Windows Server 2008 (sp2) stops responding on network share requests from Windows Vista and 7 clients

Question

I have two Windows Server 2008 SP2 machines (TFS and TFSBUILD). Periodically, the TFSBUILD server shares (\TFSBUILD\ShareName or \TFSBUILD\C$) become unresponsive to requests from Windows Vista (Server 2008) and Windows 7 client requests. Windows XP machines are still able to connect.

No events in the server log indicate any problem. A simple restart corrects the issue temporarily, but it always returns.

It is not this http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948732 (we aren't using that software).

This does not appear to be an issue with SMB 2.0. Per @Maxwell I tried disabling it on the server and on the Windows 7 and Vista stations:

sc config lanmanworkstation depend= bowser/mrxsmb10/nsi
sc config mrxsmb20 start= disabled

All anti-virus software has been disabled, firewall is disabled by policy. No other network activity is affected.

The TFSBUILD server is a virtual, running under Hyper-V (x86 guest on an x64 host). The host has the same OS version and SP.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

We've decided to just rebuild the server (this time as 2008 R2). Thanks to all for the input. — Peter T. LaComb Jr., Jun 10 '10 at 16:26

Maxwell · Accepted Answer · 2010-06-04T15:50:01.403

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Maybe this has something to do with SMB 2.0, you could try disabling it on the server and on the Windows 7 and Vista stations:

sc config lanmanworkstation depend= bowser/mrxsmb10/nsi
sc config mrxsmb20 start= disabled

You may also want to read this article at petri.co.il

This may be a workaround...

edited Jun 04 '10 at 15:50

answered Jun 04 '10 at 15:41

Maxwell

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Trying that now. – Peter T. LaComb Jr. Jun 04 '10 at 16:06
Excellent suggestion, but no luck. – Peter T. LaComb Jr. Jun 07 '10 at 13:45
Was Symantec Endpoint installed on the server? – Maxwell Jun 07 '10 at 14:09
No, in fact, I thought that was the KB I linked to, but I'll update it. – Peter T. LaComb Jr. Jun 07 '10 at 15:23
Per @DrZaiusApeLord I should have RTWFA - Adding reg. entry now to see if that fixes it. – Peter T. LaComb Jr. Jun 08 '10 at 18:41
Nope, that didn't help. – Peter T. LaComb Jr. Jun 09 '10 at 14:23
One more idea, maybe this has something to do with the TCP Chimney OffloadFeature http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;951037&x=17&y=10 – Maxwell Jun 09 '10 at 15:04
No luck there either. – Peter T. LaComb Jr. Jun 10 '10 at 16:26
Seems I was wrong - it had an issue one time after adding the registry entries, but now is stable. – Peter T. LaComb Jr. Jun 21 '10 at 11:09
Glad it solved your problem. – Maxwell Jun 21 '10 at 12:59
If anyone reading this wonders, like I did, whether "bowser" is a typo and should be "browser", it's isn't a mistake and here's the explanation why: https://blogs.msdn.com/b/larryosterman/archive/2006/03/14/551368.aspx? – Joe Carroll Mar 07 '12 at 08:56

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:14

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There seems to be a somewhat related question here. One answer that sticks out is to check the "File and printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks" option on the network adapters. However, this would likely cause it to never work, not stop working after a while.

I'd suggest you get Wireshark on the server and start a trace of the network traffic. Check to see what it looks like when XP clients connect to a share, and when the Win7/Vista clients connect (both when it works and after it stops working). Hopefully you'll find some obvious missing piece when it's not working that can help lead to the actual cause.

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:14

Community

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answered Jun 07 '10 at 15:16

Paul Kroon

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You're right - if F&P sharing wasn't installed it wouldn't work at all. Already installed Wireshark. I'll post traces of working/non-working soon. – Peter T. LaComb Jr. Jun 07 '10 at 15:30
Most av software isn't really disabled until you uninstall it! I'm pretty sure this is true for mcafee not sure of others. – tony roth Jun 07 '10 at 21:32

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 07 '10 at 17:42

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hm. can you disable/remove IPv6 and all others unnecessary filters/services on TFS/TFSBUILD servers ?

you can look at WinXP network configuration to decide what to disable ...

answered Jun 07 '10 at 17:42

evg345

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score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 07 '10 at 18:25

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sc config lanmanworkstation depend= bowser/mrxsmb10/nsi
sc config mrxsmb20 start= disabled

You also need to put in the reg key on the server to disable SMB2. Then you will need to reboot the server and all your clients.

answered Jun 07 '10 at 18:25

DrZaiusApeLord

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Windows Server 2008 (sp2) stops responding on network share requests from Windows Vista and 7 clients

4 Answers4