hello i think this might be a networking problem as you say you have more than one computer and if they are networked you could be have ing a problem there too Name: Juneau Date: February 20, 2002 at 05:59:23 Pacific Subject: Windows ME networking problem Reply: 90% of the time this happens with Windows ME, this is the fix: If you click on My Network Places, and then double-click on Entire Network and get the error "Cannot browse network", then do the following steps: 1) On the computer that will be on most often, Click on Control Panel, double-click the Network icon, double-click File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks, and where it says Browse Master, set it to enabled. 2) On all the other PC's on the LAN, set the above setting to DISABLED, so that only ONE PC is running with Browse Master ENABLED. Are you running any firewall software? Also, check this out: Fix peer-to-peer network problems in Windows Millennium 1) The first rule is to follow each of these steps. Do not skip any for ANY reason. 2) If you are connecting one computer directly to another (without using a hub, switch or router) using a single cable, you MUST use a Cross-Over cable. You can NOT use a regular Ethernet cable. 3) Download and install the networking patch (whether you think you need it or not, it won't hurt anything) from Microsoft at http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q272/9/91.ASP 4) Go into your Control Panel and double-click on the Network icon. Make sure you have the following items installed: A) Client for Microsoft Networks B) Your Network adapter C) TCP/IP D) IPX/SPX E) File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks 5) Double-click on Client for Microsoft Networks. Make sure "Log on to Windows NT domain" does NOT have a check in the box next to it. Select "Logon and restore network connections". Click OK. 6) Double-click on your network adapter, and click the BINDINGS tab. Make sure both TCP/IP and IPX/SPX are listed and both are CHECKED. Click OK. 7) Double click on TCP/IP, and click on the tab that says BINDINGS and un-check File and Printer Sharing. Click on the tab that says ADVANCED, and where it says Allow Binding to ATM, make sure the value is NO. Ensure there is a check in the box at the bottom of the window that says "Set this protocol to be the default protocol". Click OK. 8) Double-click on IPX/SPX and, on the NetBIOS tab, make sure it is UN-checked where it says "I want to enable NetBIOS over IPX/SPX". Click on the Bindings tab and make sure that Client for Microsoft Networks and File and printer sharing BOTH ARE checked. Then click OK. 9) Double-click on File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks. Click once on Browse Master and make sure it's value is set to Automatic. Click once on LM Announce and make sure it's value is set to NO. Click OK. 10) Below the ADD button, you'll see a line that says "Primary Network Logon", click the down arrow in the window below that and select "Windows Logon". 11) Below that is a button that says "File and Print Sharing.", click it once. Make sure that "I want to be able to give others access to my files" is checked and "I want to be able to allow others to print to my printer(s)" is also checked. Click OK. 1 2) Click on the IDENTIFICATION tab and change your workgroup name to WORKGROUP (please use all capitol letters, the workgroup name can be case-sensitive on some PCs). 13) Click on the Access Control tab and make sure that Share-level access control IS selected. 14) After you have re-booted, make sure that you select what resources you want to share on each PC. To share the C: drive, double-click the My Computer icon, Right click on the C: drive, click on the 'Sharing' tab and select SHARED AS and then click OK. Repeat this process for sharing Printers (right click on the printer you want to share), or individual directories (right click on the yellow folder you wish to share). Optional password protection can be found here as well. 15) Make sure you do steps 2 through 12 on all Win95 and Win98 PC's on your network as well. 16) When you re-boot, you should be able to double-click My Network Place, then Double-click Entire Network and click VIEW THE ENTIRE CONTENTS OF THIS FOLDER (on the left side of the window). If the left side says HIDE THE CONTENTS OF THIS FOLDER, then you did it right. You should see the name WORKGROUP here, this should NOT be an empty window. 17) Click Tools, click Folder Options and click on the View tab. Make sure that 'Automatically search for network folders and printers' IS checked. If it is not, select it and click Apply. Next, click OK. 18) Close all windows. 19) Click Start, click Run and type REGEDIT and hit enter. 20) Click the "+" symbol next to Hkey_Current_User, click the "+" symbol next to Software, click the "+" symbol next to Microsoft, click the "+" symbol next to Windows, click the "+" symbol next to Current Version, click the "+" symbol next to Explorer, click the "+" symbol next to NetCrawl and then click on the yellow folder next to Printers. 21) Select each item listed in the window to the right, by clicking once on it, and then press the delete button. DO NOT REMOVE THE FIRST ITEM LABELED "(DEFAULT) Value Not Set". Repeat this process until the window on the right is empty except for "(Default) value not set". 22) Next, just below the yellow 'Printers' folder, you should see another yellow folder labeled "Shares", click once on the yellow folder. 23) Repeat step 19. 24) Click Registry (at the top of the window) and Click Exit. 25) Re-boot the PC. 26) The network should now work. I have tried this method with Intel Pentium, Pentium II, Pentium III, AMD k6-2, k6-3 and Athlon Thunderbird processors all combined on the same network running Windows ME, Windows 98se and a mix and match of network cards from Netgear, Dlink, SMC, Realtek, LinkSys, Soho, and Xircom and this process worked flawlessly so that all of the above computers running different versions of windows, having different hardware, on a peer-to-peer network could see each other just fine. 27) If you click on My Network Places, and then double-click on Entire Network and get the error "Cannot browse network", then do the following steps: 28) On the computer that will be on most often, Click on Control Panel, double-click the Network icon, double-click File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks, and where it says Browse Master, set it to enabled. 29) On all the other PC's on the LAN, set the above setting to DISABLED, so that only ONE PC is running with Browse Master ENABLED. 30) If you are getting a SCRIPT ERROR when you double-click My Network Places, then you must have Tweak UI installed and configured it to replace the first icon that appears on the screen. Change this option back to it's default setting, which should be My Documents. 31) If you cannot see the other computers in the network neighborhood, but you can do a Search and find them (and you are able to ping them) try this: The problem might be that during the set up of Home Networking Wizard, Microsoft somehow names your Workgroup to be "Mshome" (the default value) EVEN THOUGH you have specified your own name. Here is the fix: - Start -> Run -> regedit - Find "Mshome" (which should be in My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\VNETSUP) - Right click on Workgroup (on the right hand panel) -> Modify - Change the "Value Data" to whatever your Workgroup Name is. If you are experiencing open windows of networked resources, this can be caused by Norton Internet Security software. Please see this link for more info: http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/nip.nsf/docid/2000040412261536&src=w Also, you can delete the offending drive letters in the contents of this registry setting. It should help: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MountPo ints\_WantUI (please note: the last part of the key may have a different name on your PC, but whatever that first yellow folder is called, check it's contents. Remove the drive letters you don't want to see. And please remember to back up your registry before modifying it!) 32) If this process does not work for you, make sure you have loaded the latest drivers for your network card, make sure your network settings are exactly as I described above to the last detail, try changing the slot the network card is plugged into on the motherboard, make sure your cables are good, make sure your hub or switch or router is working, and replace your network card as a last resort. 33) As a side note: The Netgear FA310tx PCI Network Interface Card is detected by Windows ME as an LNE card, which will not work properly. As long as this card is plugged into your LAN, no computers will be able to browse the network until you install the driver from Netgear for their card. Report Offensive Follow Up For Removal jhave a nice day

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Connie if that does not work, I got tired of using MSN's Internet Access Program, kept getting trayclint error,then I upgraded to a newer MSN Internet Access & when I was downloading a large file, it disconnected me for idle time, and could not set it not to disconnect,@@@@@@@ so I made my own Connection, I know yours should work the way your other ones work, but if you can't get it to work,all you need to know is your ISP ID which mine is MSN/xxxxxxxxxx and the phone number with area code of where you always dial up its real simple and I love this connection because there is no program that keeps getting goofed up and it always connects in a shorter time..........If you are interested post here and I can tell you, although you seem pretty informed you probably alread know.. I would not reinstall yet, When I had a lot of Compaq stuff on my computer, there was Compaq quick connect, Compaq ie5, Compaq support, Compaq Internet connection,Compaq System online Diagnoise, and when I went to connect with my isp all of these things slowed me down and got errors sometimes, maybe you have too many connections to sign on ??if Dell has all these extras...like Compaq does?

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Connie, just another thought, if you are tired of this and computer is still under warranty, call dell out again, you know the Modem you had replace, could also be bad one time I got a scanner and had to take back (2) of them the (3) one worked, and if Dell does replace Modem this time try to call several times while they are there. Sue and Good Luck I know how frustrating this can be.

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Thanks everyone for helping me. Our computers in the house are not networked. I installed MSN Messenger awhile back. I noticed that it took over and trys to turn itself on from time to time. Could Messenger be causing all my problems? I'm going to work on the different things that you all have suggested. If nothing helps, a third call to Dell will be done.

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If you can connect by simply creating your own dial up, you are better off. Some dial ups up force you to use their software. I was having the same prob as you and I just reinstalled. BUT make sure you have every little bit out because I found strays after with a search so I was ending up with dirty installs. CC

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