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

[Win7Noob]

I believe I have found a solution (worked for me).
Environment (Vista 64bit SP2, VmWare Server 2.x)
The problem is VMware creates two additional subnets for the NAT and Team (DHCP) options whether you use them or not. These are different from your computer’s main network (which the Bridged option also uses). Every time you reboot, Vista detects these additional subnets and moves your computer out of the ‘Network’ group and into the ‘Unidentified network’ and disables network discovery. You can see this on the [Control Panel \ Network and Internet \ Network and Sharing Center].
The solution is to make the ‘Unidentified network’ a Public network. In the Network and Sharing Center to the right of the ‘Unidentified network’ there’s a link that says ‘Customize’. Click it and then choose ‘Public’, ‘Next’, ‘Close’. That’s it. When you reboot, you will find your network discovery stays on. You can try to make the ‘Unidentified network’ a Private network, but for some reason it doesn’t stick and after a reboot you will find it back on ‘Public’. No matter, the network discovery still stays on.
This fix may work for others who don’t have VMware but have some other software or perhaps a second Ethernet card set up to another subnet resulting in the same ‘Unidentified network’ situation.
Cheers!

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.


--
kelsii

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.


--
LPent

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.


--
icony