Thursday, April 15, 2010

Windows 7 and the Mysterious Unidentified Network

Fixing Win7's Unidentified Network problem

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/71408-unidentified-networks-set-private-public.html

Use gpedit.msc to go to Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Network List Manager Policies.
Right click All Networks and select Properties.
Set the following: User can Change Name, User can Change Location, User can Change Icon. Click OK.
Use services.msc to locate "##Id_String1.6844f930_1628_4223_b5cc_5bb94b879762##" from Apple Computer, INC. -- right click on it and say properties.
Click the Stop button, then use the pulldown to switch to "Disabled" startup.
This will disable the mdnsresponder.exe which sets a gateway address of 0.0.0.0 resulting in that second spurious "Unidentified Network" that fucks everything up.

Open your network center.
Click Manage Wireless Networks from the sidebar. DELETE THEM ALL except your own home/work networks (You should know the names by now!) and return to the Network Center.
Click on the connection's icon under View your active networks.
Click Merge or Delete network locations. DELETE THEM ALL except your primary networks. Click Close. Click OK.
Click Change Adapter Settings from the sidebar.
Right click each "real" network adapter and "Disable" it. They should have device names like "Intel Wireless" and "Broadcom Gigabit".
Ignore devices like "Cisco VPN", "Bluetooth Device", "1394 adapter".
Re-enable the devices you just disabled.

Waboom, all fixed, no reboot required.

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