Devices missing in network on all computers connected to the network

Question

Hello, I got a very strange issue of missing devices connected to the network recently. I had a bunch of computers, NAS's and router-attached drive connected to a home network. They were all visible in the network list in file explore on each of my computers. The computers included desktop, laptop, wired, wireless, windows 10 home, window 11 home and windows 11 pro.

One day, I changed the computer name of one of the computers connected to the network, then the network list in the file browser began to shrink and eventually none of the devices connected to the network was displayed in the network list. It happened to all my computers connected to the network almost simultaneously.

On each computer, I checked SMB 1.0 file sharing support, make sure all the following services were turned on, but still nothing was shown in the network list.

• Computer Browser (Browser)
• DNS client
• Function Discovery Provider Host (FDPHost)
• Function Discovery Resource Publication (FDResPub)
• Network Connections (NetMan)
• UPnP Device Host (UPnPHost)
• Peer Name Resolution Protocol (PNRPSvc)
• Peer Networking Grouping (P2PSvc)
• Peer Networking Identity Manager (P2PIMSvc)
• SSDP discovery

I could not find solution to bringing the list back but recalled that only thing I had done was to change a computer name. So I changed the computer name back to the original one. After that, the network list came back gradually on all my computers. I really don't understand why.

Later, I got a new computer and connected to the network. Everything looked fine except that the new computer initial setup linked the Documents folder to my OneDrive. I didn't like that and wanted the Documents folder to linked to my C:\users\<username>Documents. While working on it, I disabled the "OneDrive - personal" on my new computer. By doing it, the OneDrive disappeared from the list in the navigation pane. Unfortunately, this operation also made the network list disappear on all my networked computers, just like before. So I re-enabled the OneDrive folder in the navigation pane in the file explorer and checked all the settings in SMB and services. This time, some computers were displayed in the network list, not all of them. The two items I want to see the most - one NAS and a drive attached to the router - are still missing.

I am totally lost in such a bizarre situation. Why one change on one computer affected all the other computers? How do I restore the network list to show all the computers and NAS's and drives in the network list?

One thing I would like to mention is that I logged into all the computer using the same Microsoft account, but each computer should be independent. Maybe there are some settings what are shared on all the computers I am not aware of, which affects network behavior?

Sorry for this long post. Really appreciate if someone can help me resolve the issue.

Answer 1

Hi NongJin,

Thank you for posting your query.

To resolve your concern kindly try the methods below.

A. Enable Private Network

Just to let you know that only devices within the private network will be discovered. So, to make all the network computers show up, first of all, make sure your private network is enabled. If not, just do it as below.

1. Navigate to Windows Settings > Network & internet.
2. If you are using the wired Ethernet, click Ethernet and select Private. If you are using Wi-Fi, click Wi-fi and choose Private. Of course, you can set up both network connections to private.
3. You may need to restart the computer to make the changes take effect.

B. Enable File Sharing and Network Discovery

To view other machines, network discovery and file sharing must be enabled. If one of them is not, you will suffer Windows workgroup not showing all computers on the network issue.

1. Open Control Panel, view its items by icon (either large icon or small icon), and select Network and Sharing Center.
2. Choose Change advanced sharing settings in the left panel.
3. Then, expand Private (current profile) and select Turn on network discovery and Turn on file and printer sharing options respectively.
4. Finally, click the Save changes

You may also need to enable file sharing and disable password protection sharing for All Networks.

You can directly turn on file sharing and network discovery by clicking the error message “File sharing is turned off. Some network computers and devices might not be visible. Click to change…” when you go to Network in Windows File Explorer and select Turn on network discovery and file sharing.

C. Enable Network Discovery and File Sharing by Command Line

You can also rely on commands to turn on file sharing and network discovery. Just open a command prompt (CMD) as administrator and input the following command into it one by one and press Enter after entering each command.

netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group="File and Printer Sharing" new enable=Yes

netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group="Network Discovery" new enable=Yes

To turn on network discovery through PowerShell, the command order is as below.

Get-NetFirewallRule -DisplayGroup "Network Discovery" -Enabled True -Action Allow -Direction Inbound
Do not hesitate to message us if you need further assistance.

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Answer 2

Hello,

Thanks for your instructions. My computers are all set as you mentioned. Unfortunately, they don't perform as expected in terms of displaying devices in the network. As I mentioned in my original post, all my computers were affected the same way by losing devices in the network list simply by changing one thing on one computer on the network. The latest change was OneDrive setting, unlinking and relinking. There must be some setting on OneDrive setting affect all my computers in some way. I am not quite how and how to control. Could the OneDrive setting change affect network list? If yes, what setting could it be? Now some computers are displayed in the network list. However, neither NAS nor drive connected to the router is displayed. I didnt' touch any setting on the NAS and the router.

Answer 3

I would LOVE to see more thoughtful responses to this issue. Networking has been broken for a long time - starting with one of the Windows 10 updates.

I'm in the process of setting up a work computer at home, and I did discover activating UPnP Device Host makes the computer disappear from the network. The strange thing is activating UPnP Device Host is being recommended by many as a standard solution step.

Beyond that, the credentials issues is still unsolved.

Answer 4

Hi David. Please see my post "Connecting All My Computers"