Users cannot connect on Windows Server 2003

November 12, 2008 1:39 AM

I've been asked to look at a network that runs three machines (XP) which apparently stopped working: Users cannot connect to the server (Windows Server 2003) due to some connection error.

I've been asked to look at a network that runs three machines (XP) which apparently stopped working on Monday. The power supply to the internet router also decided to stop working, then the server (Windows Server 2003 SP2) deciding that no machine could connect to it.

The server also fell over towards the afternoon with blue screen issues. I suspected hardware issues somewhere. I cloned the drive and replaced what appeared to be a glitchy video card.

So the server is now functioning OK - but still have the original problem. Attempts to access the networked drives bring up this specific error message: "This connection has limited or no connectivity. You might not be able to access the Internet or some network resources". Unplugging and reconnecting the network cables causes the PC to think for a while trying to assign an IP address but this then leads to the same error message.

It could be that something on the server setup has been corrupted, but I'm stumped as to how to solve the problem.

posted by panboi to computers & internet (7 comments total)

The DHCP server is broken. It may have been either the server machine or the adsl router that used to be the DHCP server. If you can't get DHCP up and running again you could set the machines to a fixed IP address, but then any new machines plugged into the network would not be able to automatically get an address.
See google [dhcp+windows+2003+server] for setting up dhcp on the server.
posted by samj at 2:11 AM on November 12, 2008

It appears the adsl router was indeed one of the issues. The network was all back up and running once I'd got the router back again. However, it appears to be running quite slow and the connection for each user drops after a period of time.
posted by panboi at 5:50 AM on November 12, 2008

Are there any new devices on the network? What about wireless routers/access points? Any other devices that could be attempting to give out DHCP leases?

Make sure you only have one DHCP server on the network. If it's the ADSL router then be sure DHCP is disabled on the Windows server. Wireless routers usually come from the factory with DHCP enabled, so if they have one of these that has lost its settings you could have a conflict.
posted by odinsdream at 6:33 AM on November 12, 2008

If they are getting IPs via DHCP but you are still having networking issues, it may be that the router is dying and replacing the power supply didnt solve the issue. I'm guessing your router is doing DHCP but it may have fried when the ps went out (power surge?).
posted by damn dirty ape at 8:55 AM on November 12, 2008

Windows Server 2003 really, really wants to be the DNS for all workstations. I think it is possible to get around this, but easier to just accept and get on with things.
posted by Chuckles at 1:00 PM on November 12, 2008

A dead router power supply might well have been killed by electrical violence, and that same violence might have rendered the router permanently flaky. ADSL routers are cheap. I'd replace that one if I were you.

The specific meaning of the "limited or no connectivity" thing is, as everybody else has said, that the machine showing that message has been unable to obtain an IP address via DHCP.

Usual practice is to assign fixed IP addresses to the ADSL router, the W2k3 Server box, and any network printers and NAS boxes; turn off DHCP in the ADSL router; turn it on in the W2k3 box; and make sure the DHCP address pool doesn't include any of the fixed addresses already assigned.

Also, your network would be more robust if you used a separate network switch to connect your assorted machines to each other, rather than relying on the four-port switch built into your ADSL router as I suspect you're now doing. With the W2k3 box in charge of handing out IP addresses and the switch in charge of connecting things to each other, then if the router dies again (which they are prone to do, being connected to the Thunder Gods via the telephone lines), all you lose is Internet connectivity instead of your whole LAN going out.
posted by flabdablet at 3:00 AM on November 13, 2008

Oh, and the issue will be that there is no device currently handing out IP addresses via DHCP. Multiple DHCP servers can coexist on the same LAN, and provided their address pools all agree on what subnet to use, the LAN will even work.

Even if there were multiple DHCP servers visible on the LAN and their configuration was wrong, a workstation requesting an IP address via DHCP would, in fact, end up being assigned one. Might not be one it could use for actually talking to anything else on the network, but it would get one, and it would not report "limited or no connectivity".
posted by flabdablet at 3:05 AM on November 13, 2008