Question Lost communication with server 2016 essentials

[molly_dog]

I manage the network for very small municipality. Hardware consists of a Dell T100 server with Windows Server 2016 Essentials; 2 Windows 10 Pro PCs in the clerk's office that are used frequently plus another in the mayor's office that is seldom used; a D-Link "dumb" 16-port switch; and a TP-LINK wifi router (the model number escapes me right now). The PCs are connected via Ethernet, the wifi is only for the employees to use with their phones/tablets. No laptops have access.

I installed the system two years ago and it has run flawlessly. Last week I added a new user account for a part-time employee. Everything was fine until this morning when one of the part-time clerks (NOT the new user) was there early to do some work on it.

She was unable to access any files on the server. The second PC in that office works just fine so she did what she needed to do using it.

When I arrived, I found that File Explorer crashes under her account. Under my admin account and under the new account, everything seems normal until I try to connect to the server or map a drive using browse. No computers appear under Network - not even the local machine.

However, I can connect to network drives which were previously mapped on the new account and my account. And on those accounts, I can map a drive by entering the full path.

Another part of the issue is that there are two critical applications that run on the server which cannot be accessed from that PC. One is the accounting software, the other is the property tax billing and collections app.

Again, the third PC works fine. All shared drives appear under Network and all apps work perfectly. What mystifies me is how this just started with no warning. Everything has worked fine for the last week since I added the new account until this morning.

I've restarted everything and I can ping all 4 machines from any computer. I also tested the Mayor's computer and encountered the same problem as the 2nd computer in the clerk's office.

I think I've described the issue as best I can. Hope I haven't left anything out though I probably did. Thanks for your help!

 

[Ralston18]

On the problem computers do two things:

1) look in Reliability History/Manager for error codes or warnings occurring just before or at the time of the access failures/ File explorer crashes,

and

2) take a look at the update history for both (clerk and Mayor) problem machines. Compare their update history to a still working pc ("third PC"). Could be a buggy or corrupted update that coincidentally took place.

For now focus on finding an error message that correlates with the crashes and access failures. Event Viewer may provide more information as well - just more cumbersome to use.

Failing any success you still have options available:

Consider using the built in Windows 10 troubleshooters on the failing computer's computers. The troubleshooters may find and fix something.

Likewise "sfc /scannow" via the command prompt may fix a problem.

 

[molly_dog]

On the problem computers do two things:

1) look in Reliability History/Manager for error codes or warnings occurring just before or at the time of the access failures/ File explorer crashes,

and

2) take a look at the update history for both (clerk and Mayor) problem machines. Compare their update history to a still working pc ("third PC"). Could be a buggy or corrupted update that coincidentally took place.

For now focus on finding an error message that correlates with the crashes and access failures. Event Viewer may provide more information as well - just more cumbersome to use.

Failing any success you still have options available:

Consider using the built in Windows 10 troubleshooters on the failing computer's computers. The troubleshooters may find and fix something.

Likewise "sfc /scannow" via the command prompt may fix a problem.

Thanks for the assist! I'll be heading over there in an hour or so to try your suggestions.

 

[molly_dog]

Thanks for the assist! I'll be heading over there in an hour or so to try your suggestions.

None of my scans/troubleshooting yielded any remarkable results. It looked like a Windows update stalled a couple of times on 5/14 but it apparently installed successfully after the initial failures.

The update history on the primary clerk's PC, however, did not reflect the update that appears on the other two machines. I was able to roll back that update on the Mayor's computer which corrected the problem there. But I ran into major problems on the Deputy Clerk's box.

To make a long story shorter, that computer reached a point where it would not successfully boot into Windows. I could not check the event logs and was unable to boot to safe mode. On both boot attempts I could only reach a black screen with a mouse pointer. I'm guessing somewhere along the line some critical file became corrupt.

Fully exasperated at that point I said "To hell with it" and am currently reloading the system with a Dell recovery image. Fortunately I have all the files backed up to the day the issue first reared its mutant little head.

Also, since I forgot to include it in my original post, I ran full diagnostics on the hard drive and RAM as well as testing the network cable to ensure that it didn't spontaneously fail.

Thanks again for your help!