Windows 7 unusal network map/bandwidth issues

[parishpete]

I have 2 W7 PC's; the good one and the bad one!

Let me say at the outset that on both my bios & all my drivers are up to date! I have yet to establish a cause but the bad W7 crashes around start up 3 times per week on average. I suspect that 1 of the two 500Gb RAID discs is the culprit and will bin them when W7 dies again.

the good W7 PC behaves perfectly!

I have two W7 PC's wired to a router. Though not identical they run similar software and are networked along with an XP laptop & a Vista Laptop. No Homegroup.

The good W7 and the laptops can achieve a bandwidth up to 5Mb/s The bad one is always 0.5 to 0.75 less for which I could see no reason. both W7's have identical settings.

I allowed both to create a full network map (never done it before) The good machine is shown connected direct to the gateway and then to the net (as it should be) On that map the other PC "cannot be placed".

The map on the bad machine shows it connected to an unknown device which is then connected to the good PC and so on to the net (which is a nonsense). Both machines connect independantly to the net and neither relies upon the other to be on.

When the good machine is powered off no network map can be drawn on the bad machine. It does still have net access though the bandwidth doesn't change for better or worse.

Apart from the fact that the bad machine has an ESATA drive connected with a fixed drive letter so that MSsynctoy can write to it from both machines, there is no significant difference.

Apart from re-installing W7 (again) any thoughts anyone?

thanks

Pete

 

[Trouble]

parishpete:
Hello and welcome to the forum
If as I suspect the problem may have something to do with browser elections you may first want to try shutting down all computers on the network and then bring the "bad machine" up first, logon and make sure the desktop is completely loaded then bring up the other machines XP last. In some cases where an XP or even a Vista machine becomes the browse master on the network sometimes Win7 machines that are subsequently brought up on the network are unable to win browser elections and for some reason have trouble retrieving a network list (resources available) from a down level master browser. You may be able to find some references to this in the event viewer on the bad machine regarding browser elections. In any case;
On the bad machine
type services.msc into the search bar and hit enter
check the following and make sure they are started, you may even want to double click them and set the startup type to automatic.
Computer Browser
Network Connections
Network List Service
Network Location Awareness
Network Store Interface Service and
SSDP
The SSDP service is responsible for some UPnP device discovery and assuming that your router is UPnP enable it may help in resolving the network map issue.
The band width issue may be something else entirely. Are you saying that the bad machine is only performing at half or one quarter the bandwidth of the other machine. If so try changing the speed and duplex of the network adapter manually, maybe use 100 half and see if that makes a difference.

 

[parishpete]

Many thanks Randy,

Computer Browser & Network Connections now auto the rest were already auto.

Network maps all spot on

Bandwidth still lower on the bad boy but at least another possibilty is eliminated.

Event viewer has shown me that the trouble at start up is Kernal Power event ID 41 Task category 63. There are pages and pages of that one error. There are also disc and RAID errors but they could be cause or effect.

What does the kernal power signify?

many thanks

Pete

 

[parishpete]

I meant to add bandwith only 0.5 Mb/s lower i.e. 3.5 compared to 4.

Pete

 

[Trouble]

You mentioned in your OP that you have been experiencing some crashes with the "bad machine". Perhaps start a thread in our BSOD sub-forum and include your mini-dumps. Read this regarding asking for help with crashes Link Removed
that forum is watched over by some serious wizards at resolving crash issues and as you know from googling that error it can be a result of anything from third party software to sound card drivers so maybe give our other guys a chance to help with that.
As far as the band width issue, it doesn't seem like a lot or need for major concern, I would only suggest that you examine closely your Cat5 cabling end to end and remake, repurchase, swap, recrimp ends, etc. UTP (unshielded twisted pair) cable is suceptable to outside interference so make sure that the run is not near or across, florescent lights, fan motors, AC/DC converters and such.

 

[parishpete]

Thanks Randy,

I'll carry out a few more checks on the cabling and repost my BSOD issues properly

regards

Pete