Windows 10 cannot join a workgroup after update 1703. From TechNet, Retrieved From:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Fo ... networking I saw this mentioned on the emby forums located here:
https://emby.media/community/index.php? ... -browsing/
I see this is marked as Answered but shouldn't be. There is no real answer, there are ways to work around the issue at the moment, but they are only temporary. The Computer Browser service is broken in Windows 10 1703 and is gone from future releases of Windows.
Yes, that's right folks, after 25 years of being able to browse our networks Microsoft have decided Workgroup users don't need this functionality any more. This article from Microsoft explains:
SMBv1 is not installed by default in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update 2017 and Windows Server, Semi-annual Channel
They are getting rid of SMB v1.0, which is fair enough, it has real security issues. The Computer Browser service relies on SMB v1.0, rather than upgrade the Computer Browser service so Workgroup users are still able to browse their networks they are simply removing it. From the linked article:
For home and small business users who use Network Neighborhood to locate Windows computers, you shoud map drives to the computers so that you no longer have to browse for them.
Not even spell checked and suggesting we only do it to access data we could map drives to, indicating a total lack of understanding as to why we need network browsing. Network browsing is an essential tool for doing a visual check of which computing resources are available in a Workgroup. The command "net view" allows us to quickly report which computers are available in the Workgroup and thereby use the information to run system reports and perform various tasks. Locating and enabling printers becomes far more difficult without Computer Browsing.
This does not affect AD users, those businesses which need to or have the luxury of being able to invest in server hardware and software. Users who's data is in the cloud, on the internet have less issue, it may only affect attaching printer resources which can be worked around. Of course all Microsoft staff fit into these groups so the lack of browsing functionality in Workgroups is probably insignificant to them.
So what we need now is either a great little tool to browse our networks that doesn't rely on SMB 1.0 or an upgraded Computer Browser service.
The service is broken in Windows 10 Creators 1703. If a 1703 PC is the Master Browser only that computer has Computer Browsing, if a non-1703 is the Master Browser all the non-1703 PCs have Computer Browsing. This is the reason why browsing appears to work sometimes and not others, rebooting PCs forces a Master Browser election, which will change which PC is the Master Browser and can introduce the issue.
To work around the issue involves setting one computer to be the Master Browser. Some people have third party devices on their network they can set to be the Master Browser, all non-1703 can browse. To identify which computer is the Master Browser you can run the command
nbtstat -a ComputerName
for each computer in the Workgroup. The computer that is the Master Browser is the only one that has the value
__MSBROWSE__
in the list.
To set which computer is the Master Browser you need to make registry modifications on that computer. Browse to the registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Browser\Parameters
Change the value of MaintainServerList from Auto to Yes
If it is not there, add a new String Value IsDomainMaster and set it to True
You may need to reboot to activate this. If you want to be absolutely positive no other PC takes the Master Browser role you can set the value of MaintainServerList from Auto to No on all other PCs in the Workgroup. You may even find that a non Microsoft third party device on the network attempts to take over the Master Browser role.
I re-iterate that this is just a short term workaround, Computer Browsing for workgroups is history for Windows 10. If you know of any great tools for browsing Workgroups that don't rely on the older protocols I'd be happy to hear from you.