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I cannot see all the computers on my network in windows7 Network window

I have a Windows 7 computer that is on the network, but I can't see all the computers on the network from the computer. I click on Network and see 3 of the computers on my network, but the rest, including the server, are not there. I am unable to search for them.
however, I am able to ping them by name, and map a drive with specific computer name i.e. \\server\sharedfolder
I've tried turning off the firewall, same thing.

any ideas?

n2fc

1) Make sure they are all in the same Workgroup

2) Set the Homegroup password to the same value

See:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/homegroup-help#homegroup-start-to-finish=windows-7&v1h=win81tab1&v2h=win7tab1

McKnife

Workgroup membership has nothing to do with connectivity, nor with being visible. The computers you cannot see have network discovery disabled, that's all.

John

Agree with McKnife, and by the way, consider whether Homegroup works for you. I turn it off. Firewall is probably not the problem either, or you would not connect.

If you can map folders and ping, maybe that is all you need. I do not find network browsing particularly useful. Mapped folders are more robust for most things.

Jarrod Adams

ASKER

it's a windows server 2003 domain...not a workgroup. the windows 7 machines can't "see" the other computers. But like you say, it doesn't really maters because they are all ON the network and able to map drives.

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McKnife

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John

If workstations are on a server, Homegroup should definitely be OFF. Also the NIC should be attached to Domain (probably is).

Jarrod Adams

ASKER

Network Discovery is turned on on the other machines, hence the question as to why, but the detail on this being the default is enough to content me with the answer and the situation.

McKnife

Ok, if it is indeed on on all machines, then they would be visible, because that's what network discovery is for. The only conclusion has to be that some 3rd party firewall is blocking visibility. In other words: if there's no other firewall, it can't be on :)