Suddenly cannot access network drive

For at least 2 years I have been able to access the C drive on my main
computer from the other 2 computers in my home network (one wireless,
one ethernet). Suddenly, I get a message listing the IP address
\sharename of the drive and aying that the network path was not found.


I have done an IPCONFIG /ALL on the base computer and verified that
the IP address has not changed (it is a static IP). I also verified
that Microsoft File Sharing is still installed in the LAN connection
for the base computer and that the C drive is still shown as being
shared. In an attempt to fix this, I turned sharing off for the drive
and then back on, but I still cannot access it from the other
computers. I did a Net Use from one of the other computers and it
shows:
Unavailable Y: \\192.168.1.104\XPS400C

What could have caused this to happen all of a sudden and more
importnatly, what do I need to do to get it to work again?

I couldn't seem to find any recent search hits on this forum.

I have learned some more about this problem.
1. In the Advanced tab of my LAN connection, it says that there is a
problem with the WMI information. It also said that the information
might be in a Restore Point. I then remembered that my PC crashed a
few days ago, so I tried to do a restore back to the day before the
crash, but the System Restore was not successful. I then tried a
couple of additional restore points, but still no success,
2. This led me to a tool called WMIDIAG, which analyzes the WMI
database and produces a report. I ran WMIDIAG and looked at the
report. As best I can understand, it recommended running WMIDIAG with
the following command line option 'WriteInRepository=Root'. I tried
this but got an error message that said WriteInRepository was an
invalid command line option.

So now I am stuck. I can post the Log file from the WMDIAG here if it
will help. If I can't figure this out I am either going to have to
rebuild the WMI repository (bad!) or reinstall Windows XP (really
bad!!)

Can anyone help? In addition to the System Restore or the WMDIAG
approaches, does anyone think it would help to uninstall the LAN
connection from Device Manager and then reinstall it? Is there a
downside if it doesn't work?

I have learned some more about this problem.
1. In the Advanced tab of my LAN connection, it says that there is a
problem with the WMI information. It also said that the information
might be in a Restore Point. I then remembered that my PC crashed a
few days ago, so I tried to do a restore back to the day before the
crash, but the System Restore was not successful. I then tried a
couple of additional restore points, but still no success,
2. This led me to a tool called WMIDIAG, which analyzes the WMI
database and produces a report. I ran WMIDIAG and looked at the
report. As best I can understand, it recommended running WMIDIAG with
the following command line option 'WriteInRepository=Root'. I tried
this but got an error message that said WriteInRepository was an
invalid command line option.

So now I am stuck. I can post the Log file from the WMDIAG here if it
will help. If I can't figure this out I am either going to have to
rebuild the WMI repository (bad!) or reinstall Windows XP (really
bad!!)

Can anyone help? In addition to the System Restore or the WMDIAG
approaches, does anyone think it would help to uninstall the LAN
connection from Device Manager and then reinstall it? Is there a
downside if it doesn't work?

It could be many things, if nothing has been changed though I am not sure.
Maybe contact a friend who is experienced in computers too and get them to
come and see what they think of it? Its quite hard to know what to do when
you don't know the situation...

"Tom Gordon" wrote in message
...
For at least 2 years I have been able to access the C drive on my main
computer from the other 2 computers in my home network (one wireless,
one ethernet). Suddenly, I get a message listing the IP address
\sharename of the drive and aying that the network path was not found.


I have done an IPCONFIG /ALL on the base computer and verified that
the IP address has not changed (it is a static IP). I also verified
that Microsoft File Sharing is still installed in the LAN connection
for the base computer and that the C drive is still shown as being
shared. In an attempt to fix this, I turned sharing off for the drive
and then back on, but I still cannot access it from the other
computers. I did a Net Use from one of the other computers and it
shows:
Unavailable Y: \\192.168.1.104\XPS400C

What could have caused this to happen all of a sudden and more
importnatly, what do I need to do to get it to work again?

I couldn't seem to find any recent search hits on this forum.

It could be many things, if nothing has been changed though I am not sure.
Maybe contact a friend who is experienced in computers too and get them to
come and see what they think of it? Its quite hard to know what to do when
you don't know the situation...

"Tom Gordon" wrote in message
...
For at least 2 years I have been able to access the C drive on my main
computer from the other 2 computers in my home network (one wireless,
one ethernet). Suddenly, I get a message listing the IP address
\sharename of the drive and aying that the network path was not found.


I have done an IPCONFIG /ALL on the base computer and verified that
the IP address has not changed (it is a static IP). I also verified
that Microsoft File Sharing is still installed in the LAN connection
for the base computer and that the C drive is still shown as being
shared. In an attempt to fix this, I turned sharing off for the drive
and then back on, but I still cannot access it from the other
computers. I did a Net Use from one of the other computers and it
shows:
Unavailable Y: \\192.168.1.104\XPS400C

What could have caused this to happen all of a sudden and more
importnatly, what do I need to do to get it to work again?

I couldn't seem to find any recent search hits on this forum.