win98/2k dual boot networking problem

Hello,
This is my first post here and I was wondering if all of you could help me with a problem I am having with my network.
I have 3 comps 2 of them run winxp they have no problems.
the 3rd comp had 2k on it, no probs there either.
Then I got the bright idea to install 98 and 2k (kids rig 98 for their games, 2k for stability for school work) so now 98 connects to the network fine but 2k will not.
Also the xp machines see the 98/2k comp as 98 when 2k is running but cant access it the 98/2k comp cant see anything.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Did you install 98 after 2000 was already installed? I know that this can cause problems (it is usually better to install the most recent OS last). Perhaps you could try booting from your 2000 OS disc and selecting the repair option. This will reinstall Windows 2000 over your current partition, keeping all programs and data etc.

Otherwise, I can't really see why another OS on a different partition should affect your Windows 2000.

no I installed 98 b4 2k, I read in another post about a guy who ran linux and windows in dual boot and had probs with it connecting in linux cause of different mac addresses or something like that. My xp machine sees the 98/2k machine as 98 when its running 2k but can't access it

What exactly do you mean? How do you know the XP machine sees the dual boot computer as a 98 computer, rather than 2000?

Just curious.

Are you able to access the Win98/W2K system from WinXP machines via Internet Explorer (IE)?

enter \\
followed by the computer's name (e.g. Win98 or W2K) or IP address (e.g. 192.168.x.x) of your Win98/W2K system

While running W2K, have you enabled sharing feature?

By the way, is your W2K system enabled with the same domain or workgroup?

Maybe these pointers might help.

The 2 os's have different computer names that is how I can tell that it sees it as the 98 machine cause it shows the name that I gave to 98 not 2k. I have the same workgroup on all comps/os's I know how to set up a network at least that far. and there is no sharing tab under my nic's properties just general. I am just going to reinstall both os's and put 98 on the first partition and 2k on the second(install 98 first of course).

This is a really interesting problem - I can't imagine how the XP computers see the 98 computer when the 2000 computer is booted.

If, when Windows 2000 is turned on, you type in \\Windows98computerName into an XP computer what do you see? Do you see the shared folders from the 98 computer or the 2000 computer? I would imagine that it would have to be the 2000 computer, as there would be no way of viewing the 98 shares.

Just a thought - the Windows 98 and 2000 computers have exactly the same hardware, so the LAN MAC address will be the same and I imagine that the Ip address for the two OSes will be the same.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/tr...jj_ipa_vitx.asp

It looks like XP might cache computer names, so that you see the 98 computer name rather than the 2000 computer name. Perhaps you should try running "ipconfig /flushdns" (without the quotes) from the Run option on the Start menu. This should flush the DNS cache and hopefully show you your 2000 computer.

Although Microsoft official website suggests to install the earlier OS first... for example Win98SE followed by W2K etc...

From personal experience, did not encounter any problem so far when I did the reverse. Earlier I installed W2K followed by Win98SE on a desktop but when I boot either one of them, the rest of the terminals on the home network detect the respective OS accordingly.

Currently, I installed Win95B first, followed by Win98SE and RedHat version 9. The desktop also work very well when different OS is boot up... the rest can detect it properly.

Instead of redo the installation of the operating systems (drastic)... maybe you can try Edwinbrains' suggestion first which make sense.