Error 53

The most common symptom of a problem in NetBIOS name resolution is when the Ping utility returns an Error 53 message. The Error 53 message is generally returned when name resolution fails for a particular computer name. Error 53 can also occur when there is a problem establishing a NetBIOS session. To distinguish betweenthese two cases, use the following procedure:

To determine the cause of an Error 53 message

1. From the Start menu, open a command prompt.
2. At the command prompt, type:

   net view * \\<hostname>

   where <hostname> is a network resource you know is active.

   If this works, your name resolution is probably not the source of the problem. To confirm this, ping the host name, as name resolution can sometimes function properly and yet net use returns an Error 53 (such as when a DNS or WINS server has a bad entry). If Ping also shows that name resolution fails (by returning the "Unknown host" message), check the status of your NetBIOS session.

To check the status of your NetBIOS session

1. From the Start menu, open a command prompt.
2. At the command prompt, type:

   net view \\<IP address>

   where <IP address> is the same network resource you used in the above procedure. If this also fails, the problem is in establishing a session.

If the computer is on the local subnet, confirm that the name is spelled correctly and that the target computer is running TCP/IP as well. If the computer is not on the local subnet, be sure that its name and IP address mapping are available in the DNS database, the Hosts or LMHOSTS file, or the WINS database.

If all TCP/IP elements appear to be installed properly, use Ping with the remote computer to be sure its TCP/IP protocol is working.

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