Networked Items Disappear Under Network Tab in Explorer
Win 7 Every now and then all networked machines/devices disappear from under the Network tab in explorer. All mapped drives stay OK. If I try to refresh the Networks tab it is very very slow and the machine may even hang up. A reboot will however restore everything and I can see all networked machines and devices again and access them. I have not been able to relate the problem to any specific action or program. This happens off and on. All devices ID is on. Network discovery is ON. Thank you for any help.
September 19th, 2010 12:38am

Hi, Please take the following steps to troubleshoot this issue: 1. Temporarily disable Firewall and third party antivirus program on the computer for a test. 2. Boot the system to Safe Mode with networking and see if the issue persists. If not, please also boot to Clean Boot environment to determine the possible cause. Regards, Sabrina Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.
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September 21st, 2010 4:07am

Thank you for your suggestions Sabrina. However, please note the following: 1) I loose all network device indications after the computer has been on and all services have been working. After I loose them they do not come back till later after I reboot. This may happen in half hour or after a day. 2) I did a clean boot and booted up a) with no non MS services, 2) half non MS services and then incrementally added services. In all cases, as I expected, I was able to see the Network tab fully populated. This is no different from 1) above. I would have to work for a length of time under each of the tests to determine if the items disappear and that does not seem to be an approach that can be done in a day or two. It will take months. 3) No problems in safe mod either. This is a very annoying issue if you want to access any computers under network tab. Repeating - anything that is mapped is OK. Please suggest what else I can try. Thank you.
September 22nd, 2010 10:44am

Hi, As it works in Safe Mode and clean boot environment, this issue should be caused by the third party programs conflict, especially for the antivirus program. In order to narrow down the root cause, I still suggest taking the other steps in the KB article below: How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7 Also, please let me know if there is any program installed before the issue occurred. Regards, Sabrina This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees, and confers no rights. |Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.
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September 24th, 2010 4:33am

Sabrina: Are you following my post at all. You have pointed me to action that was already done. Read item 2) above. I am unable to pin it down to a specific program that was installed prior to this occurring. I am not continuously checking the computer tab to see if the items have gone missing. I noticed it when I needed to perform an action. And let me repeat it another time: IT COMES AND GOES - if the computer has been running for a few days then they will likely disappear. Fresh startup brings it back. What AV program do you recommend? I have trend micro. ASC
September 24th, 2010 1:02pm

Hi ASC, Please temporarily disable or remove the Trend Micro to test this issue. Also, you may try the System Restore to restore the system to a previous date that the issue did not occur. Regards, Sabrina This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees, and confers no rights. |Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.
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September 28th, 2010 3:16am

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