Helping people with computers... one answer at a time.
A duplicate name existing on the network happens when two resources - usually computers - have been given the same name. We'll look at how to check, and where to fix it.
Windows System Error: A duplicate name exists on the network. I get this message in a little nag box when I sign on. It doesn't come up every time, so has someone hacked in to my computer?
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It's unlikely that you've been hacked.
It's more likely that the error message is exactly right: A duplicate name exists on the network. The question you're probably asking is, "what name?".
Your computer's name.
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Right click on My Computer and click on Properties. Then click on the Computer Name tab and you'll see something like this:
Yours will of course have different computer descriptions, names and Workgroup names.
The error message is complaining about the Full computer name listed there. Each computer on your network must have a unique name. If two computers have the same name "a duplicate name exists". In such a case, some network operations may fail because there's no way to tell which computer you mean when you specify the computer name.
Computer names should also be different than the Workgroup name.
Pick one of the two computers that have the same name, and pick a new name.
To change the name, on that Computer Name dialog, just hit the Change button, and you'll see a dialog such as this:
As you can see, you can change your computer name to whatever you like, or change the Workgroup it's a part of. (You probably want all the computers on your network to be a part of the same Workgroup to enable file sharing more easily.) Once you change the computer name, OK your way back out. Reboot and see if the error message you were seeing hasn't disappeared.
Article C2801 - October 4, 2006 « »
Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he
was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed.
After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers
to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.
December 28, 2011 9:22 PM
hi..., i have 2 pc desktop, but they are istalled by northon ghost (cloning). connetted but can't ping for each other
how to troubleshoot them..? thank's
28-Dec-2011
February 4, 2012 10:22 PM
Using your advice I double-checked to insure that my two computers (1 XP and 1 Windows 7) had unique computer names. They were already unique. Also both computers were part of a workgroup. However, the workgroup had the same name as my wireless router network, which is where the "duplicate name" conflict occurred. I changed the workgroup name, which fixed the "duplicate name" error message. Thanks for your help.
June 4, 2012 6:38 PM
Thanks Leo, it worked great!
March 10, 2013 3:18 PM
thanks for the help, its good to know that there are persons like you who are willing to give advice to other people who are not knowledgeable with computers and yet willing to learn. thanks again and more power...
March 12, 2013 6:54 PM
This also appears in the eventlog when you have workstations or servers with 2 or more network adapters. I get this annoying message at least once a week because all of my computers have multiple network adapters. I have yet to see it really cause a problem, but if someone knows how to prevent this error from ever appearing in the Event Log even if you have many NICS on your machines let me know.
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