Lost network with W11 24H2 install

mikejp · 2025-06-26T03:52:22-0400

A little progress. I had included the Lanman Workstation in Gp Pol as a dependency following 'advice' on anther thread here, bur removing that dependency has allowed Network D to remain active, so the W11 laptop now shows in the network BUT still cannot be 'found'

mikejp · 2025-06-26T03:59:52-0400

A quick question?!! I recall right from W95 days that it was recommended to deselect the IP6 box in the adapter properties. Is that still necessary?

OAT · 2025-06-26T06:19:06-0400

mikejp said:
A quick question?!! I recall right from W95 days that it was recommended to deselect the IP6 box in the adapter properties. Is that still necessary?

No, you should not need to do that anymore.
IPv6 is rarely solely used but it is used in parallel with IPv4.

mikejp · 2025-06-26T06:42:31-0400

Thanks, OAT.

A summary, then I can now 'see' the errant laptop on the network but its 'path' cannot be found. There are 2 IPs associated, one an ethernet one and one a wireless one, the wireless being on a fixed IP in my router, the ethernet being on a DHCP assigned IP. I can ping both successfully. AV off and Defender off makes no difference.

Ideas as to what is find what is 'blocking' would be great!

OAT · 2025-06-26T08:00:50-0400

mikejp said:
its 'path' cannot be found.

Which 'path' is that?
Are you pointing to a share?
Have you mapped a drive?
In the screenshot below, I am mapping drive O: over wifi to a wired computer called OATPCI shared Drive O:

The result is:

mikejp · 2025-06-26T10:42:41-0400

Which 'path' is that? See OP
Are you pointing to a share? Yes
Have you mapped a drive? No. I don't think that is possible if the share cannot be accessed?:

mikejp · 2025-06-26T12:45:37-0400

OAT reckons I could map a drive I cannot access on the network. Hoping there is someone who undertstand W11 who can tell me how to do that.

pseymour · 2025-06-26T13:22:44-0400

@mikejp This is what I did on a set of fresh VMs, Windows 10 22H2, and 11 23H2 and 24H2.

Set the network profile to private.
- This isn't technically necessary, but enabling file and printer sharing on the public profile is a horrible idea if you take your device out in public. That is the reason the private profile recommended.
Enable network discovery, if you want to see devices in the Network node of File Explorer.
- Suppose I have computers A, B, and C. If I disable network discovery on computer C, I will not see computer C from A or B, and I won't see any computers from computer C.
Enable file and printer sharing, on the device that has the data you want to share.
- That is, if you have computers A and B, and B has a folder of videos you want to watch while you're using A, then B needs to have file and printer sharing enabled.
Add Windows credentials to Credential manager for the other computers you want to access.
- This is optional. You could type in a user name and password every time you want to connect.
- Credentials are stored per-user, so if you add them under Alice's account on computer A, they won't be there under Andrew's account on computer A.
- This is a convenience feature if you have different user names on various devices, or same user names but different passwords.

mikejp · 2025-06-26T15:44:24-0400

psey - many thanks for that. As you can probably see I have done all of that apart from adding credentials since I do not need to access other machines.

I am now stuck with a W11 network path that cannot be accessed and I just do not understand what is stopping the access. As far as I know all is set correctly. I still have another laptop (W10) which I can access 'normally', but the W11 machine is not playing ball. I have 'private'/Network

I need someone who understands network access who can take me through the steps to track down the 'blockage'. I thank you for taking the time to offer help.

pseymour · 2025-06-26T15:51:56-0400

haha, okay... if you're going to assume I don't "understand network access," I'll back out. My network is fine.

mikejp · 2025-06-26T16:10:28-0400

Whoa! I'm not sure how you interpreted that. That was NOT what I said. I said
"I need someone who understands network access who can take me through the steps to track down the 'blockage'."

OAT · 2025-06-26T16:12:29-0400

mikejp said:
Whoa! I'm not sure how you interpreted that. That was NOT what I said. I said
"I need someone who understands network access who can take me through the steps to track down the 'blockage'."

How else was he supposed to interpret that?
Nevertheless, I think the clue lies here:

"There are 2 IPs associated [on MIKELAP], one an ethernet one and one a wireless one, the wireless being on a fixed IP in my router, the ethernet being on a DHCP assigned IP. I can ping both successfully."

Topgundcp · 2025-06-26T17:10:24-0400

I agree with @OAT, You have static IP set in the router for the Wireless adapter.
When you have both the Ethernet and Wireless connected. Windows usually prioritize the Ethernet since it's faster and ignore the wireless. and disable the Wireless connection.
Open admin command prompt and type: ipconfig /all
Here's an example, I have both ethernet and wireless turned on, reboot->wireless is disabled.

Ben Myers · 2025-06-26T21:53:07-0400

On the Windows Eleven computer, press the Windows and "i" keys simultaneously, click "Network and Internet", "Advanced Network Settings", "Advanced Sharing Settings", make sure that "Network Discovery" and "File and Printer sharing" are on, and that "Setup network connected devices automatically" is checked. Also, if the Windows Eleven computer doesn't use a password, I don't think that Windows will allow file sharing unless you specifically allow it or create and use a password at logon. You may also have to restart the Windows 10 computer for it to recognize the change. If the Windows Eleven computer is using a Microsoft account, some people have reported that signing in with a PIN interferes with file sharing.

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