Windows 10: Networked Computers are "Invisible": Known Issue?

I am on Windows 10 Version 1909 (OS Build 18363.752).

My wife bought her Win10 machine last November. I bought mine in January. Ever since then, I have been kicking my *** over the problem of not being able to see each other's machines on our home network.

When we had Windows 7 machines we had almost no problems having both machines stay connected to each other through the Network section of Windows Explorer.

But ever since we got our Win10 machines, we have had terrible trouble seeing each other's machines. Sometimes the other machine shows up. Sometimes it doesn't. I tried searching for every solution to the problem of establishing and maintaining network connection, including within this forum, with not much success.

WELL ... based on something I saw in my File Explorer today, the light bulb went on: Might the connection be active, but simply invisible?

So I open up File Explorer and this is what I see under Network in the left hand window and Network in the right hand window is this:





A single machine, DELL, the one I am on.

Testing my hypothesis, I typed in the network path for my other Win10 machine, like so:





And this is the result:





I am able to browse into the other machine and open files; create files; copy, paste and delete files; all of it. One hundred percent access.

But note: the other machine is still not visible in the Network main window!

Now I did make sure we did every fix listed in the post about it in this forum, and we still have this trouble of not seeing machines that I now know are actually connected to the network, but just not visible.

What is the deal with that? Is this a known issue with an established fix? Or is this a Win10 anomaly that hasn't been fixed yet?

:)

 

Lost saved/known networks

Hi ItsSophie

If that update has wiped that list of known networks (it should not have wiped them), I am sorry, it will not be possible to automatically get that list back, that list is stored in the registry at the location below and that update must have cleaned out your
registry

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\Profiles

You will need to log back into each network to re-add that back to the list of known networks, sorry . . .

 

Issues with network adapters

Hi Alfonso,

To resolve this issue, we suggest that you run the Network troubleshooter when you switch from WiFi to Ethernet connection. The Network troubleshooter can help diagnose and fix common connection problems including clearing the network cache to obtain a new
IP from the new network. Kindly follow the steps below:

• In the search box on the taskbar, type Identify and repair network problems, and then select
  Identify and repair network problems from the list of results.
• Follow the steps in the troubleshooter and see if that fixes the problem.

If the issue persists, kindly try the troubleshooting steps on the following link:

Fix network connection issues in Windows 10.

We recommend that you try the steps on the Update the network adapter driver,
Run the Network troubleshooter followed by networking commands, and Use network reset to reinstall network devices sections.

Let us know how it goes for us to assist you further.

 

Windows 10 won't show available networks while still being able to connect to known networks

Thank you for describing the steps you have taken to try to resolve the issue. It is possible that performing a system reset caused the problem. What about running the Network troubleshooter? The Network troubleshooter isn't designed to fix every problem
but it is a useful tool to try first, as it can often save you time and effort. We suggest that you run the troubleshooter followed by networking commands. Here's how:

• In the search box on the taskbar, type Network troubleshooter, and then select
  Identify and repair network problems from the list of results.
• Follow the steps in the troubleshooter and see if that fixes the problem.

If the issue persists, try these things:

• Reset the TCP/IP stack
• Release the IP address
• Renew the IP address
• Flush and reset the DNS client resolver cache

To run these networking commands in a command prompt window, follow these steps:

• In the search box on the taskbar, type Command prompt, right-click
  Command prompt, and then select Run as administrator >
  Yes.
• At the command prompt, run the following commands in the listed order:
  
  • Type netsh winsock reset and press Enter.
  • Type netsh int ip reset and press Enter.
  • Type ipconfig /release and press Enter.
  • Type ipconfig /renew and press Enter.
  • Type ipconfig /flushdns and press Enter.

If you continue to experience the issue, follow the rest of the suggested solutions found on this

link.

Keep us updated.