Windows 10 pro not seeing other computers on network

[Galdorf]

I installed windows 10 on a bunch of lenovo machines for some reason they are not able to see other computers on the network 6 of them they are all on same workgroup i have checked the necessary services they are up and running they are all set to share files and printers yet in windows explorer it only sees itself.
They have all of the updates installed as well also tried shutting off the firewall.
What is funny if i put up my old win98 machine on test bench i can see other computers on network fine.

 

[mikeroq]

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4034314/smbv1-is-not-installed-by-default-in-windows

Because the Computer Browser service relies on SMBv1, the service is uninstalled if the SMBv1 client or server is uninstalled. This means that Explorer Network can no longer display Windows computers through the legacy NetBIOS datagram browsing method.

More from the page:

The Computer Browser service relies on the SMBv1 protocol to populate the Windows Explorer Network node (also known as "Network Neighborhood"). This legacy protocol is long deprecated, doesn't route, and has limited security. Because the service cannot function without SMBv1, it is removed at the same time.

However, if you still have to use the Explorer Network in home and small business workgroup environments to locate Windows-based computers, you can follow these steps on your Windows-based computers that no longer use SMBv1:

1. Start the "Function Discovery Provider Host" and "Function Discovery Resource Publication" services, and then set them to Automatic (Delayed Start).
2. When you open Explorer Network, enable network discovery when you are prompted.

All Windows devices within that subnet that have these settings will now appear in Network for browsing. This uses the WS-DISCOVERY protocol. Contact your other vendors and manufacturers if their devices still don't appear in this browse list after the Windows devices appear. It is possible they have this protocol disabled or that they support only SMBv1.

Note We recommend that you map drives and printers instead of enabling this feature, which still requires searching and browsing for their devices. Mapped resources are easier to locate, require less training, and are safer to use. This is especially true if these resources are provided automatically through Group Policy. An administrator can configure printers for location by methods other than the legacy Computer Browser service by using IP addresses, Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), Bonjour, mDNS, uPnP, and so on.

 

[Galdorf]

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4034314/smbv1-is-not-installed-by-default-in-windows



More from the page:

The Computer Browser service relies on the SMBv1 protocol to populate the Windows Explorer Network node (also known as "Network Neighborhood"). This legacy protocol is long deprecated, doesn't route, and has limited security. Because the service cannot function without SMBv1, it is removed at the same time.

However, if you still have to use the Explorer Network in home and small business workgroup environments to locate Windows-based computers, you can follow these steps on your Windows-based computers that no longer use SMBv1:

1. Start the "Function Discovery Provider Host" and "Function Discovery Resource Publication" services, and then set them to Automatic (Delayed Start).
2. When you open Explorer Network, enable network discovery when you are prompted.

All Windows devices within that subnet that have these settings will now appear in Network for browsing. This uses the WS-DISCOVERY protocol. Contact your other vendors and manufacturers if their devices still don't appear in this browse list after the Windows devices appear. It is possible they have this protocol disabled or that they support only SMBv1.

Note We recommend that you map drives and printers instead of enabling this feature, which still requires searching and browsing for their devices. Mapped resources are easier to locate, require less training, and are safer to use. This is especially true if these resources are provided automatically through Group Policy. An administrator can configure printers for location by methods other than the legacy Computer Browser service by using IP addresses, Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), Bonjour, mDNS, uPnP, and so on.

Already tried # 1 & 2 still don't work.

 

[Mike McCall]

Just for laughs, have you checked if your connection is public/private?

 

[Sky-Knight]

Wait... people still use the browser?

With homegroups gone... Microsoft's official stance is file sharing is done via OneDrive now. \\servername\share still works, and if that doesn't work you use \\ipaddress\share.

But there's more... sometimes I have to restart the Workstation service on my desktop to get it to connect to SMB shares on my network. I've never had this problem on a domain, but workgroups... username and password can match all it wants, it just won't work. Restart that service and BOOM it works, until it doesn't. Then I get a CU and it works for months on end, until it stops.

But I've never had a problem connecting to my Server 2016 VM... this only happens when connecting to other Windows 10 systems.

 

[Metanis]

Something I posted a while ago...

https://www.technibble.com/forums/threads/nice-guide-in-this-thread-check-it-out.82591/

 

[BO Terry]

Something I posted a while ago...

https://www.technibble.com/forums/threads/nice-guide-in-this-thread-check-it-out.82591/

Thanks for posting the AskWoody link. I am having the same issue described here and already see one thing I need to adjust/test on the other link. Here is what I have done so far:

I have a four computer office with a peer to peer network. As of recent upgrade, all four are on Windows 10 1903. When I view "Network" in This PC, here is what I see:
Computers 1, 2 and 3 can all see 1, 2 and 3 but NOT 4.
Computer 4 shows all 4 under Network.

What brought this issue to light is two things:
1: Computer 4 has QuickBooks installed and I just installed it on the replacement computer 2. Since 2 can't see 4 under "network", I can't pick it as the data source for QuickBooks. *Note, I can ping computer 4 from 2, just can't see it under Network.
2: Computer 4 has a USB printer set up to share but the other computer's can't use it. This all used to work but a I'm guessing a recent Windows update reset something.

Turned on Network Discovery and File and Print sharing on for Private Network.
I have not adjusted the settings for Public network which could be impacting QuickBooks because of where the files are stored.
Enabled SMBv1 (But have since read that I should uncheck the first option re: Automatic Removal)
Reset Winsock, int ip, ip release/renew, flush dns.
Set Function Discovery Resource Publication to Automatic

 

[Metanis]

There's also a "Function Discovery Provider Host" service that should be running and also "Network List Service" and "Network Location Awareness". And dumb question, are they all on the same Workgroup name? What's providing DNS on the LAN? Is NetBios enabled?

 

[Wheelie]

I installed windows 10 on a bunch of lenovo machines for some reason they are not able to see other computers on the network 6 of them they are all on same workgroup i have checked the necessary services they are up and running they are all set to share files and printers yet in windows explorer it only sees itself.
They have all of the updates installed as well also tried shutting off the firewall.
What is funny if i put up my old win98 machine on test bench i can see other computers on network fine.

Galdorf I frequently see this issue when introducing a new Win10 PC into peer-to-peer environments that need file/folder sharing. I know this solution is not perfect but it gets the job done quickly. I discovered this by trial and error one day when I was really frustrated.

First, on the new Win10 PC, I set everything relating to networking sharing correctly on it so that it 'ought' to be able to see the network shares (but it doesn't). Then I go to a PC that can see all the networked PCs (a Win7 PC) and look at the Samba path to the shared folder you want (i.e. \\Computer1\Quickbooks Data\). Then I go back to the new Win10 PC that cannot see it and right-click on the desktop, and create a new desktop shortcut and put the Samba path in it then click OK and then voila! A desktop shortcut to the network share! After that you are now able to map that location as a network drive if you like. Works every time for me.