• JVH Consulting
• December 3, 2018
• 0

You cannot turn on Network Discovery in Network and Sharing Center in Windows Server

Assume that you try to turn on Network Discovery on a computer that is running any version of Windows Server. To do this, you change the Advanced sharing settings in Network and Sharing Center. However, the changes are not saved. Therefore, you cannot turn on Network Discovery, and you experience the following issues:

• You cannot browse or find any network share.
• You cannot view shared folders on a local network.

This issue occurs for one of the following reasons:

• The dependency services for Network Discovery are not running.
• The Windows firewall or other firewalls do not allow Network Discovery.

To resolve the issue, follow these steps:

1. Make sure that the following dependency services are started:
2. DNS Client
3. Function Discovery Resource Publication
4. SSDP Discovery
5. UPnP Device Host
6. Quick command to run in admin command prompt.

sc config dnscache start=auto

sc config fdrespub start=auto

sc config ssdpsrv start=auto

sc config upnphost start=auto

net start dnscache

net start fdrespub

net start ssdpsrv

net start upnphost

Configure the Windows firewall to allow Network Discovery. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open Control Panel, click System and Security, and then click Windows Firewall.
2. In the left pane, click Allow an app or feature through Windows Firewall if you are running Windows Server 2012. Or, click Allow a program or feature through Windows Firewall if you are running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2.
3. Click Change settings. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
4. Select Network discovery, and then click OK.

Configure other firewalls in the network to allow Network Discovery.

Turn on Network Discovery in Network and Sharing Center.