byron,
How is your lan setup -
* how many pcs
* what os are they running
* Are you mixing 98 & 2k at the same time?
* how are they networked together
* how often are they turned on and off - or restarted?
If all your pcs are running win2k pro and you are worried about the browser elections then you can hard code each pc to NOT be a browse master and select one to be THE ONLY browse master - but i wouldnt go there yet. The more often machines on your lan are turned off and restarted, the more elections that will take place. Try to allow the network a few minutes to settle before you start troubleshooting - especially after just switching on your pc.
* Can you ping each machine from the command line and can they ping you back?
* if you can ping each machine by ip address but NOT by host names, - you must set up LMHOSTS - **THIS IS IMPORTANT** - it will save you a lot of hassle to spend ten minutes setting it up.
* If you can ping a machine by ip address, and then you have succesfully set up LMHOSTS AND restarted the pc, type this at the command line to make sure you can access the remote pc over the lan.
net use * \\<put remote machine name here>\c$ /USER:<put username with rights on remote machine here> *<put users password here>
For example - would look like this:
net use * \\mymachine\c$ /USER:administrator *Password
This will allow you to map to the hidden share C on the remote pc 'mymachine', using the username 'administrator' and password 'password'.
NT will return something like drive F is now connected or something.
Then at the command line, you will be able to CD to that drive letter.
Try this with all your pcs, back and forth. If that works then your network is working fine and the only problem your having is host name to ip address resolution. If you set up LMHOSTS on your pcs, and allow a little time for your pcs to refresh thier lists each time you turn one on, than that will sort that out. .....I hope!!! ;-)
Anyway, i may be mistaken here and there, but this will mostly work. But it would be useful to know what your setup is and how you want to use this - is it mostly for internet connection sharing or do you actually often share docs over your lan?
Anyway let me know if this all works...
Cheers
Steelo