Windows 10: Network not showing computers and Credintial manager not working

Windows Network does not show computers, but I have a batch file that will load them and log in. I have used Credential Manager to set up accounts and if I try to log into a computer from "Run", it still requests a password. Both these issues are working on Windows 8 with no problem; I have four computers set up as Network Locations with one being XP. The problem computer is a tablet running 10 which I can reach with the other three.

:)

 

windows 10 not showing computers on network

Some 4 months since 1st post in this 'discussion'. I gave up on this issue some time ago (you can read about my earlier trials and tribulations in previous posts) and set up dual-boots with Linux so that I could get some work done. I have been keeping an
eye out here, though, and occasionally going back to good ol' Windoze 10 to see it anything had been fixed.

I recently built myself a new desktop machine (AMD Ryzen based) and installed a fresh copy of W10 Pro 64. It KINDA worked (it could see the network in File Explorer, but another machine (W10 Home 64 could not). - up until the arrival of KB4034674 (OS Build
15063.540).

I had an hour or so to kill, so I went looking to see if any headway had been made out there in internet land, because Microsoft either don't care or are incapable of fixing up their own massive smelly messes. I found a plethora of forums websites etc discussing
this very issue (along with a slew of others arising since Microsoft helpfully rolled out the laughable entitled 'Creator' update.

A fair few highly-qualified tech folk have been very loudly insisting to Microsoft for some months that it is a 'Master Browser' issue. From what I understand, there is (since either the 'Anniversary' or 'Creator' update) an issue when W10 machines on a
network try to work out which machine is 'lord of the domain' - which computer will be responsible for managing some network stuff.

One workaround suggested was to get a NAS (if present) declare itself to be the master browser. (i.e let a different OS work out the Windows problem). Another was to plug in a USB drive to the router (if the router has a USB port - not all business-based
routers do). This, from what I understand, has the effect of making the router-based USB drive 'lord of the domain' (and I DO NOT mean domain as opposed to workgroup- I use it in the Seinfeld sense!).

I have an ASUS router with a USB port and a USB drive. I connected them up, turned off ALL machines (including router, modem, Android devices etc), waited 5 minutes, then turned things back on (starting with the modem, then the router, then my main desktop,
logging in to it, then going on to each machine and logging in before moving on to the next machine.)

The result is that all machines can now browse the network as they should, without having to resort to typing in IP addresses etc. The USB drive attached to the router is there, showing as a network drive.

This WORKAROUND will probably work until the next Microsoft 'update'. I'm keeping my dual-boots in place for the foreseeable future, I'm thinking. Why do Microsft INSIST on stuffing things up all the time? Don't get me started on the recent changes to the
Group Policy Editor settings to W10 Pro - now the radio station I do Tech stuff for is being forced to move from the current 10 Pro installs to Enterprise installs in order to 'tie down' the machines announcers use (and sometimes attempt to abuse!)

 

windows 10 not showing computers on network

Things I have learnt from this update experience:

1. Getting Microsoft 'Technical Support' to call you back once you have a 'service request' number and quote it is a hit and miss affair: after being 'escalated' to 'Level 2' technical support, the bloke that seemed to have been assigned to my case loved
to tell me he'd ring back at a particular time and then either ring 2 hours before he was meant to and expect me to rush back to my setup (30Kms away) so he could remote in, or not bother to ring back at all. He even muttered about taking it to 'level 3'.
Other 'representatives' told me that there was no 'level 3'.

2. The culmination of yet another pointless phone conversation (this one 2 hours late) was that I appear to have the following options as to how to resolve the issue (according to the 'expert' I was speaking to):

(a) Keep rebuilding my workgroup on a regular basis until Microsoft may or may not develop a fix (at least half an hour every morning renaming workgroup on each device, rebooting, waiting for NASs etc to reboot); or

(b). Do a clean install of Windows 7 (because even though everything was fine before the Creator update was FORCED on me, reverting to the previous build (as performed by the 'expert' remotely) did not resolve the issue, so MAYBE going back to Windows 7
would fix things (???)

3. No-one from Microsoft reads stuff written here. Microsoft do not care about you individually, to them, you are just unwilling test-beds for their work-in-progress operating system, at least on any platform unless you have the 'enterprise' version.

I think I'll probably have to research dual-boot Linux... I used to do that some years ago, I wonder how much Linux has evolved since I last used it? Thanks for nothing, Microsoft!