NetBIOS browsing across subnets not working after PDC upgrade to Windows 2008.

We recently upgraded a Windows 2003 primary domain controller to Windows 2008. Following the upgrade we noticed that NetBIOS browsing across subnets was no longer working. The only hosts that were able to be seen were located in the local subnet. This created some issues for some of the non-networking IT staff. While hosts located on the distant subnets could still be reached via hostname they weren’t appearing in the ‘network’ portion of the Windows explorer.

A brief inspection of the running services on the newly upgraded Windows 2008 primary domain controller showed that the ‘Computer Browser’ service was disabled. Apparently, this service is disabled by default in Windows 2008 Server. Setting the service to run automatically and then starting it resolved the browsing issues.

If you are having similar issues after upgrading your domain controllers, we recommend checking the ‘Computer Browser’ service. Ideally, you would probably want this service running on all of your domain controllers to ensure NetBIOS browsing is possible from any of the subnets on your network.

Microsoft to allow Windows 7 users to downgrade to XP or Vista

Microsoft has confirmed that it will allow Windows 7 OEM consumers to downgrade to Windows Vista or Windows XP.

Many of you might know that this is business as usual. Volume licensing users have long had the ability to use their licenses to install a version back. Normally this was restricted to one version back, but for a limited time Microsoft OEM’s will allow customers to downgrade 2 Windows versions prior. This will allow customers to select versions of Windows as old as XP.

Since Windows 7 is just a refresh of the mixed reviewed Windows Vista operating system we at illcommunications thought this was inevitable. We do however feel that Windows 7 is a major improvement over the Windows Vista platform.

As with prior versions of the Windows operating system some business users will probably elect to continue utilizing Windows XP in their business environments for some time. We don’t believe that Microsoft’s offering of downgradability to be any judgement of what Windows 7 will be, but more of a convenience and hopefully continued support of the Windows XP platform for those that are less likely to be early adopters the new operating system.