"A duplicate name exists on the network" error when attempting to change Computer Name #
After an HP NAS died, we repurposed a workstation as the new file server. Attempting to change the computer name to match the dead NAS, the following error kept appearing: "A duplicate name exists on the network", even though the NAS was not connected. We deleted all references to the NAS in Network Places and unmapped all drives to no avail. nbtstat -c returned no entries lurking in the NetBIOS cache. Finally, we disabled the workstation's NIC and were able to change the name without errors. Rebooted the workstation, enabled the NIC, and all was well.
/windows | Jan 09, 2009
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