I have a couple machines that exibit the same behaviour. They have 2 network cards that I call "Internet" & "Network" These systems are streaming data across the internet via thier own seperate connections (DSL, Cable) and the second card connects to my internal Domain network. I only have the gateway set on the internet NIC and both NIC's have static IP's. The trouble happens when network connectivity drops on one of the NIC's for whatever reason(typically me rerouting network cables), W7 re-detects the connection and sets it IP config to dynamic (which of course routes traffic through my internal network instead of the direct internet connection) My question: How can I stop W7 networking from detecting/changing my network settings? I have the networks setting just how I want and I want them to stay that way no matter what! Thanks.

Do you mean that each of the couple machines has two network cards? Both of them have static IP address and the gateway is set on the internet NIC. Do you have two routers on the network? Generally speaking, the IP address will not change if you have set it static. I suggest you disable the DHCP server and check it again. If the issue persists, you may run "netsh winsock reset"(without quotes) command with high priviledge, and reset the network settings manually.Ivan-Liu TechNet Community Support

Thank you for your reply. To clarify, I have two machines with identicle setups that are exibiting the same behaviour. I am suggesting that this is not just a glitch in one particular system. Also these are windows 7 professional 64 bit systems with 8 gigs of ram (if it makes a differance) But to speak in the singular. The system has an on-board NIC and I have added a 2nd NIC for the purpose of being able to manage the system locally while allowing the streaming data to utilize its own internet connection. I have made the system a domain member with virtually no permission on the domain. The internet NIC has a static IP set (Example 72.124.56.46) and the internal NIC has a static IP as well (Example 10.0.0.54) The internet NIC has a default gateway pointed to the direct connection (This case a dsl modem in bridged mode) The internal NIC does not have a gateway defined. What I believe is occuring is when the network connection drops ... Windows is sensing the connection as a totally new connection and dumps the static information and sets it for dynamic. If this occurs on my internal NIC - the dhcp sets a gateway thus giving the system dual gateways. If this occurs on the internet NIC we simply lose internet connectivity on that machine. The indication that it is sensing it as a new connection is due to the connection name incrimenting. (such as "Network 2" will then be showing as "Network 3" in the "Network and Sharing Center") What I have been trying to locate is how to disable windows network sensing. I suspect that is tha cause, but I may be totally off base. We have 2 other machine performing tha same function without an issue but they are running windows XP pro and static IP addresses do not ever change even if the cable is unplugged / cut / etc for extended periods. This seems to be affecting Vista / windows 7 (I have noticed this behaviour of incrimenting network names on my vista business laptop) Thank you for your attention.

Don't you think to set a defined gateway for the internal NIC will resolve it? You may post a list about your two NIC settings clearly and the DHCP or DNS address.Ivan-Liu TechNet Community Support

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, Windows 7 does not tollerate more than one "Default Gateway" But more to the point, is the fact that even the NIC that does have a default gateway, will have its setting wiped out once the physical connection is lost. What I believe to be the core symptom is the renewed connection is being detected by windows as a completely new connection. There must be a way to disable this "network awareness" that seems built into Vista and Windows 7. Thank you for your attention.

Hi, Long time ago, I had an issue like this and the wireless network connection renewed to #13, I updated the driver and set it as static to reslove it. Could you list your connections settings here? Here is an article about how to disable the network discovery can be referred to. Enable or disable network discovery http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Enable-or-disable-network-discoveryIvan-Liu TechNet Community Support

Hi, Long time ago, I had an issue like this and the wireless network connection renewed to #13, I updated the driver and set it as static to reslove it. Could you list your connections settings here? Here is an article about how to disable the network discovery can be referred to. Enable or disable network discovery http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Enable-or-disable-network-discoveryIvan-Liu TechNet Community Support