Windows 10: Network not Discoverable

Windows 11 Pro. I have all Advanced sharing settings selected to "ON" except for password protected sharing. However, when I click on Networks in file explorer it will not find the devices on the network. It worked yesterday before windows update. I tried to uninstall the updates but that did not solve the problem.

:)

 

PC not discoverable on network.

Hello, I am trying to set up two computers on my network so that they can share a folder between them. I followed a video that explained how to enable network discoverability through the network share center.

Here is a quick list of what I did.

(1) turned on "network discover on both computers."

(2) turned on "file and printer sharing on both computers."

(3) Kept the recommended setting "Use 128 bit encryption to help protect file sharing connections" for both computers (Recommended setting)

(4) turned off password protected sharing on both computers

(5) Under settings, changed network profile to private for both computers.

(6) Created two separate files on both computers then changed the sharing settings of both files so that both computers could read/edit each other.

All of the instructions I just described can be viewed from the video link below.



Since having made these changes, both computers were discoverable on the network for a brief period of time until after I entered my network credentials via a windows security prompt multiple times. I was able to log into the computers that night then proceeded to turn my computers off before going to bed; I noticed my 1st computer was no longer discoverable on the network the following morning and that only the 2nd computer was discoverable on the network. I reviewed the settings I described earlier and nothing has changed therefore I cannot discern any cause for this problem.

To reiterate the problem, I now have all the network settings set up to allow both computers to be discoverable on the network and share files via a shared folder yet my 1st computer is not discoverable on the network and cannot connect to the 2nd computer that is discoverable. Furthermore, the 2nd computer cannot see the 1st computer. If anyone could ask questions and offer solutions then I would appreciate the support as I am in need of these two computers to reliably be able to share information between each other with ease for a important reason, thank you.

 

interaction of UAC, discoverability, and network profile


After my last clean reinstallation of Win10 I had trouble access my NAS drives. I have everything working now, but I don't really understand what I did and how it works. And I know my future holds more clean installs so I want to understand what I did.

Some background:

1. I'm paranoid so have my UAC set to it's highest value.
2. Accessing my NASs seems to require using the "Private" network profile and setting "Make this PC discoverable".
3. #1 prevents #2 so I lowered the UAC long enough to change the network settings and then set it back up.

1st question: Was the high UAC setting just preventing changing the network setting, or is it preventing something else in network discovery that will bite me in the future? I'm having trouble believing that lowering the UAC just long enough to change the network settings is actually all that was required.

2nd question: I'm not aware of doing anything other than setting "Make this PC discoverable", but suddenly I was using the "Private" network profile. Are these just two ways of saying the same thing, or did I have to do something more to switch to the "Private" profile?

3rd question: If "Make this PC discoverable" and using the Private network profile are not the same thing, which was needed to get network discovery of my NASs working. (Prior to changing the setting, Windows10 could see the devices on my LAN bu no SMB connection could be established.)

 

network and internet

this hard drive is not connected to my computer, it is connected to my wireless router.

after scanning for hardware changes as you suggested in step one, there is no usb hard drive
listed on my computer, either in the device manager, or in the network list in file manager which includes both computers connected to the router. this computer is recognizing the router, internet, and other computers connected to the router.
it is not recognizing the hard drive connected tot he wireless router.

I checked my wireless router to see if the usb hard drive is discoverable and verified that it is.