Vista - network discovery keeps turning off

Windows Vista Ultimate keeps turning off network discovery. I turn it on and
some time later, I find it turned off. I haven't been able to make a backup
of my system because it keeps turning off in the middle of the backup and
screwing up my network connection.

What could be causing this?

I'm having this exact same problem too, with a brand new Dell Vostro 200 running Vista Business 32bit.

Fresh load of the OEM Vista software, from "Fdisk" on up, so it's not due to a lot of Dell pre-loaded crapware.

I have a 4-year-old Dell Dimension with a retail version of Vista Business on it that hasn't missed a beat, with no hint of the problem.

They're both connected to the same Linksys router, so that's not it, either.

Is there a registry hack to keep Network Discovery turned on at all times, plus permanently set to "Home" and "Private" network?

At this point I have no need of anything but those settings, so why bother with the "detection" part of it each time I reboot?

Awaiting some good MVP out there to drop the answer on us...

Thanks

Hi Jay and Travasaurus,

You might see if this can help you below. Double check you "Network Location Type" for it to be set as "Private".

Network Discovery - Turn On or Off

Shawn

"unknown" wrote: network discovery keeps turning off"
This solution helps (for me):
- Start mmc.exe from console prompt.
- Select File/Add Windows Firewall extended snapin.
- Double click Windows Firewall
- Select all predefined incoming and outgoing rules for file and printer
sharing and activate all of them (for each scope: private, domain, public).
- Done.
I did the same for remote desktop rules, since I want to use remote desktop.

I do not know wheter this is a good idea, it just helps. But there might be
some security vulnerabilities doing so. I would appreciate some comment from
a networking guy.

The problem occured after I installed VMWare 6 on my machine. This installs
a Network for vor the virtual maachines, which is viewed as a public network.
I tried to switch it to private, but it was turned back to public after
reboot.

It could be the 3rd party software too. This post may help.

network discovery is turned offuntil I reboot and then again, I get a notice
that Network discovery is turned off if I try to browse the network. My
other Vista (X86) does not have this ...
http://www.chicagotech.net/netforums...1330d78e25666b


"charly" <charly@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:F6721959-3E79-4ADB-8D91-8B23D29B5DE8@xxxxxx

I had this problem too for a while until I discovered that the service "Function Discovery Provider Host" was set to "Manual". After I had set it to "Automatic" network discovery stayed ON.

Oops I was a bit quick to think I had solved it. The problem is here:

Go to administrative tools > firewall with advanced security.
Click "inbound rules" then on the right "filter by profile" > "filter by private profile"
Next find all the "Network discovery ..." items. You will see that the SSDP-In and the UPnP-In are not enabled.
When you enable these; network discovery will automatically turn back on again. Unfortunatly after a reset or a reboot, they turn back off again. When you double-click these items it says "this is a predefined rule and some of its properties cannot be modified" I am not sure this is why it keeps turning off.
If someone knows to to make the "enabled" option permanent I would be much obliged.

I finally did find the solution (for real this time, lol) it was staring me in the face all the way.
Just disable uPnP on your router and network discovery remains ON. This may resolve other issues you have with your connection as well (like slow speed and random disconnects)

Has anyone found an answer to this?

I'm having the same issue on both my desktop (Vista 32-bit) and notebook
(Vista 64-bit). Both of these are Domain members, and both have VMware
installed. After every reboot, Network Discovery is turned off. This is not
just an annoyance but a real problem since some automated processes run
occasionally that rely on the desktop being available for file copies, and
unless I check the discovery status all the time it's prone to failure.

Disabling UPnP on the router as suggested above had no effect. I've even
diasabled the Windows Firewall and still Network Discovery turns itself off.
Any ideas? Is it related to VMWare as suggested elsewhere?

I can't imagine it having anything to do with VMWare as a lot of people seem to be having this problem. Most of whom do not have VMWare and are not a member of a domain.
One other solution I came across was to disable IPv6, but that didn't work for me (maybe it will for you).
I have come to think that the solution to this problem is indeed not with IPv6 or uPNP even though it does seem to work for some (like me).
I have yet to see MS address this problem as I cannot find a reference to it anywhere on their KB.