SOLVED Network Credentials

[MikeO45]

I have 2 PCs connected in my home network, 1 with Windows 10 and the other with Windows 7. The Windows 10 PC is connected to my BT hub via an Ethernet cable, and the Windows 7 PC is connected via Wi-Fi.

Occasionally, usually after a re-boot of my Windows 7 PC, I lose part of the connection between the PCs. I can still use the Windows 7 PC to read and write files to the Windows 10 PC but not the other way around!

I assume this is a Windows 10 issue? Once I had found out what my Network Credentials were on the Windows 10 PC, then I could eventually get the network back up and fully functional.

But there are still 2 problems - 1 minor and 1 very annoying!

First the minor problem - why do I still keep losing the full network capability occasionally even though I clicked the 'remember the credentials box'? I can live with this but it's annoying.

Second and much more problematic, when I do lose the full network capability, although I now know my network credentials, how do I get Windows to ask me for them to fix the network problem? I haven't been able to find a way to get Windows to do this! In the meantime, I have to wait (sometimes for a day) for Windows to fix the network issue by itself or to eventually re-ask me to enter the network credentials.

I'd be very obliged if anyone can help!

Thanks,
MikeO45

 

[Garyw]

Windows network has NOT improved with newer versions of Windows.

Windows 10 PC is connected to my BT hub via an Ethernet cable, and the Windows 7 PC is connected via Wi-Fi.

Is this a router?

Start with the basics.

Make sure that network discovery is still turned on: [Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Network and Sharing Center\Advanced sharing settings]

Verify that the folders are still shared.

Check that these Services are running: (on each machine)
verify if the following services are started and set to automatic (Delayed Start) in services window.

To do this, follow the steps below:
1. Click on Start
2. Select Run, type "services.msc" and check if these services are enabled:
- DNS Client
- Function Discovery Resource Publication
· Function Discovery Provider Host
- SSDP Discovery
- TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper service
- UPnP Device Host

Please post back with results

 

[MikeO45]

Hi Garyw,
Thanks for your help.
At the moment, my network is performing properly and I can read and write on each PC to the other. Here are my answers to your questions:

BT hub is British Telecom's name for their router. My Windows 10 PC is connected to it via an Ethernet cable. My Windows 7 PC is connected to the router via Wi-Fi.

I enclose screen shots of the Network and Sharing Center settings.

The folders are shared. I can read/write from both PCs to one another.

I also enclose screen shots of the Services you mention. As you can see, they are all running but some are set to Automatic and some to Manual. With reference to the proverbial pyramid built from playing cards, I hesitate to change the settings because everything is working fine at the moment! But, I will change them if that's what you want.
Regards,
Mike

 

[Grizzly]

It may be a driver problem for the ethernet card in your Windows 10 pc depending on the age of that computer. I personally have some issues with my main pc running Windows 10 regarding seeing other pc's on the network but this is more an age issue cause this pc was build for Windows XP, I know.......

 

[MikeO45]

It may be a driver problem for the ethernet card in your Windows 10 pc depending on the age of that computer. I personally have some issues with my main pc running Windows 10 regarding seeing other pc's on the network but this is more an age issue cause this pc was build for Windows XP, I know.......

Thanks for your message. I am following another path at the moment with Garyw but I'll bear in mind what you say for later.
Mike

 

[MikeO45]

Hi Grizzly,
Because it was so easy to do, I decided to update the driver as you suggested. The date of the old version was 5/5/15 but the date of the new one was 1/11/15 only 6 months later! Before I updated the driver my network was fully functional but after the update it stopped working! However, when I did a cold-reboot of the machine, it came back to life again! I don't know if that is going to be the fix I was looking for, but let's hope so. Thanks for your time.
Regards,
Mike

 

[MikeO45]

Hi Garyw,
Thanks for your help.
At the moment, my network is performing properly and I can read and write on each PC to the other. Here are my answers to your questions:

BT hub is British Telecom's name for their router. My Windows 10 PC is connected to it via an Ethernet cable. My Windows 7 PC is connected to the router via Wi-Fi.

I enclose screen shots of the Network and Sharing Center settings.

The folders are shared. I can read/write from both PCs to one another.

I also enclose screen shots of the Services you mention. As you can see, they are all running but some are set to Automatic and some to Manual. With reference to the proverbial pyramid built from playing cards, I hesitate to change the settings because everything is working fine at the moment! But, I will change them if that's what you want.
Regards,
Mike

Correction to my previous reply:

Function Discovery Provider Host and Function Discovery Resource Publication are not running on my Windows 10 machine!

 

[Garyw]

Second and much more problematic, when I do lose the full network capability, although I now know my network credentials, how do I get Windows to ask me for them to fix the network problem?

Type the correct system name in the address bar:

or the IP address:

 

[Garyw]

Mike
"Function Discovery Provider Host and Function Discovery Resource Publication are not running on my Windows 10 machine!"

Mark these as Automatic (Delayed Start)!!!

Entering the IP address (per previous post) should always work, if your network is working at all.
With all the concern about ransomware, maybe it's better to not have the other systems easily available on the network.

 

[Garyw]

Mike - Glad everything seems to be working.

 

[MikeO45]

Type the correct system name in the address bar:

View attachment 9095 or the IP address:

View attachment 9098 View attachment 9096 View attachment 9097 View attachment 9099

I've done as you asked but when I entered my IP address in the browser address bar I got an 'Unable to connect' message.

 

[MikeO45]

Mike
"Function Discovery Provider Host and Function Discovery Resource Publication are not running on my Windows 10 machine!"

Mark these as Automatic (Delayed Start)!!!

Entering the IP address (per previous post) should always work, if your network is working at all.
With all the concern about ransomware, maybe it's better to not have the other systems easily available on the network.

I've marked Function Discovery Provider Host and Function Discovery Resource Publication as Automatic (Delayed Start) as you asked. My network is still operating normally so I don't know what will happen the next time it goes down.

 

[MikeO45]

Mike - Glad everything seems to be working.

Hi Garyw,
Today I did an update (AMD software) to my Windows 7 machine and afterwards had to reboot it. As usual, my network went down so that I couln't read/write files from my Windows 10 machine to my Windows 7 machine. However, whan I rebooted my Windows 10 machine, the network came back up again of its own accord! I didn't have to enter my network credentials! So, it looks as if your suggestions have fixed my problem in that it seems to remember my credentials. I still don't know how to get Windows 10 to ask me for them, but that's fine as long as it remembers them and uses them to re-establish the network when required.
Many, many thanks for you help. I'm sorry it took so long for me to get back to you but I was reluctant to reboot my Windows 7 machine until it became necessary.
Kind regards,
Mike