Vista - network discovery keeps turning off

John,

We're in the same boat. I'm running 32-bit Windows Vista and I also have
VMWare Server installed (but I'm not on a domain). When I reboot or (I
think) standby, the network discovery turns off.

I wonder if this has anything to do with the VMWare interfaces... have you
had any luck fixing this?

--Scott

I also have the problem and it is because of VMware's network adapters. As I see it, there are two solutions:

1. Disable the adapters altogether and use bridging instead (in VMware, select edit>Virtual network settings and disable the adapters), as explained here.
2. Apply this hack.

I don't understand why VMware still didn't fix the issue. There may be other reasons why Vista deactivates network discovery though, but VMware is certainly one of them.

this usually happen on pc's with multiple network installed on windows. (vmware etc)disable any unidentified network (go to manage network connection) other than the one you are using as windows will try to detect that additional subnet every time you boot your pc and move to the unidentified network which leads to your network discovery being turned off. alternatively, you can set it to be a public/private network so the next time you boot up, windows can leave it alone. this can be done under network and sharing centre and by clicking customize button beside each network. just make sure that no network is tagged as unidentified.

Hi Kelsii,

This post is almost a year old!
But to be fair, the problem still doesn't seem to be solved for some.

I discovered the problem on multiple machines and never found the real solution. But I am absolutely certain it has nothing to do with multiple networks, vmware or related things.
The only way I have been able to solve this problem on all machines was by disabling the windows firewall and installing a third party firewall.
There is a firewall setting in Vista that keeps resetting itself under certain conditions which causes the network discovery to get turned off.

Maybe it's not VMware in your case, but I am certain it is with mine, as I have since come to find with several installs of Windows and VMware.

It's funny, there could be as least five working solutions in this thread that people have used to solve their problem. This indicates it is mainly a Windows problem, and Microsoft should investigate the exact conditions where this problem manifests. But as long as everyone knows their working solution I guess it's all right for now.