How do i share files / printers without netbios

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Guest

Kinda new to all this so please make allowances.
We have recently upgraded all our workstations to run either 2000 or xp pro.
I understand how to disable netbios but not how to share files. I read some
article about setting them up in active domain but it went slightly over my
head.
If some body could explain it in idiot language i would be very thankfull.
 
If you disable NetBIOS, you may be unhappy with the result because a
surprising number of applications/functions depend on it. Nevertheless, you
can share files and printers without it - \\IPaddressofServer\sharename.
If you have an alternative local name resolution mechanism such as DNS or
lmhosts files, you can use \\ServerName\sharename. You cannot browse
without NetBIOS.

Doug Sherman
MCSE, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP
 
Thanks for replying doug. Would disabling netbios have any great impact on
our network traffic or are its results negligable.
I have also found out that out dns server is incorrectly setup. It appears
to be setup to resolve all domains ending in .co.uk This of course means that
it will never query the internet to resolve .co.uk domain names
I suspect that because of this the primary and secondary dns are configured
as 84.x.x.x instead of our internal server at 192.x.x.x. This is probably
slowing our network down far more than the netbios issue.
I have read plenty of articles of how to setup dns from stratch, but not
entirely sure how to repair damaged dns.
If anybody could tell me how to change the domain name resolution and then
reconfigure the primary and secondary dns address i would be greatfull.
 
1. NetBIOS indeed generates broadcast traffic; however, the practical
benefit of traffic reduction from turning it off is unpredictable - kind of
trial and error. The usual fix is to implement WINS rather than disable
NetBIOS.

2. If this is an Active directory domain, then the server and all clients
must point only to the server's 192.x.x.x.address for DNS. To provide DNS
resolution of Internet names you configure forwarders on the internal DNS
server to point to the ISP's 84.x.x.x address(es):

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windowsserver2003/library/Opera
tions/d2b0bb80-0eb8-40a3-8454-6e683403c36f.mspx

If the Forwarders tab is greyed out, delete "." zone.

Doug Sherman
MCSE, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP
 
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