limited or no connectivity

ok, so i'm somewhat technical, but not nearly as much as some of you guys.

i have 8-9 computers networked at my workplace. the os is WinXP Pro, and they are connected via a linksys router (no broadband). 1 of the computers on the network houses the main data (so it functions as a server, altho it's really just another workstation), which is accessed by the other computers.

the problem i have is:
1. most (5-6) of the computers' LAN connections says:
"limited or no connectivity).2-3 don't have this message......
yet ALL can access the data on the "Server"
2. I'm having trouble trying to install a vertical market software package, and their techs say it's because of these "connectivity" issues
3. interestingly, altho all workstations can access the data on the "server", only 2-3 computers appear on the screen when i try to View Workgroup Comptuers, so i guess there really are Connectivity problems.

it would seem to me that if the network is working properly, ALL the WorkStations would appear on this screen. Yet ALL the WorkStations can access and run the software from the Server.

I really have no idea what to do. I've tried to repair the connection, but the error message that appears says that the IP Address could not be renewed.

I would appreciate any help I can get.

ky

 

This is a network that has no internet connection? It's just some workstations connected to a shared workstation via a switch?

They are all running the same OS, maybe XP? Are the IP's static? What do you have set for the gateway? For the subnet mask? What is the workgroup name? Is it always the same computers that have this message?

If you are using static IP, in the properties for TCP/IP, is Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP selected? If you are using DHCP, what device is controlling that?

From your "server", can you ping all of the other computers? Can you navigate to them from Run using \\ipnumber? From Run using \\computername?

A lot of questions, sorry. The top two are workgroup name, is it indentical in each? The gateway address, what is it set to and what is at that address?