Windows File Explorer does not see network computers - Win 10 ver. 200

Full disclosure: I have posted this problem at other sites and so far have no working solution. In the text below, in order to not waste anyone's time, I have tried my best to summarize what has been done so far. I was told at another site I should have linked them to my original thread at a different site. I am not doing that here unless requested to do so and then directed to any rule that may be pertinent to linking to other sites from here.


I have been trying to find a fix for the problem I and, apparently, many others, are having. It started, as far as I know, when I read in a newsletter it was safe to install the Microsoft updates for September. So, I did and at the time I was running Windows 10 ver. 1909.

Since updating, I have not been able to see the computers on my network in Windows File Explorer when clicking the Network option in the Left pane. I always have been able before to see them. I do have a program that allows me to send files to all these computers, so I know permissions are set properly. I can also get to them using a shortcut like \\OWNER-PC and access all the folders and files on any computer in my network I make a path to.

So far these suggestions, in addition to making sure permissions are set properly are the following and how they are now set:

Please check that the following services are set to start automatically on every computer in your network.

Function Discovery Provider Host – is set to Automatic Delayed.
Function Discovery Resource Publication – is set to Automatic Delayed.
SSDP Discovery – is set to Automatic.
UPnP Device Host – is set to Automatic.

It was later pointed out that Function Discovery Provider Host and Function Discovery Resource Publication should be set to Automatic Delayed. However, it has been tested using both Automatic and Automatic Delayed and it doesn’t make any difference at all.

Here is what I can do at present. I have a bat file that when run first STOPS Function Discovery Resource Publication. Then it STARTS Function Discovery Resource Publication.

On any other computer that has an incident of Windows File Explorer open at the time I run that bat file, the computer I run it on then shows up in that other computer’s open incident of Windows File Explorer. I can navigate to that other computer and open or do anything I want to do. Once I close that incident of Windows File Explorer and open another, the other network computer is no longer accessible until I run that bat file again on it. So, to try to be a little clearer, I open Windows File Explorer on, what I consider my main computer. The network option of Windows File Explorer in the Left pane only displays that computer itself. I then go to my other 4 computers and run that bat file. When I return to my main computer all the 5 computers on my network are displayed in that open incident of Windows File Explorer. If I close it and open another incident, it goes back to only displaying itself.

I guess I should mention that I run a program called MyFolders. Even when Windows File Explorer does not display any other network computers, I can still send files to the ones that MyFolders has previously mapped. I cannot map a new folder because the other network computers are not displayed in Window File Explorer.

Hoping installing Windows Ver. 2004 would fix this problem, I installed it on all 5 computers. It did not fix it; it is still the same. So I am now running Windows 10 ver. 2004 an all my computers.

Any ideas why I can no longer see the computers on my network in Windows File Explorer and how I can fix this? I have searched the WEB and come up with nothing helpful or that hasn’t been tried.

By the way, this is the case on all 5 of my computers, so something seems to have made a change somewhere.

Try3 said:

You might find that doing nothing but wait is the best course of action.

When I updated [to, I think, Ver 1803] I had the same symptoms.
Somebody told me to wait so I did. I just used \\ComputerName\ShareName, as you are now doing, for the interim period.
A couple of weeks later I checked the Network section of File explorer and everything appeared again just as it always had done before.

Denis

Thank you. I was hoping that would be the case but so far it hasn't. I can still hope.

Try3 said:

Oh, by the way, you can still map to other computers even though they do not appear in File explorer, Network at the moment.

- Open File explorer
- Select ThisPC
- In the Ribbon, click on Map network drive
- Enter the path to the relevant shared folder in the same form as my example \\ComputerName\ShareName entry
- Set Reconnect at sign-in unless you really never want to use this mapped drive again.

What I have described in also explained in Option 1 of Map network drive - TenForumsTutorials

I never use mapping. I just create shortcuts to \\ComputerName\ShareName instead.

All the best,
Denis

I'm sorry. I probably was not as clear as I needed to be. I can map to any of my computers. What I was trying to say is in the program I mentioned above, MyFolders, I cannot map to other folders because it can not see them on other computers unless they show up in Windoes File Explorer. Maybe this makes sense since MyFolders is a Right click context menu extension. I do depend on MyFolders a lot.

Have you tried another NIC by a different manufacturer? I had a similar problem with a Realtek nic built in on a motherboard. For a while I used the \\hostname and stuck it up under quick access so I didn't have to keep typing it. I also stopped the services you mentioned and restarted them. I decided to try a different nic and network problems disappeared. The nic I use is by Intel although I tested another by D-link and it worked too. .

I had a similar problem where sometimes I could see the other computer on my Win10 network, and sometimes I couldn't.
Eventually worked out that my VPN was causing the problem. If it had been "turned on" during a session, it would stop me seeing the other computer until I did a restart. If you are using a VPN, this may be the problem.

Looey said:

Have you tried another NIC by a different manufacturer? I had a similar problem with a Realtek nic built in on a motherboard. For a while I used the \\hostname and stuck it up under quick access so I didn't have to keep typing it. I also stopped the services you mentioned and restarted them. I decided to try a different nic and network problems disappeared. The nic I use is by Intel although I tested another by D-link and it worked too. .

No I haven't tried that since they all worked well before the Sept. MS updates. Thanks for the suggestion.

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skcusime said:

I had a similar problem where sometimes I could see the other computer on my Win10 network, and sometimes I couldn't.
Eventually worked out that my VPN was causing the problem. If it had been "turned on" during a session, it would stop me seeing the other computer until I did a restart. If you are using a VPN, this may be the problem.

I don't have a VPN. Thanks.

I've had exactly the same problem as you and the solution was to uninstall Malwarebytes premium. If you use this program, you can try it. There is a thread about it on Malwarebytes forum.
https://forums.malwarebytes.com/topi...ng-visibility/