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Making Network PC Invisible via LAN

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What do I need to set in order for one of my PCs not to show up when network is browsed?

I’ll add that the network is a domain based setup and I still want to have a remote access to the PC. I just don’t want regular users seeing the PC in the network browser.

Topic

Clarifications

In reply to Making Network PC Invisible via LAN

Clarifications

hide your PC on LAN

In reply to Making Network PC Invisible via LAN

You can use the command (from command prompt)

NET CONFIG SERVER /HIDDEN:YES

This will make sure that your computer/shares are not “advertised” over the LAN. This does not however block access to the computer.

To unhide your computer put “NO” instead of “YES” in above command

When are results visible?

In reply to hide your PC on LAN

Just out of curiosity, after using the command when should I see the results? Instantly? After a reboot? After a server reboot?

immediate result expected with it

In reply to When are results visible?

Hi! Rafal,

This setting is applied instantly, however you should know that it DOES NOT BLOCK anybody from accessing your computer

when you run that command the information is saved in the registry here:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters
the value for “hidden” (DWORD) gets set to 0 on NO and 1 on YES

This is supposed to take affect immidiately.

EDIT: However the time it takes for this, also depends on your LAN refresh speed (anywhere from a couple of hours to 24 hrs.)

Ash

Solution

In reply to Making Network PC Invisible via LAN

What seems to work is:
Disabling “Computer Browser” and “Server” services. For some situations these services may be necessary, but for what I’m using the PCs for this does the trick.

Thanks

In reply to Solution

Thanks for sharing the solution. People rarely do that these days, but, it’s good for users who are in trouble and looking for solutions.

[Author]

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