{"id":2221,"date":"2020-06-09T20:47:08","date_gmt":"2020-06-09T12:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wesbytes.com\/guide\/?post_type=kb&#038;p=2221"},"modified":"2026-03-17T14:19:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T06:19:54","slug":"disable-network-discovery-windows-2008","status":"publish","type":"kb","link":"https:\/\/www.servergigabit.com\/guide\/kb\/disable-network-discovery-windows-2008","title":{"rendered":"Disable Network Discovery in Windows Server 2008: 3 Easy Steps to Improve Security"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mkb-anchor mkb-clearfix mkb-back-to-top-inline\">\n<h2><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/mostafaelmasry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/network-discovery.jpg?w=640\" alt=\"Disable Network Discovery (Windows 2008)\" width=\"636\" height=\"424\" \/><\/h2>\n<h2><strong>Disable Network Discovery (Windows 2008)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h2 class=\"mkb-anchor__title\"><strong>Applies to :<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Windows 2008 server.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"mkb-anchor mkb-clearfix mkb-back-to-top-inline\">\n<h2 class=\"mkb-anchor__title\"><strong>Requirements<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p>To perform this task, you need to have :<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Knowledge in accessing the server via\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.techtarget.com\/searchenterprisedesktop\/definition\/remote-desktop\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Remote Desktop<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>IP address or server hostname.<\/li>\n<li>Your server Remote desktop username and password.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"mkb-anchor mkb-clearfix mkb-back-to-top-inline\">\n<h2 class=\"mkb-anchor__title\"><strong>Overview of <\/strong><strong>Network Discovery<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p>Above all, Network discovery is a network setting that affects whether your computer can see (find) other computers and devices and whether other computers can see your computer.<\/p>\n<p>There are three states:<\/p>\n<p><strong>On<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This state allows your computer to see other network computers and devices and allows people on other network computers to see your computer. This makes it easier to share files and printers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Off<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Besides that, This state prevents your computer from accessing other network computers and devices and prevents people on other network computers from accessing your computer.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Custom<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This is a mixed state in which some settings related to network discovery are enabled, but not all of them.<span class=\"nd-word\">For <\/span><span class=\"nd-word\">example, it <\/span><span class=\"nd-word\">may\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"nd-word\">be\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"nd-word\">switched\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"nd-word\">on,\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"nd-word\">however\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"nd-word\">you\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"nd-word\">or <\/span><span class=\"nd-word\">your\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"nd-word\">system\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"nd-word\">administrator\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"nd-word\">may\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"nd-word\">have\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"nd-word\">disabled\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"nd-word\">a\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"nd-word\">firewall\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"nd-word\">exception\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"nd-word\">that\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"nd-word\">affects\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"nd-word\">network\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"nd-word\">discovery.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>It requires that the dnscache, fdrespub, ssdpsrv, and upnphost services are started, that the Windows Firewall exception is enabled, and that other firewalls are not interfering with it.If any but not all of these are correct, the\u00a0 status will be displayed as Custom.<\/p>\n<div class=\"mkb-anchor mkb-clearfix mkb-back-to-top-inline\">\n<h2 class=\"mkb-anchor__title\"><strong>Instructions (Turn off Network Discovery)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p>1.\u00a0 Firstly,\u00a0 Go to <strong>Start<\/strong>\u00a0&gt;\u00a0<strong>Control Panel<\/strong>\u00a0&gt;\u00a0<strong>Network and Internet<\/strong>\u00a0&gt;\u00a0<strong>Network and Sharing Center<\/strong>\u00a0&gt;\u00a0<strong>Change advanced sharing settings<\/strong>. Or you can right-click on network icon on the right-bottom side of the screen, click\u00a0<strong>Open Network and Sharing Center<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Then, click <strong>Change advanced sharing settings<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>2.\u00a0 \u00a0 However ,There are 3 different network profiles\u00a0<strong>Home or Work<\/strong>,\u00a0<strong>Public<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>Domain<\/strong>. To prevents people on other network computers from seeing your computer all the time. Please turn off Network discovery service on all profiles.<\/p>\n<p>After that, Press small triangle button next to the selected network provide to expand the options.<\/p>\n<p>3.\u00a0 \u00a0 Lastly, Click <strong>Save changes<\/strong>\u00a0to apply the changes.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Please refer to the following article to know more.\u00a0<\/em><br \/>\n<strong>Knowledge Base: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.servergigabit.com\/guide\/kb\/disable-enhanced-security-configuration-for-internet-explorer-in-windows-server-2019-2016\/\">Disable Enhanced Security Configuration for Internet Explorer in Windows Server 2019\/2016<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Disable Network Discovery (Windows 2008) Applies to : Windows 2008 server. Requirements To perform this task, you need to have : Knowledge in accessing the server via\u00a0Remote Desktop. IP address or server hostname. Your server Remote desktop username and password. Overview of Network Discovery Above all, Network discovery is a network setting that affects whether your computer can see (find)&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"kbtopic":[55],"kbtag":[1286,1287],"class_list":["post-2221","kb","type-kb","status-publish","hentry","kbtopic-windows-server","kbtag-network-discovery","kbtag-windows-2008"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.servergigabit.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kb\/2221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.servergigabit.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kb"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.servergigabit.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/kb"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.servergigabit.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.servergigabit.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2221"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.servergigabit.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kb\/2221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6365,"href":"https:\/\/www.servergigabit.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kb\/2221\/revisions\/6365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.servergigabit.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"kbtopic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.servergigabit.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kbtopic?post=2221"},{"taxonomy":"kbtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.servergigabit.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kbtag?post=2221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}