Network Computer not visible in local network folder

Hearsepilot said:

Is the invisible computer on the same workgroup?

Yes

Try3 said:

I made no comment about Networking.
I only commented on the behaviour of File explorer's Network section.

I consider File explorer's network section a part of "networking" and so does Microsoft

Okay, I'm going to ask you to check a number of items. I know that some of this may seem a bit disjointed and that we are jumping all over the place, but there really is a method to my madness.

NOTE: Do all this on the system not seeing itself in the browse list.

Start by opening an elevated command prompt. Run the command "nbtstat -n". There will be a good bit of output, but what I want you to see is something like this:


NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
GODZILLA <00> UNIQUE Registered
WORKGROUP <00> GROUP Registered
GODZILLA <20> UNIQUE Registered

You should see the name of the computer registering the local system name (indicated by the <00>) as well as the Server Service (indicated by the <20>, only if sharing is enabled), and the workgroup name (also with a <00> for the 16th character of the registered name).

Next, run the "ipconfig /all" command. Again, long output, but near the top you will see a line that says "Node Type". Tell me what node type you see. Most likely it will be Hybrid.

Example:

C:\Windows\System32>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Godzilla
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Next, run "ncpa.cpl". This should launch the Network Connections Control Panel app. Right-click the network adapter and select Properties. Make sure that the following items are checked (there are others, but these are the ones I want to see enabled):

Client for Microsoft Networks
File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks
Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)
Link-Layer Topology Discovery Responder
Link-Layer Topology Discovery Mapper I/O Driver

This is a starting point. Trying to see what else I can find. One of the problems here is that my official training on this topic is old. Very old. I know that a lot has not been changed in ages, but some significant parts HAVE changed.

New Information:

I noted earlier that one of my systems does not show up in its own browse list if I have a second network adapter enabled with File and Printer Sharing turned on. After further testing, I found that altering the status of this adapter can cause the local machine to show up in its own browse list BUT ONLY TEMPORARILY. It eventually disappears.

As a result of this finding, I have taken a closer look at several of my machines, both Windows 10 and 11. So far I have looked at 8 systems and on EVERY SINGLE MACHINE, all systems show up in the browse list just fine, network sharing works perfectly, but the local machine does NOT show up in its own browse list.

I admit that I don't know the reason for this, but since EVERY one of my systems behaves this way, I'm simply going to consider this as normal behavior. NOTE: Two of these systems are clean installs within the past 4 days or so, so I know for a fact that nothing I have done has affected this behavior.

Since this behavior affects absolutely nothing, I'm rapidly loosing interest in the topic and ending my search for an answer.

My apologies that I could not reach a satisfactory answer for you, but it seems like hunting for a solution without a problem to me at this point

hsehestedt said:

New Information:

I noted earlier that one of my systems does not show up in its own browse list if I have a second network adapter enabled with File and Printer Sharing turned on. After further testing, I found that altering the status of this adapter can cause the local machine to show up in its own browse list BUT ONLY TEMPORARILY. It eventually disappears.

As a result of this finding, I have taken a closer look at several of my machines, both Windows 10 and 11. So far I have looked at 8 systems and on EVERY SINGLE MACHINE, all systems show up in the browse list just fine, network sharing works perfectly, but the local machine does NOT show up in its own browse list.

I admit that I don't know the reason for this, but since EVERY one of my systems behaves this way, I'm simply going to consider this as normal behavior. NOTE: Two of these systems are clean installs within the past 4 days or so, so I know for a fact that nothing I have done has affected this behavior.

Since this behavior affects absolutely nothing, I'm rapidly loosing interest in the topic and ending my search for an answer.

My apologies that I could not reach a satisfactory answer for you, but it seems like hunting for a solution without a problem to me at this point

I should have mentioned that both PC_3 and PC_4 are clean installs (2 weeks) and that they are the exact same hardware configuration, the only difference is the case. After the OS installation / updates I stopped configuring PC_3 when I noticed that the system wasn't showing in it's browse list.

Thanks, I appreciate your help. I will continue my search and if I find anything I will post it here.