SMS: Browsing PGC Shares from Windows 95 or Windows 98 May Not Be Accurate (199808)

SYMPTOMS

When viewing a Systems Management Server distribution server containing shared applications from within Network Neighborhood, client computers running Microsoft Windows 95 or Microsoft Windows 98 may see the contents of a different Systems Management Server distribution server.

This does not happen when viewing a drive mapped to the same server.

CAUSE

When client computers running Windows 95 or Windows 98 are configured to use Program Group Control (PGC), Nnp.exe redirects requests for shares listed in the Network Applications Database (NAD) to the first available distribution server in the NAD list. The servers in the NAD are stored in alphabetical order.

This became evident when placing user-specific files on a distribution server local to a group of users. When the users attempted to locate these files, they were not there. The files were placed below a share managed by the NAD.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, do one of the following:

Remove Nnp.exe from the SMS Naming Network Provider in the Windows 95 or Windows 98 Startup registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices

NOTE: This step may cause the Windows 95 or Windows 98 Program Group Control applications to fail if they cannot connect to the specified distribution server listed in the program shortcut.

-or-
Create separate packages and user groups for each distribution server. Create a Systems Management Server program group for each package and user group combination. This will assign a dedicated distribution server to the user group, preventing the rerouting to a different server.

NOTE: This option becomes very difficult to administer as the number of packages and distribution servers grows.