Local network problems with 1903

UPDATE # 5 - 1/15/2020:

I just purchased a new laptop and installed Windows 10 v1903.  That was a week ago or so.  The new computer showed up in Network Neighborhood just fine until yesterday (or a few days ago, I can't remember).  Now this computer is afflicted with the same problem as my other Windows 10 computers.  Stopping and restarting the Function Discovery Resource Publication Service causes the computer to re-appear in Network Neighborhood.  Over the past few months my existing Windows 10 PCs have appeared in Network Neighborhood for a while (without the stop/restart) and then stopped appearing.  The pattern I've noticed is when a security update is applied by Microsoft, the Windows 10 computer stops appearing in Network Neighborhood.  After a while (the time varies) the computer suddenly appears in Network Neighborhood again.  ***MICROSOFT - YOUR WINDOWS 10 SECURITY UPDATES SEEM TO BE SCREWING AROUND WITH SOMETHING THAT IS AFFECTED BY THE FUNCTION RESOURCE DISCOVERY PUBLICATION SERVICE.***Would you please check into this and respond to this forum that you are doing something?

UPDATE #4 - 9/13/2019:

I applied the update issued by Microsoft (KB4515384) on 9/11/2019 on the day it was released.  As soon as I rebooted after installing the update I had to stop and restart the Function Resource Publication service to get my Windows 10 1903 PC to appear in Network Explorer (and be advertised to the other machines on my network).  I continue to track this problem every morning when I start my Windows 10 1903 machine.  Sometimes the Function Resource Publication service works immediately after I boot and sometimes I have to stop and restart the service.  From my experience, the September 11, 2019 KB4515384 update has NOT fixed this problem.  Microsoft - Is there something else that I should look for to fix this issue?

UPDATE #3 - 8/19/2018 (2 hours after UPDATE #2):

Well, it appears that I spoke too soon about the Windows 10 1903 Function Discovery Resource Publication service having been fixed by Microsoft.  While testing another networking issue with Windows 10 1903 I had to reboot my test machines.  When I rebooted my Windows 10 Pro v1903 machine the Function Discovery Resource Publication service was started but the computer didn't show up in Network Explorer.  I had to stop, then restart, the service for the computer to appear in Network Explorer.  It appears that this service is still broken and Microsoft has not yet fixed it.

UPDATE #2 - 8/19/2019:

I noticed yesterday that when I booted my Windows 10 1903 machine that the Function Discovery Resource Publication service was running and that the machine appeared in Network Explorer.  Before I notified the community that Microsoft has appeared to have fixed this problem, I gave it another day (this morning) to be sure.  Every time I shutdown (cold shutdown, not reboot) then restart the machine the Function Discovery Resource Publication service is running and correctly reports the machine in Network Explorer.  Thank you, Microsoft, for fixing this issue so quickly.

This fix in no way addresses the fragile nature of the Web Services Dynamic Discovery (nicknamed "WS-Discovery") technical specification as implemented by Microsoft beginning with Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.  I am experiencing unpredictable behavior in my test network as it relates to determining what configuration(s) in Windows 7 and Windows 10 1903 computers are needed to make WS-Discovery work reliablyto advertise WS-Discovery-enabled devices (computers, printers, cameras, etc.) and their services in Network Explorer.  I'll post my solution once I've figured it out.

An observation:  It took me three years of frustrating weekend experimentation to finally figure out how to make the now deprecated Windows Master/Backup Browser network resource identification mechanism to work.  I suspect the same type of solution may be necessary to get WS-Discovery working reliably. "Reliably" means that WS-Discovery works EVERY time a computer is booted and continues to work without any interruption.

UPDATE #1 - 8/13/2019:

This morning I checked for Windows 10 1903 updates and there were several.  I downloaded and installed them all.  I then set about disabling Remote Desktop and SMB 1.0/CIFS one-at-a-time (AFTER the updates were installed) to see if I could use ONLY SMB2 (which is installed by Windows 10 as the default SMB version).  During this process I checked to see if any new updates had been released for 1903 by Microsoft.  There were!  Much to my surprise, however, the "new" update was KB4505903, the July 26, 2019 update.  I proceeded with the install.  Once the install was finished I checked my Update History to see what had been recorded.  For the KB4505309 entry there was a "(2)" appended at the end of the entry.  It appears that after messing around with disabling SMB 1.0/CFIS that Windows decided that I needed to re-install KB4505309.  I have no idea why this happened and I report it here in case it becomes relevant to the topic at hand at some point in the future.

Now for the real gem.  I disabled Remote Desktop and restarted the computer.  Network Explorer worked as expected!  Then I disabled SMB1 support.  After unchecking the "SMB 1.0/CIFS File Sharing Support" checkbox in Windows Add/Remove Features (which disabled the three features nested below this checkbox - Automatic Removal, Client, and Server - make SURE that ALL THREE checkboxes have been unchecked!) I restarted the computer.  Network Explorer still worked!  Wow, this morning's updates must have fixed the problem, I thought.  Just as a precaution I shutdown and rebooted the computer.  Network Explorer failed to work.  It became obvious that disabling Remote Desktop and SMB1 didn't take effect until the computer was shutdown and rebooted.

When I shutdown and rebooted the computer the first time after disabling Remote Desktop and SMB1 I checked to see if both Function Discovery services were running.  To my surprise the "Function Discovery Resource Publication (Triggered)" wasn't running.  I started this service and Network Explorer immediately began working correctly.  I then shutdown and rebooted the machine again to see if another shutdown and reboot would result in turning on the "Function Discovery Resource Publication (Triggered)" service.  To my surprise it was running and Network Explorer was working as expected.  Just to be safe I did another shutdown and reboot to see what would happen.  This time the "Function Discovery Resource Publication (Triggered)" service wasn't running.  I did another shutdown and reboot and the "Function Discovery Resource Publication (Triggered)" service was running but Network Explorer WASN'T working as expected (the Windows 10 1903 didn't appear in the network list and couldn't be seen from other computers on the network).

On a hunch, I manually stopped and restarted the "Function Discovery Resource Publication (Triggered)" service.  Network Explorer immediately strted working correctly!  I shutdown and rebooted several times more.  When the machine booted with the "Function Discovery Resource Publication (Triggered)" service running, but Network Explorer didn't work correctly, I manually stopped and restarted the "Function Discovery Resource Publication (Triggered)" service to see if that would get Network Explorer working correctly.  Every time I stopped and restarted the**"Function Discovery Resource Publication (Triggered)" service Network Explorer started working correctly.  The issue with Network Explorer not working properly appears to be that Windows 10 1903 doesn't always start the****"Function Discovery Resource Publication (Triggered)" service when the computer is booted and in some cases, when it does start the service, the service doesn't work correctly.**

Microsoft - Would you please reply to this post and confirm that you have seen this issue?

ORIGINAL POST - 8/12/2019:

Good tips from charitablecomputing.com on making the BUSTED Win10 1903 Network Explorer work.  I can confirm that they work as explained.

However, this solution leaves a GAPING HOLE in any WIn10 1903 that enables this "fix" - the SMB1 security issue.  Microsoft has been urging all of their users FOR YEARS to move from use of the SMB1 protocol to SMB2 or SMB3 because the SMB1 protocol is woefully insecure.  It's so insecure, in fact, that it is the basis for the EternalBlue exploit that was leaked to the world by Edward Snowden and became famous for being used in the WannaCry ransonmware.  Basically, if a hacker compromises any computer attached to a network using SMB1 they can then see a list of all computers attached to the network.  From there they can use Windows .CMD scripts to access any computer on the network (assuming they have gained administrative access to the computer they've compromised) and you know what happens next.

I want to remind Microsoft just how vociferous they have been at warning the world to stop using SMB1.  Here are a few links that illustrate the strident warnings they have issued about discontinuing the use of SMB1:

• Stop Using SMB1
• SMBv1 Is Not Installed By Default In Windows
• More Advice On Disabling Windows SMB1
• Windows 10 Tip: Stop Using The Horribly Insecure SMBv1 Protocol

The reason I list these articles IS TO REMIND THE MICROSOFT FOLKS THAT ARE MONITORING THIS FORUM THAT YOU JUST SCREWED UP ALL THE HARD WORK I PUT INTO GETTING RID OF SMB1 ON WINDOWS 10 1803 WITH YOUR BUMBLING 1903 UPGRADE.  Poor charitablecomputing.com spent a whole bunch of time figuring out a workaround for Microsoft's broken 1903 Network Explorer ONLY TO ENABLE SMB1 TO MAKE THE Windows 10 1903 Network Explorer WORK!  Oh, and don't tell me that you've figured out how to automatically remove the SMB1 protocol when it's "not needed" by Windows 10 (see Control Panel>Programs and Features>Turn Windows features on and off>SMB1.0/CIFS File Sharing Support>SMB 1.0/CIFS Automatic Removal) BECAUSE IT'S ALWAYS NEEDED WHEN Network Explorer IS ACTIVE.  Not only did you bring back SMB1 in order to make Network Explorer work, YOU ALSO REENABLED THE Computer Browser service to make Network Explorer work.  My Windows 7 Pro computers report their machine names quickly in Network Explorer using WS-Discovery WITHOUT THE Computer Browser SERVICE but my test Windows 10 1903 machine takes about five minutes before it shows up in Network Explorer.  I'm guessing that's because you are using some combination of WS-Discovery and the Computer Browser service to get Windows 10 1903 machines advertised on the LAN instead of pure WS-Discovery (like I had configured for my Windows 10 1803 machines).

In addition to having to enable SMB1 to make Windows 10 1903 Network Explorer work, as charitablecomputing.com figured out, YOU ALSO HAVE TO ENABLE Remote Desktop!  REALLY!!??  By the time we get finished using the workaround figured out by charitablecomputing.com we might as well just connect our Windows 10 1903 machines directly to the Internet instead of behind routers and firewalls.  I've spent LITERALLY thousands of hours researching fixes for Microsoft networking over the 30 years I've been in the technology industry.  Can't Microsoft, with all its money and personnel, release Windows operating systems that don't break basic functionality like networking?  I couldn't care less about the fade-to-soft background picture when I log onto Windows 10 1903!  WHAT I CARE ABOUT IS THAT NETWORKING DOESN'T BREAK FROM VERSION TO VERSION.  I suspect I'm not alone when I tell you that I FEAR every upgrade release by Microsoft.  The 1903 upgrade was jammed down my throat in an off-hours update EVEN AFTER I KEPT TELLING THE UPDATE NAG THAT I WANTED TO DELAY THE UPDATE.

With all of this said, when is Microsoft planning on releasing an update to 1903 that allows administrators to disable SMB1 COMPLETELY and use either SMB2 or SMB3 with WS-Discovery only (no Computer Browser service or other supporting software) to populate the 1903 Network Explorer?

Well, my little gigabyte brix has updated to 1903 now and it will only see the NAS on the network. I have made sure that all of the settings are identical on this machine as on the others, but no joy. The daft thing is that if I put a network shortcut to the other machines on the network into the quick access section of the explorer tree it will quite happily show me their contents while steadfastly refusing to show them in the network section of the tree. Only MS could achieve this outcome! Perhaps one day they will get around to fixing it.

The problem does seem to affect each computer differently.  I have noticed that, on my network, the Dell's seem to work fine, for the most part.  My main workstation, an Asus, had the biggest problem... That is why I stopped upgrading my other systems until the problem is resolved.  Well, that and a few of my main coding programs don't want to work correctly.

My suggestion is to check all of the settings on all the computers on your network.  Make sure they all have the same settings.  Mostly, make sure it it can see itself on the network.  Let us know how it works out.  Also, please share the specs for your systems.  There may be a driver issue with that model.

On one desktop I cannot see anything. On laptop1 I can see all computers and WDMYCLOUD but not a HUMAX PVR. On laptop2 I can see everything.

All on 1903 and were all okay before update with 1809.

DaveJ