Question : Are these problems network related?

Here's the facts: Windows Server 2003, XP clients, all set up as a workgroup (not domain).

We're losing connection to our Outlook .pst files and to the Quickbooks data file.  Both are stored on the server with the applications running on the clients.  We are not losing our mapped drives that point to the server.

One other strange thing is that I do database development on my XP system.  I have a local shared folder on my drive, and I have a mapped drive pointing to it in order to mimic the environment of the server. That way, I just have to copy the files over -- no issues with pathing.  Often, my development environment will lose connection to the local mapped drive. (ie. It's drive D but mapped as E).

I've swapped out our switch, I've replaced the network card in the client, I've replaced the NIC in the server.  Same results.  How to troubleshoot from here?

Thank you

Answer : Are these problems network related?

Name resolution could be at play here.  Are the machines using DHCP?  Is local name resolution done through your DNS Server?

How many clients are on the network?  Are they all on the same subnet (physically and logically)?