I agree, this is a workaround and ultimately the problem lies with Microsoft.
After my Reply last night, I, too, noticed that new File Explorer windows lacked the items in the Navigation pane. By luck, however, I'd previously left a shortcut to a folder on one of the other networked machines on my Desktop, and even though the computer
was no longer listed in the Navigation pane, the shortcut to it still worked! Not only that, but I could even climb back up the breadcrumbs chain to get to higher levels on the other machine, once I'd accessed it via the shortcut. It seems that if in any File
Explorer window you manage to get to the other machine, it will reappear in the Navigation pane - at least for awhile. Next thing I then tried was to create a formal Mapped Drive to that other machine (click on "This PC" and you should have a "Map network
drive" should be an option up in the toolbar ribbon, and the "browse" feature seems to now work since the other computer is back on the network, even though you may not see it in Navigation pane). Once I'd created the mapped drive, the other machine always
seems to be present even in new File Explorer windows. I'm guessing you could also create shortcuts to the other machine and leave them on your desktop (like I was lucky enough to have done), and the "workaround" is a bit less tedious. One other option would
be to add frequently used folders of the remote machine into a Library (for instance, I have a master photos folder on one machine, and I've added it to the "Pictures" library on every machine in my network and now that I've done that "Automatic (Delayed Start)"
services adjustment in the original post, I can always get to the other machines via the Pictures Library even when they don't show up in the Navigation pane. So, in summary, to improve the workaround, you might try some or all of these possibilities:
- Map network drive" to the remote machine - may solve the problem for all File Explorer windows
- Add frequently used folders of the remote machine to a Library - seems to work even then the remote computer doesn't appear under Network
- Create shortcut(s) on Desktop to avoid having to go through Navigation pane in the first place
Maybe one of these options will work for you and ease the pain of the "workaround" nature of the problem while Microsoft figures out to fix the problem for real.