melissa]

yeah I never use it either, I couldn't check it now because I am on a domain here so it comes up with active directory anyway.

If you keep your maps reconnecting whether on the script or windows you shouldnt have issue anyway.

[jawfin]

Heh, and I do

I really only use it for phone support - like if a person has lost a mapped drive (and I don't know what their computers names / IP ranges are) I use Find Computers to locate their file server, click on it, and Right Click the share for Map Network Drive. My software is Peer-to-peer and runs on mapped drives

[Darfin]

Jawfin asking for help !

[jawfin]

Never said I was proud

[Dirge]

Id love to help if i could.
Peer to Peer Software? to your networked computers? never heard of that.
Have you tried accessing computer management, or maybe theres something missing in your network not telling your network the primary domain for your network? prehaps im wrong. networking isnt really my thing. hardware is, lol.

PS: Chantelle would know, BIG TIME
PS 2:All i got setup is a basic Network for sharing files in my home, good luck Jawfeh

[Melissa]

Id love to help if i could.
Peer to Peer Software? to your networked computers? never heard of that.
Have you tried accessing computer management, or maybe theres something missing in your network not telling your network the primary domain for your network? prehaps im wrong. networking isnt really my thing. hardware is, lol.

PS: Chantelle would know, BIG TIME
PS 2:All i got setup is a basic Network for sharing files in my home, good luck Jawfeh

UT in fairness thats all I think there is, a mini home sized network.. one switch connected to a router or just a router with the switch also.. and two nodes

The thing that throws up confusion is Active Directory.. To have that you’d need not only just a dedicated windows server, but a domain controller at that.. configured structured and registering the nodes etc..

So of course the error message is way off the mark. However it appears alot of people have this issue and it seems to come from locating or finding printers or nodes on the network.

So its probably a known issue. But there are work arounds

By the way a few things to also try


1) Go START | Network to see if you can browse and discover nodes that way
2) Check both machines are on the same workgroup.
3) Maybe upgrade to SP2 on vista.

[jawfin]

Yea, I saw most ppl that got this error was with regard to printers - but that isn't my case

So
1) Start / Network <---- works, i can see my 2 PC's and my modemrouter

2) Both PC's are in the same workgroup, cleverly called "workgroup"

3) All patches applied on both OS's

My AD error comes up instantly, that is as the window is opened. Once I click OK it closes the search window too. It doesn't seem to be affecting anything now - so its more of a curiosity then anything


And UT - if you want to know how my software works, or any client to client networked database for that matter (I use a RDBMS called Paradox) then ask!

[Chantelle]

For right or wrong; Ctrl+Win+F is now a search for devices on a domain.

The snap-in which appears before disappearing is actually an AD search tool. The printer query would be because AD can see network Printer nodes and shared nodes or a PC may be a container for shared objects. Therefore it will search all in teh directory since the directory essentially contains all objects including users, groups, OUs etc.

I assume MS decided to go down this route since it appears in Win7 also.

personally I don't think messages mentioning AD should be reaching an end user on a home network. But it is what it is.

As you can see though, using a normal browse is fine enough whether on a network tool or UNC to C$