Workstation Service Does Not Start

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This article was previously published under Q197157

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SYMPTOMS

When you start or reboot a computer that has two network adapters installed, the Workstation service may not start and the following error messages may appear in Event Viewer:

   Event ID: 3870
   Source: Workstation
   Description: <computer name> is not a valid computer name.

   Event ID: 7023
   Source: Service Control Manager
   Description: The Workstation service terminated with the following
   error: A duplicate name exists on the network.

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CAUSE

This behavior can occur if both network adapters attempt to register the same NetBIOS name with the Microsoft Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS).

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RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, disable the NetBEUI protocol that is bound to one of the network adapters. To do this:

Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double- click Network.
Click the Bindings tab, and then click All Adapters in the Show Bindings For box.
Click the plus sign next to the second network adapter.
Click NetBEUI Protocol, and then click Disable.
Click Close, and then restart the computer.

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