Windows 2000 Browser Service

Computers Running Windows for Workgroups, Windows 95, and Windows 98 as Master Browsers

The files Vserver.386 and Vredir.386 on the installation CDs of Windows NT Server versions 3.51 and 4.0 are different from the files of the same names on the Windows NT Server version 3.5 installation CD.

In Windows 2000, these two files have been modified so that computers running Windows for Workgroups 3.11b, Windows 95, or Windows 98 can be master browsers for a network. This modification enables a computer on a network with computers running one of those three operating systems to browse Windows 2000 and Windows NT domains on other networks.

As the master browser for the network, a computer running Windows for Workgroups 3.11b, Windows 95, or Windows 98 communicates with the PDC of the domain to obtain the browse list for the entire domain.

A master browser on a computer running Windows for Workgroups 3.11b, Windows 95, or Windows 98 functions as if a master browser running Windows 2000 were on the network. It contacts the PDC every 15 minutes to give it the local network's browse list and to obtain the domain-wide browse list.

For a computer running Windows for Workgroups 3.11b, Windows 95, or Windows 98 to be a master browser, the computer and the PDC for the domain must both be WINS clients. The master browser must also meet the following conditions:

Be using TCP/IP
Be using WINS for name resolution
Be in a workgroup that has the same name as the domain