NT4 Network Neighborhood

The "Network Neighborhood" on an NT-system works
very similar as on a Windows95 system, except that
is handled the higher security of NT (usernames).

It is based on the Browse-Master concept
(because for Microsoft, NT is superior to Windows95/98,
so on a network with both NT and Windows9x systems,
the NT-systems will always "win" the Browse-master election)

If a system is NOT displayed , you need to do some troubleshooting,
but it could also be that an NT-system has been hidden (to NOT be displayed
in the Network Neighborhood)

The dialog for mapping a network drive has is similar to Windows95,
but allows in addition to define a different username.

If the Share is not protected by a password or if your Username (and password)
matches the permissions for the share, you have access, otherwise you will
be prompted for a valid username and password:

If you are connecting to a Windows95/98 share, which is protected with
an access-password:

then define in the NT-mapping dialogbox as username "guest"
(it really does not matter, any name should work) and as password
the proper access-password

This message indicated, that the requested system is not accessible, in most
case it simply means: it has been switched off !

Once a network drive is mapped with the option to "Reconnect at logon", it could
cause an error message to be displayed on restart/relogon if the system sharing is not
available.

If a share is not accessible with the error message: "The device is not ready",
then it could be a removable drive ( like a Floppy disk, CD-ROM , ZIP-drive,
Jazz-drive or any other removable media ) , where the media is missing
(it could also be a Ghost-share)

That is now on the negative points of the Microsoft Network Neighborhood:
It can take up to 12 minutes, before a new system is displayed after switching
it on, and it can take even 3 times longer, before a switch-off system disappears
from the Network-Neighborhood.

A solution: a modification in the NT-registry using the key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer
under "Parameters", create a new key "Announce" as DWORD-value:

The value is in seconds, and to avoid a high network-load due to too many
broadcast-announcing messages, 60 seconds seems to be a good choice
(original source of the information on this registry-key: PC Professional 10/98)