windows defaults to turn on file and printer sharing
using windows 7 professional and a public wifi connection. when turn off and on or restart the computer the computer defaults to turn on file and printer sharing for public networks even if i turn it off and hit save when i restart the computer goes back to turn on file and printer sharing. could this be a virus? i ran windows defender and windows malicious software removal tool and nothing was found should i be worry about it? or can i do something so that it stays off?
March 11th, 2010 5:57am

This issue should be caused by the wireless adapter driver. After you installed the driver, the network will automatically configure. The Network Location Awareness will obtain information from the Default Gateway and define the network location for the connection. For example, “Home Network”. In the “Home Network” network profile file and printer sharing is enabled by default. You could manually turn it off. However if the network adapter is not compatible with Windows 7, the network may re-configure at every restart. Therefore the settings are reset to default. I suggest you download the latest wireless adapter driver from the manufacturer’s website. If the latest driver does not help, we may need to wait for the manufacturer to release compatible drivers.Arthur Xie - MSFT
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March 11th, 2010 11:21am

Arthur thanks for answering I updated the driver and the problem remains but this is something that just started happening after 3 months of me using windows 7 thats what let me to believe it was something else.
March 11th, 2010 5:49pm

I suggest that after you download the latest driver, remove the existed driver first and then install the new driver. You can remove the driver in Control Panel\Programs and Features. If the issue is not resolved, temporary disable firewall and antivirus, then check the result again.Arthur Xie - MSFT
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March 12th, 2010 9:53am

drivers are up to date. disable the firewall and after restart the firewall was back on, the same for the file and printer sharing and I don't have any anti virus.
March 16th, 2010 5:48pm

thank you arthur for your help I finally found the problem, I had install my printer like two weeks ago and somehow in the printer settings the printer was set to share printer so I removed the check mark of that and that fixed it again thanks for you help
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March 17th, 2010 4:47am

Hi, Thank you for your update for the result. Glad to see that the root cause has been found.Arthur Xie - MSFT
March 17th, 2010 4:50am

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