As I browseour Win2008Server basedLAN [Domain or Workgroup] using WinExplorer\Network, I see a column namedDiscovery Method. The discovery method is stated as WSD.What is WSD discovery method? Is there any other method of discovery that can be used? How does the Discovery method matter? Can it be altered?

Hi, Thanks for the post. Please understand that WSD (Web Services Dynamic Discovery) is a technical specification that defines a multicast discovery protocol to locate services on a local network. In Windows Server 2008, FDP (Function Discovery providers) uses various providers to enumerate discoverable resources. The built-in providers are NetBIOS, PnP, Registry, SSDP, WCN and WSD. Provider Description NetBIOS provider The NetBIOS provider enumerates NetBIOS discoverable devices using the WNet functions. Plug and Play (PnP) provider The PnP provider constructs a function instance for each functional device object (FDO) installed on the system. The PnP provider also discovers network connected devices (NCD) that have been associated with the system through the PnP-X architecture. Registry provider The registry provider persists function instances based on resources registered through the system registry. SSDP provider The Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP) provider provides Function Discovery with information regarding the presence of SSDP devices on the network. The SSDP provider discovers devices on the local subnet and, optionally, any other discoverable devices or local network resources. WS-Discovery (WSD) provider The Function Discovery WS-Discovery provider provides Function Discovery with information regarding the presence of Web services devices on the network. The WS-Discovery provider discovers devices across subnets. WCN provider The Windows Connect Now provider. Please understand that each of these providers runs as a service. In order to stop each from registering with FDP as a provider, the service must be stopped; however, the registry cannot be stopped. In this way, we could alter the Discovery Method by disabling the unwanted ones. In this case, I dont recommend manually disabling these services since it may cause other potential network issue. Hope this helps.

Great !!!Thanks

Hi CosmicStorm,I am glad to hear that the information was helpful to you.Hope you will enjoy our TechNet Forum.Many Thanks,Miles

u can set wsd to 0 in registry/parameters,this disables discovery maybe?easy to put back as well if it is